Ad network MCP guide
Connect Apple Ads to Claude or ChatGPT with Lemon AI’s unified MCP and API. Keep keyword reporting separate from creative-level evidence.
To analyze Apple Ads in Claude or ChatGPT, connect a tool that can retrieve your advertising reports, then specify the account, app, dates, and reporting grain. Lemon AI brings Apple Ads into the same MCP and API as your other connected networks, with creative reporting and assigned attributes available for the fields your account exposes.
Apple Search Ads is still a common name for this workflow. Whatever name appears in your export, distinguish an App Store search-term or keyword report from a creative report. They answer different questions, and an assistant should not silently exchange one for the other.
Choose a route for keywords or creative analysis
| Route | Appropriate use | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Upload an Apple Ads export | Investigate a known keyword, campaign, or ad report | Preserve the report type, attribution definitions, and export date |
| Integrate Apple's API with your agent | Query Apple-specific resources exposed by that API | Authentication, account roles, supported dimensions, and tool implementation |
| Connect Lemon's MCP | Analyze available creative data with other connected networks | Discover the actual fields; do not assume keyword tools are included |
Apple's Platform API documentation is the starting point for the direct route. An API integration needs an authenticated tool or MCP wrapper before a chat application can use it. A third-party “Apple Ads MCP” is not an Apple-operated service merely because of its name.
For direct access, configure the API credentials and account roles in Apple's current instructions, select the app and account, and retrieve a small report at the needed grain. If the decision is about search terms or bids, keep it on a source or connector that actually exposes those objects. Lemon's creative tools are not a substitute for an unexposed keyword endpoint.
Connect Apple Ads in Lemon
Open Connections, add Apple Ads, and complete the account connection flow. Select the account to sync, then confirm the app and reporting dates in Creative Analytics. Open API & MCP and use Lemon's shared MCP URL to authorize your assistant.
Keep provider credentials in the connection flow rather than in a prompt. The AI app needs permission to use Lemon's tools; it does not need you to paste Apple's private key or other credentials into the conversation.
Add Lemon to Claude or ChatGPT
Use the same remote MCP server for all the networks you connect in Lemon:
https://api.lemon-ai.com/mcp
In Claude, open Customize → Connectors → + Add → Add custom connector. Enter a name and the URL, continue, and sign in to Lemon. If Claude asks how to register the OAuth client, choose Register automatically. Enable the connector in the conversation. Organization-managed accounts may need an owner to add it first. See the Claude setup instructions.
In ChatGPT, open Plugins, choose Add custom MCP server, and enter the URL. Select OAuth authentication, authorize Lemon, and install the resulting personal plugin. Mention it in a Work chat to use its tools. Availability depends on your workspace settings; follow the current ChatGPT MCP instructions if the interface differs.
Start by asking the assistant to call list_ad_accounts and let you select the intended account. Then use list_filter_values to discover dates and filters. Your ad-network sign-in connects data to Lemon; this second authorization lets the AI app read it. Do not paste network credentials into chat.
Make the first question about coverage
Use Lemon AI to list my Apple Ads accounts and available dates. After I choose the account and app, show which creative fields and performance metrics are available. Retrieve a complete week at creative grain using impressions, clicks, and cost where present. Do not substitute campaign or keyword totals for missing asset values.
Ask the agent to show the source terminology as well as the normalized field. For example, when a source describes an interaction as a tap, the explanation should preserve that meaning even if a unified report uses a common interaction column.
If your question needs installs or a revenue window, inspect account discovery and the selected interface's field definitions first. Do not infer a creative's outcome from a campaign total merely because its file belongs to that campaign.
A keyword winner does not identify a winning creative
Synthetic illustration, not customer data: a campaign spends $120 across two keyword rows. A second report contains two creative rows, but no join showing which keyword impressions displayed which creative.
| Fictional keyword | Synthetic cost | Synthetic taps |
|---|---|---|
| puzzle game | $80 | 160 |
| brain puzzle | $40 | 100 |
You can calculate $0.50 and $0.40 per tap for those synthetic keyword rows. You cannot assign either keyword's $80 or $40 to one of the creative files without evidence of the relationship. The missing join is not permission to split the amount evenly.
Ask the assistant to identify this gap explicitly. A valid keyword observation can inform a creative hypothesis, such as matching a product-page message to the query, but it cannot prove which visual caused the response. Keep the resulting hypothesis in a creative-test brief.
Investigate the creative evidence you actually have
In the same Apple Ads account and dates, list the available creative attributes. Where coverage permits, compare CTR by the defined visual-treatment label using attribute_insights. Show the eligible creative count and the excluded or unavailable evidence. Do not infer labels from campaign names.
Compare the creative hypothesis with my selected Google App campaign. Keep each network's result separate and disclose any missing grain or outcome. Which element is worth testing next, and which part of the comparison cannot be established?
Using one MCP makes these follow-ups possible without moving files between chats. It does not make App Store search intent equivalent to another network's audience, or make an unavailable metric appear.
Use the same reporting layer through the API
For a script or another AI app, create a Lemon API key in API & MCP. Retrieve your account IDs with GET /v1/ad-accounts, then make a scoped read. This example uses a placeholder account and dates; substitute values returned for your account.
curl --get 'https://api.lemon-ai.com/v1/creatives/performance' \
--header "Authorization: Bearer $LEMON_API_KEY" \
--data-urlencode 'ad_network_account_id=YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID' \
--data-urlencode 'date_from=2026-10-01' \
--data-urlencode 'date_to=2026-10-07' \
--data-urlencode 'metric=impressions' \
--data-urlencode 'metric=clicks' \
--data-urlencode 'metric=cost' \
--data-urlencode 'sort_by=cost' \
--data-urlencode 'sort_order=descending' \
--data-urlencode 'limit=25'
MCP and REST expose Lemon's reporting definitions. Inspect missing fields, result limits, and any outcome metadata before interpreting a result. A limited top-creatives response is not an account total. Use the API documentation for supported fields and pagination.
Troubleshoot scope before changing the prompt
Check the account role and app selection if no account appears. Check sync status and available dates if a known campaign is absent. If a keyword question produces only creatives, the problem is interface coverage, not the assistant's wording.
For a report mismatch, align the date boundary, currency, report type, and attribution definition. Keep unavailable values as N/A. An empty outcome should not become zero installs or zero ROAS in a cross-network table.
Connect your ad accounts for recurring reporting, then follow the MCP and API guide. Reports shows the available reporting surfaces.