With DataForSEO, always guard on the tasks array and the result before touching fields, even on a 200. An empty response is the API telling you there is no data; indexing into it anyway is how phantom SERP data gets invented.

Context: From a community DataForSEO skill guide. An HTTP 200 with status code 20000 and an empty tasks array (or a null result) simply means the query has no data URIs a zero-volume keyword, a domain with no backlinks. It is not an error, so code that treats 200 as success and indexes straight into the first task result either crashes or, worse, fabricates downstream structure from nothing. The guide's rule: log the response shape and return early on empty.