📋 Overview
Universal Credits (UCs) are the currency used across Search Atlas to power features like OTTO SEO, site audits, keyword research, and more. If you've noticed a significant drop in your credit balance — or the numbers don't seem to add up — this article explains how credits are counted, where to check your usage, and what to do if something looks off.
🗓️ How the Monthly Credit Cycle Works
Your Universal Credits reset on a fixed billing cycle date each month. For example, if your cycle runs from August 17 to September 16, any credits consumed during that window count toward that month's total. Credits do not carry over between cycles — unused credits expire at the end of each cycle, and your balance resets to your plan's monthly allocation.
Key things to know about your cycle:
- Your cycle start and end dates are tied to the date your plan was activated or last changed.
- Credits consumed are deducted in real time as you use platform features.
- Your balance reflects remaining credits for the current cycle only.
🔍 Where to Check Your Credit Balance and Usage
To see your current Universal Credits balance and how many have been used this cycle, follow these steps:
- Log in to your Search Atlas account.
- Click your account name or avatar in the top-right corner to open account settings.
- Navigate to the Billing section.
- Look for the Universal Credits panel — it displays your total allocation, credits used this cycle, and remaining balance.
Note: If you see two different "used this cycle" figures on the Billing screen, this is a known display issue that our engineering team has addressed. The correct figure is the one shown in the main Universal Credits summary panel.
⚡ What Consumes Universal Credits
A wide range of Search Atlas features draw from your Universal Credits pool. Common credit-consuming actions include:
- OTTO SEO automations — activating and running SEO tasks across your sites
- Site Audits — crawling pages and generating audit reports
- Keyword Research — running keyword lookups and SERP analyses
- Content Generation — using AI writing tools within the platform
- Backlink and competitor analysis — pulling data reports
If your balance dropped significantly — for example, from 750,000 to 400,000 credits in a single cycle — a large site audit, a batch of OTTO automations running across multiple sites, or a high volume of content or research tasks are the most common causes.
🛠️ How to Audit Your Credit Consumption
To understand exactly where your credits went during a specific period, follow these steps:
- Go to the Billing section of your account settings.
- Look for a Usage History or Credit Log option — this shows a breakdown of credit consumption by feature and date.
- Filter the log by your cycle dates (e.g., Aug 17 – Sept 16) to isolate that period's activity.
- Review the itemized list to identify which features or actions consumed the most credits.
If you manage multiple OTTO SEO sites, check Left sidebar → OTTO SEO → All Sites to see which sites are active. Active sites continuously run automations that consume credits. Sites listed under Deep Frozen do not consume credits while frozen.
⚠️ Common Reasons for Unexpected Credit Drops
- Multiple active OTTO sites: Each active site runs ongoing SEO tasks. If you have several sites set to Active, credit usage compounds quickly.
- Large site crawls: Auditing a site with thousands of pages consumes credits per page crawled.
- Plan changes mid-cycle: Changing your plan during a billing cycle can sometimes affect how credits are tracked. If you changed plans recently, this may be a factor.
- Team member activity: If coworkers have access to your account, their actions also draw from the shared credit pool.
- Display discrepancies: In rare cases, the Billing screen may show inconsistent totals due to a known UI issue. The actual credits deducted from your account are accurate even when the display is temporarily out of sync.
💡 Tips to Manage Your Credits Effectively
- Freeze OTTO sites you aren't actively optimizing — go to Left sidebar → OTTO SEO → All Sites and use the Freeze sites option to pause credit consumption.
- Schedule large site audits during periods when you have ample credits remaining.
- Review your usage log mid-cycle to catch unexpectedly high consumption early.
- If you regularly run out of credits before your cycle ends, consider upgrading your plan to a higher credit allocation.
🙋 Still Have Questions?
If your credit balance still doesn't match what you'd expect after reviewing the steps above — or if you'd like our team to run a detailed itemized audit of your account's credit consumption — we're here to 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.