🧠 Why This Happens
If your whitelabel client account shows AI credits but those credits cannot actually be used, the most common cause is a zero-quota configuration. This affects agency starter accounts — accounts created at no cost under your agency — because starter accounts are not automatically assigned a usable AI credit quota, even when the credit balance appears to be greater than zero.
This is not a bug with your API keys or a Bring Your Own Keys setup issue. The credit display reflects what is available at the agency level, but the individual whitelabel account needs its own quota allocation before it can consume those credits.
🔍 How to Confirm This Is Your Issue
- The whitelabel account shows a non-zero AI credit balance on its dashboard.
- Attempting to use any AI-powered feature returns an error or silently fails.
- The account was created as a starter (free) whitelabel seat under your agency plan.
- The issue has occurred before, even after the client reported it resolved.
⚙️ How to Fix It
There are two ways to resolve this depending on your agency setup and your client's needs.
Option 1: Assign a Quota from Agency Settings
- Log in to your Search Atlas account as the agency owner or admin.
- Click your avatar in the top-right corner to open the account menu.
- Navigate to Settings (URL: /settings).
- Select the Team Members section.
- Locate the whitelabel account in question — in this example, Castelo Portraits.
- Open the account settings for that user and locate the AI credit quota setting for that account.
- Enter a specific quota amount to allocate from your agency's total credit pool.
- Save your changes.
Once a quota is assigned, the whitelabel account will be able to use AI features immediately without any further changes on the client's side.
Option 2: Upgrade the Account to a Paid Plan
If your client needs consistent, independent access to AI credits, the most reliable long-term solution is to assign them a paid plan. Paid whitelabel accounts receive their own quota allocation automatically and do not depend on manual quota resets from agency settings. Contact your account manager via the chat widget to discuss plan options for your whitelabel seats.
🔁 Why This Issue Can Recur
If you have resolved this before and it has happened again, the likely explanation is one of the following:
- Quota was not saved correctly during the previous fix — always confirm the quota field shows a number greater than zero after saving.
- Quota was reset during a billing cycle refresh at the agency level, returning the starter account to zero.
- A new starter account was created for the same client without carrying over the quota setting.
To prevent recurrence, we recommend either assigning a quota as part of your standard whitelabel account setup checklist, or moving recurring clients to a paid plan.
🚫 What Will Not Fix This Issue
The following steps are not related to this problem and will not resolve it:
- Adding or removing API keys under Bring Your Own Keys settings.
- Reconnecting third-party AI provider credentials.
- Asking the client to clear their browser cache or log out and back in.
- Refreshing the credit balance display on the dashboard.
If you have already tried these steps following previous support guidance, please disregard them and follow the quota assignment steps in this article instead.
💬 Still Need Help?
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.