Console Overview
What SurfacedBy Console is, how its prepaid credits work, and how it differs from the dashboard and the Data API.
SurfacedBy Console runs on-demand AI visibility checks paid with prepaid credits. Sign up at console.surfacedby.com, buy a credit pack, register the domains you want to check, and trigger checks from the Console web app or the Console API.
Console does not need a dashboard subscription. You sign in with a SurfacedBy login; if you already use the dashboard, the same login works, and the Console account is set up once with an organization name the first time you open the Console. Credits are bought separately from any dashboard subscription, and Console keys, domains, and webhook endpoints are managed in the Console.
Two APIs
SurfacedBy exposes two REST APIs with separate keys:
| API | Who it's for | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Data API | Professional and Agency dashboard subscribers | Read and manage the account data you see in the dashboard |
| Console API | Anyone with a Console account | Register domains and trigger on-demand checks paid with prepaid credits |
A Data API key is rejected by the Console API, and a Console key is rejected by the Data API.
When to use Console
- You want to check a domain without subscribing to the dashboard.
- You want to choose the prompts and AI platforms for each check.
- You prefer paying per check over a monthly subscription.
- You are building a tool that triggers checks programmatically.
What happens when you trigger a check
- You submit a check for one of your Console domains, with your own prompts (or none, to let SurfacedBy generate them) and the AI platforms to run.
- The credit cost is computed and debited from your balance when the check is accepted. The preview endpoint returns the same cost without debiting anything.
- The check runs in the background. The response carries the check id right away.
- You poll the check by id to follow its status, or wait for the
scan.completedwebhook. - Once it completes, you read its results: headline metrics, per-platform results, cited sources, and each prompt's presence on each platform.
- If the check fails, the credits are refunded to your balance automatically. A check cancelled before it starts running is also refunded.
Only one check can be pending or running per domain at a time.
Optional managed workflows
Your application can discover available operations through GET /capabilities.
When available, selected-question measurements, question suggestions, website
role review, recommendations, research and content use a separate
estimate-and-approval workflow. The approved maximum is held; completed work is
charged and unused credits are returned when the job settles. These jobs do not
change the full-check price or its upfront charging contract.
Keep the estimate and original request key before submission. A lost response is recovered by that identity rather than buying replacement work. See Evidence and improvements for the supported operations, request shapes, result provenance and partial-cancellation behavior.
Next steps
- Credit model: how the cost of a check is calculated.
- Triggering a scan: end-to-end example.
- Evidence and improvements: brand configuration, answer evidence and processed findings.
- Webhooks: register endpoints and verify signed deliveries.
- API reference: every Console endpoint.