🤖 What Is the Search Atlas MCP?
The Search Atlas MCP (Model Context Protocol) server lets AI assistants connect directly to your Search Atlas data. Once connected, you can ask an AI tool to pull SEO insights, run research, and work with your project data using natural language. MCP is an open standard, so any AI client that supports remote MCP servers can connect to Search Atlas — for example, the same server can also be connected to Claude, not just ChatGPT. The current server is SearchAtlas MCP v2, which is published to public MCP registries, and it authenticates using the OAuth 2.1 standard. OAuth 2.1 support is fully live for both the Claude and ChatGPT listings, so connecting is done by signing in and approving access.
✅ ChatGPT Compatibility Requirements
Before you start, it is important to know which ChatGPT plans support remote MCP connectors. A common question we hear is whether the connection works on ChatGPT Plus — and the answer depends on your plan. Connector support is offered through ChatGPT's Developer Mode and custom connector features, which are not available on every plan.
- ChatGPT Plus: Remote MCP connector support on the standard Plus plan is limited and may not be available in your region or build. Many connection failures happen because the account plan does not expose the custom connector option.
- ChatGPT Pro, Team, Enterprise, and Edu: These plans are far more likely to include the connector and Developer Mode settings needed to add a remote MCP server.
- Free plan: Custom MCP connectors are not supported.
If you do not see an option to add a custom connector in your ChatGPT settings, your current plan does not support it. In that case, the issue is on the ChatGPT side, not with Search Atlas.
🔗 How to Connect the MCP Server
Follow these steps to add Search Atlas as a connector in a supported ChatGPT plan. Because the Search Atlas MCP server uses OAuth 2.1, authenticating typically means signing in and approving access rather than only pasting a static key.
- In Search Atlas, open your account settings and locate the MCP server URL and your access token or API key.
- In ChatGPT, open Settings and find the Connectors (or Developer Mode) section.
- Select Add custom connector or Add MCP server.
- Paste the Search Atlas MCP server URL exactly as shown, with no extra spaces.
- Complete authentication when prompted. With OAuth 2.1, you may be redirected to sign in to Search Atlas and authorize access; if a token is requested instead, enter your access token.
- Save the connector and wait for ChatGPT to confirm the connection.
- Start a new chat and confirm the Search Atlas connector appears as an available tool.
🛠️ Troubleshooting Connection Problems
If the connection fails, work through these common causes in order.
- Unsupported plan: Confirm your ChatGPT plan includes custom connectors. If the option is missing entirely, upgrade to a supported plan.
- Incorrect server URL: Copy the MCP URL directly from Search Atlas. A missing character or trailing space will cause the connection to fail.
- Invalid or expired token: Generate a fresh access token in Search Atlas and paste it again. Tokens can expire or be revoked.
- Authentication errors: Make sure you are logged into the correct Search Atlas account that has access to the data you want to use. Because authentication uses OAuth 2.1, re-running the sign-in and authorization step can clear stale sessions.
- Browser or cache issues: Try connecting from a different browser, clear your cache, or disable extensions that may block requests.
- Feature still rolling out: Connector support is released gradually. The SearchAtlas MCP v2 server is already published to the primary public MCP registry, but the effort to submit it across every other public MCP directory is still in progress, so it may not appear in every directory search yet — adding the MCP server URL manually always works regardless of whether the server shows up in a directory listing.
💡 Tips for a Stable Connection
- Keep your access token private and treat it like a password.
- Reconnect after changing your password or regenerating your token.
- Use clear, specific prompts so ChatGPT calls the right Search Atlas tools.
- Re-test the connector after major ChatGPT or browser updates.
🆘 Still Need Help?
If you have confirmed your plan supports custom connectors and the connection still fails, our team can help review your setup. If you need further assistance, click the chat icon in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type "Human Teammate" to start a live chat with a member of our team.