# DeepSeek answers API > aivisibilityskill returns DeepSeek's answer to a question as JSON: we run DeepSeek's own web search for the question and DeepSeek's model answers from those results, citing them. You get the brands it names in order and whether it recommends them, every citation with its source type, and the raw response with its SHA-256 hash, for $0.025 an answer. Failed answers are never charged. Canonical page: https://aivisibilityskill.com/api/deepseek. Updated November 5, 2026 by Ahmed Gagan, founder of aivisibilityskill. - Asks: DeepSeek's model, answering from DeepSeek's own web search - Returns: The answer, brands in order, every citation, facts and the raw response - Countries: Any of 250 countries and territories, told to the model - Price per answer: $0.025 (live); half for a reused answer - Speed: Live only, one call per answer - Try it: Free sandbox keys and 500 free credits, no card Get a free sandbox key: https://app.aivisibilityskill.com/login?next=%2Fkeys. API reference: https://api.aivisibilityskill.com/docs. OpenAPI 3.1: https://api.aivisibilityskill.com/openapi.json. ## Request and response ```bash curl https://api.aivisibilityskill.com/v1/checks \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $AIV_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "questions": ["best invoicing app for freelancers"], "engines": ["deepseek"], "locale": "en-US", "mode": "live", "wait": 60 }' ``` Response, shortened (real values from October 29, 2026): ```json { "status": "succeeded", "credits": { "quoted": 25, "charged": 25 }, "answers": [ { "engine": "deepseek", "surface": "api", "question": "best invoicing app for freelancers", "locale": "en-US", "has_ai_answer": true, "brands": [ { "name": "Wave", "rank": 1, "recommended": true, "sentiment": "positive", "quote": "widely recommended as the top budget pick" }, { "name": "Zoho Invoice", "rank": 2, "recommended": true, "sentiment": "positive", "quote": "A strong free option" } ], "facts": [ { "brand": "FreshBooks", "type": "price", "value": "$17/month", "price": { "amount": 17, "currency": "USD", "period": "month", "per_user": false } } ], "citations": [ { "position": 1, "domain": "hostinger.com", "source_type": "other" }, { "position": 2, "domain": "dev.to", "source_type": "blog_platform" } ], "receipt": { "sha256": "…", "url": "…/receipt" } } ] } ``` ## What the DeepSeek API returns DeepSeek's model doesn't search the web by itself. We run DeepSeek's own search for the question, give the model the results, and it answers from them with numbered citations. Each answer comes back read the same way as the other engines: brands in order, every citation typed, and the raw response kept as proof. What each answer includes: | Field | What it holds | | --- | --- | | `has_ai_answer` | false when the engine showed no AI answer (for example, no AI Overview for that query). | | `text` | The full answer, as markdown. | | `brands[].name, rank` | Every brand the answer names, in order of first mention (rank 1 = named first). | | `brands[].recommended, sentiment, quote` | Whether it recommends the brand, the tone (positive, neutral, negative) and the exact words. | | `citations[].position, url, domain, title` | Every source the answer cites, in the order it cites them. | | `citations[].source_type` | What kind of site each source is: brand_owned, review_site, media, reddit, youtube, wikipedia, forum, social, blog_platform, marketplace, gov_edu or other. | | `facts[]` | Claims about each brand (price, plan, free tier, platform, feature) with the quote they came from; prices parsed into amount, currency and period. | | `model, locale, collected_at` | The model the engine reported, the country and language asked from, and when. | | `receipt.sha256, receipt.url` | The engine's raw response, stored as returned, and its SHA-256 hash. | ## One question, three different answers We asked “best invoicing app for freelancers” on each engine from the US on the same day. Each card is what the API returned: how the answer opens, the brands it named in order, and the first sites it cited. Real answers to "best invoicing app for freelancers" (en-US), collected October 29, 2026, as the API read them: - DeepSeek: opens "The best invoicing app depends on your priorities, but here are the top contenders for freelancers." Names, in order: Wave, Zoho Invoice, Bonsai, FreshBooks, Stripe Invoicing, Square Invoices, PayPal Business, Invoice Ninja. Cites 6 links from 5 sites, starting with hostinger.com, dev.to, dupple.com. - ChatGPT: opens "My top recommendation is Zoho Invoice if you want free invoicing, or FreshBooks if you want a more polished paid app with time tracking." Names, in order: Zoho Invoice, FreshBooks, Wave, Bonsai, Invoice Ninja. Cites 9 sources, starting with themodernwallet.com, mythex.ai, finpresso.com. - Google AI Overview: opens "The best invoicing apps for freelancers depend on your budget, whether you need time tracking, and how much accounting help you want." Names, in order: Wave Invoicing, Zoho Invoice, FreshBooks, Invoice Ninja, Invoice Simple. Cites 9 links from 8 sites, starting with zoho.com, waveapps.com, thewritelife.com. Where each answer ranks each brand (1 = named first; – = not named): | Brand | DeepSeek | ChatGPT | Google AI Overview | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Wave | **1** | 3 | **1** | | Zoho Invoice | 2 | **1** | 2 | | Bonsai | 3 | 4 | – | | FreshBooks | 4 | 2 | 3 | | Stripe Invoicing | 5 | – | – | | Square Invoices | 6 | – | – | | PayPal Business | 7 | – | – | | Invoice Ninja | 8 | 5 | 4 | | Invoice Simple | – | – | 5 | All three name Wave, Zoho Invoice and FreshBooks, but DeepSeek puts Wave first while ChatGPT leads with Zoho Invoice. DeepSeek also names payment tools the others leave out: Stripe Invoicing, Square Invoices and PayPal Business. It cites none of the same sites as ChatGPT or the AI Overview. ## Calling the DeepSeek API yourself vs aivisibilityskill DeepSeek's chat API answers from what the model already knows, with no live sources. To see what DeepSeek says about a market today, the answer has to be grounded in a fresh search, and then read for brands. That's what this API does, in the same schema as ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI and the rest. Calling DeepSeek yourself vs through aivisibilityskill: | | DeepSeek chat API | aivisibilityskill | | --- | --- | --- | | Live web sources | Not by itself | DeepSeek's own search, cited in the answer | | Brands named | You parse them yourself | Listed with rank, recommendation and sentiment | | Source types | No | Every citation typed | | Billing | Tokens | One price per answer; failed answers are free | | ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI and others | No | Yes, in the same call | To be clear about what this measures: it's DeepSeek's model answering from DeepSeek's search for a fresh question. The DeepSeek app runs its own search and settings, so its answers can differ. ## Track brand mentions in DeepSeek DeepSeek is the cheapest of the model engines to ask, so it fits daily tracking next to [ChatGPT](https://aivisibilityskill.com/api/chatgpt) and [Google AI Overviews](https://aivisibilityskill.com/api/google-ai-overviews). Put a brand, its competitors and its buyers' questions in a project with a schedule, then read how often DeepSeek names the brand (with error bars), competitor share, cited sites and history. A webhook tells your server when each run is done. ## Call the DeepSeek API from TypeScript or Python ```ts import { Aiv } from "@aivisibilityskill/sdk"; const aiv = new Aiv({ apiKey: process.env.AIV_KEY! }); const job = await aiv.checks.create({ questions: ["best invoicing app for freelancers"], engines: ["deepseek"], locale: "en-US", }); const done = await aiv.jobs.wait(job.id); for (const answer of done.answers ?? []) { console.log(answer.brands?.map((b) => `${b.rank}. ${b.name}`)); console.log(answer.citations?.map((c) => c.domain)); } ``` ```python import os from aivisibilityskill import Aiv aiv = Aiv(api_key=os.environ["AIV_KEY"]) job = aiv.checks.create( ["best invoicing app for freelancers"], engines=["deepseek"], locale="en-US", ) done = aiv.jobs.wait(job["id"]) for answer in done["answers"]: print([(b["rank"], b["name"]) for b in answer["brands"]]) print([c["domain"] for c in answer["citations"]]) ``` ## DeepSeek API pricing You pay per answer, in credits. DeepSeek is asked live, one call per answer, so there's one speed. A dollar buys 1,000 credits on a pack; monthly and volume plans include more. An answer reused from a recent identical one (`max_age_hours`) costs half, and an answer that fails costs nothing. DeepSeek answer prices: | Speed | Ready | Credits | Pay as you go | Business and Enterprise plans | Reused answer | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Live | Usually under a minute | 25 | $0.025 | $0.0156 | 13 credits | Every account gets the same API and every engine, starting with 500 free credits and no card. Volume plans start at $500 a month for 750,000 credits, with invoicing and a [99.5% uptime commitment](https://aivisibilityskill.com/sla): [see volume plans](https://aivisibilityskill.com/volume). ## Countries and languages DeepSeek is asked through its API, so it isn't answering from a location. For any locale other than `en-US`, it's told which country the buyer is in, for any of 250 countries and territories, and it answers in the question's language (`de-DE`, `pt-BR`, `ja-JP`…). The app and search engines answer from the country itself: ChatGPT in 192, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode in 240. `GET /v1/locales` lists every pair for free. ## Questions ### Is this the DeepSeek app's answer? No. We run DeepSeek's own web search for the question and DeepSeek's model answers from those results through the API. The DeepSeek app runs its own search and settings, so its answers can differ. ### Why not just call the DeepSeek API? DeepSeek's chat API doesn't search the web on its own, so it can't tell you what DeepSeek says about a market today, and it returns plain text. This API grounds each answer in DeepSeek's search and reads it into brands, ranks, sentiment and typed citations. ### Does it return DeepSeek's citations? Yes. Every citation comes back in order, with its URL, domain, page title and a source type such as review_site, media, blog_platform or brand_owned. ### How much does the DeepSeek API cost? 25 credits an answer: $0.025 at pay-as-you-go rates and about $0.016 on volume plans. A recent identical answer reused with max_age_hours costs 13 credits. Failed answers are never charged. ### Can I ask DeepSeek from another country? Yes. For any locale other than en-US, DeepSeek is told which country the buyer is in, for any of 250 countries and territories, and it answers in the question's language. ## Related - [ChatGPT API](https://aivisibilityskill.com/api/chatgpt): The ChatGPT app's answer as JSON: brands in order, every citation and the raw response. - [Google AI Overview API](https://aivisibilityskill.com/api/google-ai-overviews): AI Overviews as JSON for any query, with every cited link, and a ready-made AI Overview tracker. - [Google AI Mode API](https://aivisibilityskill.com/api/google-ai-mode): AI Mode answers and sources as JSON, and how AI Mode differs from AI Overviews and Gemini. - [Gemini API](https://aivisibilityskill.com/api/gemini): The Gemini app's answer as JSON, and how Gemini differs from ChatGPT and AI Mode. - [Perplexity API](https://aivisibilityskill.com/api/perplexity): Perplexity's Sonar answers and citations as JSON, read into brands and source types. - [Claude API](https://aivisibilityskill.com/api/claude): Claude's web search answers as JSON: which brands Claude recommends, and why. - [Grok API](https://aivisibilityskill.com/api/grok): Grok's answers as JSON, with search across the web and X, read into brands. - [AI visibility API](https://aivisibilityskill.com/api): All 8 engines in one call, with builder features and every endpoint. - [What AI engines cite](https://aivisibilityskill.com/guides/what-ai-engines-cite): 24,258 citations from ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI, analyzed.