Silver nanoparticle-decorated graphene oxide was prepared using a simple green chemical reduction method, and its performance being used for surface-enhanced Raman scattering detection and optical limiting was studied. TEM images, photoluminescence quenching effect and the characteristic absorption peaks of GO and silver nanoparticles confirm the successful preparation of GO-Ag nanocomposite. The Raman spectra results show that the vibration fingerprints of RhB and R6G moleculars are detected only on the GO-Ag substrate, revealing good potential of being used as surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrate for detecting organic molecules. Additionally, nonlinear optical absorption of GO-Ag was measured using z-scan technique with a nanosecond laser operating at the wavelength of 532 nm. The z-scan results show that the transmittance of GO-Ag aqueous suspension has a large decline of 90%, and the nonlinear optical absorption onset input fluence of GO-Ag dispersed PVA film is as low as 1.3 J/cm(2), indicating that GO-Ag is a good potential optical limiting material for the commonly used high-power 532 nm nanosecond pulsed laser.