Rankwise vs LightSpot
A side-by-side look at the Rankwise and LightSpot MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
R
RankwiseMarketing · Remote HTTP/SSEAI search visibility: see if ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini cite a brand, then win it back.51GoodAuth: not declaredVerdict: choose Rankwise for marketing work over a hosted endpoint; choose LightSpot for marketing as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
RChoose Rankwise when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Marketing domain.
- You prefer a remote HTTP/SSE transport.
- You want tools like
search_rankwise_content, list_rankwise_sitemaps, check_ai_crawler_access.
Choose LightSpot when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Marketing domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- Its auth model fits you: API key required.
- You have the keys it needs:
LIGHTSPOT_API_KEY, LIGHTSPOT_BASE_URL. - You want tools like
audit_and_wait, run_audit, get_audit_status.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | R Rankwise | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Marketing | Marketing |
| Quality signal | 51/100 · Good | 63/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Remote HTTP/SSE | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | API key required |
| Pricing | Not declared | BYOK (pay the provider) |
| Required env vars | None listed | LIGHTSPOT_API_KEYLIGHTSPOT_BASE_URL |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | — | 0 |
| Directory activity | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 49 | 11 |
| Full listing | View Rankwise | View LightSpot |
Tools & capabilities
Rankwise tools 49
search_rankwise_contentSearch Rankwise's public library: guides, glossary terms, comparisons, free SEO and AI visibility tools, the AI crawler directory (GPTBot, ClaudeBot and others) and the AI engine pages. Returns matching titles with canonical URLs.list_rankwise_sitemapsList the sitemap URLs exposed by Rankwise so agents can enumerate indexable content.check_ai_crawler_accessCheck whether AI crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended and others) are allowed or blocked by a website's robots.txt. Returns each crawler's status.score_ai_visibilityScore how ready a website's homepage is to be found and cited by AI search engines (crawler access, structured data, content signals). Returns a score, issues and quick wins. This is an on-page readiness check, not a measurement of real AI citations. Called without signing in, the result also carries a claim link: give it to the person who runs the site, and one sign-in opens a Rankwise workspace with that domain already added and the free trial started. A claim link works once and expires after 72 hours.check_citation_readinessCheck whether a single page is easy for AI engines to quote and cite: clear answers, headings, metadata, authorship and freshness signals. Returns findings for that page.get_free_ai_audit_linkGet the link to Rankwise's free AI visibility audit for a domain. The audit checks AI crawler access and technical readiness, and runs live Perplexity queries to see whether the brand is cited. The user opens the link to run it; this tool does not run the audit.get_workspaceShow the Rankwise workspace this connection acts in: its name, kind (personal or agency client), your role in it, and the permissions this connection has. Every other account tool works inside this one workspace.get_plan_and_creditsShow the workspace's billing plan, its credit balance, what one approved brief costs in credits, and the plan limits (domains, questions, AI engines, monthly AI checks). Use it before a tool that spends credits or a plan allowance. A plan of 'paused' means the trial ended or the subscription was canceled without a new plan: nothing is deleted, but checks and writing stay stopped until the workspace has an active plan again. pricing_url describes the plans.list_sitesList the site this connection reaches: its id (the workspace id), name, tracked domains, and whether automatic articles are on, how many a week, and whether they are paused. A connection reaches one site; connect again (or add a CLI profile) for another.pause_sitePause automatic articles for the site. While paused nothing runs on its own: no planner fill, no drafting, no publishing, no credits used. Manual actions still work. Resume with resume_site.resume_siteResume automatic articles for the site after a pause. Cards left on days that passed move to the next free publishing days. Resuming is free.create_checkout_linkCreate a Stripe Checkout link for a self-serve Rankwise plan (starter, growth or scale) for this workspace's account, and give it to the person. Nothing is charged by this call: the person opens the link and pays in their browser. If the account already has an active plan, the link opens the billing page to confirm the plan change instead. Agency plans are set up with the Rankwise team. Send a unique idempotency_key and reuse it on a retry.- +37 more on the listing page
LightSpot tools 11
audit_and_waitRuns a LightSpot SEO and AI-visibility audit on a URL, waits for it to finish, and returns a summary (score, top actions, main issues). Ideal for "audit this site and tell me what to fix". Can take 1 to 3 minutes; past the time limit, it returns the id so you can follow up with get_audit_status / get_audit.run_auditStarts an SEO and AI-visibility audit on a URL without waiting. Returns the id and status. Use get_audit_status to follow progress and get_audit for the results.get_audit_statusLightweight status of an audit (PENDING/RUNNING/DONE/FAILED) with a progress value from 0 to 1.get_auditFetches the results of an audit: a summary by default (score, top actions, main issues), or the full payload with full=true (all pages and all issues).list_sitesPaginated list of your LightSpot team's sites (with their latest score).get_siteA site's metadata and its recent audits.list_site_auditsPaginated audit history of a site.get_competitorsFetches a site's latest existing competitor analysis (detected competitors, tiers, citations, recommendations). Requires the Zenith plan. Does NOT trigger a new analysis — if none has been started from the app yet, returns status: "NONE".get_expert_reportFetches the latest report from our 8 experts (technical SEO, editorial quality, AI visibility, structured data, sitemaps, performance, visual analysis, brand authority) produced after a site audit: prioritized findings, recommended actions with their steps, limitations and ready-to-apply artifacts (JSON-LD, sitemap…). Summary by default (findings + actions); full=true adds the rationale of the actions, the limitations, the artifacts and the evidence; expert=… limits the read to a single expert (useful with full=true to read one whole chapter without loading everything). auditId targets the analysis of a specific audit, otherwise the site's most recent one. Does NOT trigger an analysis — if none exists, returns status: "NONE"; PENDING/RUNNING = try again later.get_editorial_calendarReads a site's LightSpot editorial calendar over a period: imported slots, content being prepared, scheduled or published, and upcoming autopilot runs.create_editorial_calendarImports up to 50 dated editorial slots into a LightSpot site's calendar. The import is idempotent: externalId lets you update a slot without creating a duplicate. This action only creates the schedule; it does not generate, schedule or publish any content and consumes no AI credit.
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Rankwise
{
"mcpServers": {
"rankwise": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"rankwise"
]
}
}
}
LightSpot
{
"mcpServers": {
"lightspot": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@lightspot/mcp"
],
"env": {
"LIGHTSPOT_API_KEY": "YOUR_LIGHTSPOT_API_KEY_HERE",
"LIGHTSPOT_BASE_URL": "YOUR_LIGHTSPOT_BASE_URL_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Rankwise is categorized under Marketing and uses a remote HTTP/SSE transport. LightSpot belongs to Marketing and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Rankwise for marketing work and LightSpot for marketing.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
Rankwise has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. LightSpot is bring-your-own-key: usage is billed by the API provider you supply a key for. Auth: api key required. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add rankwise and lightspot as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Rankwise has a quality signal of 51/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars. LightSpot has 63/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.