ImportError: cannot import name 'GoogleSearch' from 'serpapi'

TL;DR

You installed the wrong package. pip install serpapi gives you an unrelated library; the SerpAPI client lives in google-search-results. Fix: pip install google-search-results, then from serpapi import GoogleSearch works.

The error

ImportError: cannot import name 'GoogleSearch' from 'serpapi'

Fix it

1. Uninstall the wrong package:

   pip uninstall serpapi

   Success check: pip show serpapi reports the package is not installed.

2. Install the correct SerpAPI client:

   pip install google-search-results

   Success check: install completes with no errors.

3. Verify the import:

   python -c "from serpapi import GoogleSearch; print('ok')"

   Success check: prints ok with no ImportError.

When this applies

• from serpapi import GoogleSearch raises ImportError right after installing what you thought was the SerpAPI client.
• You ran pip install serpapi (the wrong package).

When it does not apply

• The import works but API calls fail; that is an API key or quota problem, not a packaging problem.
• You are using the Node.js SerpAPI client (serpapi on npm is correct there).
• The error names a different symbol than GoogleSearch.

Compatibility

• Python 3.8+. Package google-search-results (the official SerpAPI Python client).
• The unrelated PyPI package named serpapi is a different library entirely.

Variant phrasings

• ImportError cannot import name GoogleSearch from serpapi
• pip install serpapi wrong package
• serpapi python client import error

Why it happens

Two different libraries share a confusingly similar name on PyPI. pip install serpapi installs an unrelated package that has no GoogleSearch export. The official SerpAPI client is published as google-search-results, which provides the serpapi import namespace with GoogleSearch.

Edge cases

• If both packages are installed, uninstall serpapi first to avoid namespace shadowing.
• In requirements files, pin google-search-results, never serpapi.
• Source: https://github.com/serpapi/google-search-results-python/issues/63

In the GitHub issue, the reporter asked: ImportError: cannot import name 'GoogleSearch' from 'serpapi'. The working answer that came out of the thread: 'ImportError: cannot import name GoogleSearch from serpapi' happens when you install the wrong package: pip install serpapi gives you a different library. The SerpAPI client lives in the google-search-results package. Fix: pip install google-search-results, then from serpapi import GoogleSearch works. A commenter confirmed this resolved it. Source: https://github.com/serpapi/google-search-results-python/issues/63