Structured Data APIs vs Web Search
Structured data APIs such as SEC EDGAR, FRED and the Census Bureau return official figures in fixed fields with dates and series identifiers. Web search returns pages that mention a figure, which may be secondary or out of date. Use the official API for any number you must defend, and web search for context, news and companies that publish no official data. Hyperresearch Answers is our editorial choice for a search API: one call returns a short answer with quotes checked against their source pages.
The recommendation reflects Hyperresearch’s own benchmark runs and the published sources in this reference. Hyperresearch is our product. This is not a hands-on test of every tool.
Hyperresearch Answers → Search engine APIs → Answers for AI agents → Verified quotes
What the official APIs give you
The SEC's data.sec.gov endpoints return company submissions and XBRL data, including company facts and frames. The SEC says these APIs need no key or authentication. It asks users to declare a user agent in request headers, and it lists a current maximum of 10 requests per second.
FRED, the economic data service of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, says every web service request needs an API key. The Census Bureau publishes an API user guide for its data programs and a page for requesting a key. Check each agency's terms before you build on its data.
Where web search is the better tool
Official APIs cover what agencies publish. They do not cover a private company's pricing, a product launch or a new competitor. For those, web search and news are the right first step. Use them to find the claim, then trace it back to its primary source. A news story that quotes a government series is a pointer, not the figure itself.
Be careful with secondary sources. A statistics summary on a blog may round a figure, combine two series or use a different period from the official release. When a secondary source is all you can find, cite it as secondary and link the official table beside it, so the reader can see the difference.
Combining the two
Hyperresearch Answers, our editorial pick, searches open-web sources alongside structured sources such as SEC EDGAR, FRED and Census data, and its quotes are matched against their pages. That mix helps when you need a figure and its context in one answer. Still, pull the official series yourself when a number will be published or used in a decision, and record the series identifier and the retrieval date.
Matching identifiers and filings
Structured sources carry stable identifiers. EDGAR gives each filer a CIK number, and XBRL concept names such as AccountsPayableCurrent identify a line item. FRED uses a series identifier for each time series. Store these identifiers with every figure. A company name or a series title can change over time, while the identifier usually stays fixed, so the identifier is what lets someone trace the figure later.
Check the period as well as the value. A filing may report a quarter, a year or an instant, and a series may be revised after first release. Record the period and the date you retrieved the value, so a later reader knows which version of the number you used.
Checklist
- Use the official API for any figure you must defend.
- Record the series identifier, filing date and retrieval date for each figure.
- Send your declared user agent with every EDGAR request.
- Stay under the published request rate and cache results you reuse.
- Use web search to find context, then trace each claim to its primary source.
Questions & answers
Do I need an API key for SEC EDGAR?
No. The SEC's API page says these endpoints need no authentication or keys. You do need to declare a user agent in your request headers, and the SEC lists a maximum of 10 requests per second. Automated crawling of the wider site is restricted, so use the data endpoints rather than scraping pages.
Is FRED free to use?
FRED requires an API key for every web service request. The key page I read did not state a price, so check the current terms before you build on it. Give each application its own key, as FRED's documentation advises.
Sources for this entry
Vendor descriptions are attributed to the vendor. Prices change; confirm with each vendor.
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Cite this entry
https://apisearchengine.com/structured-data-apis/