Keyword Research for Startups: A Complete Guide

This is a complete guide to keyword research for startups.

But here's the important bit — it's not just about finding keywords (duh).

This guide walks you through the whole process to:

• Understand the pain points that make people search for a product like yours,
• Pinpoint the exact topics they care about,
• Find the keywords they type into Google,
• Figure out how they search for products like yours with AI search
• Spot keywords with real commercial potential,
• Figure out which ones you can realistically rank for (and when), and more.

The process I’m about to show you? It’s the exact one I use with early-stage startups to get them in front of the right people at the right time.

So if you follow it, you’ll discover how to attract the right customers — the ones already out there looking for what you’ve built.

What is keyword research?

Keyword research is how we figure out what your ideal customers are typing into Google. What phrases they use. What questions they ask.

That insight helps you decide what to write, what videos to make, what landing pages to build — all to get in front of them at the exact moment they need you.

But note something:

I didn’t say keyword research is just "finding keywords." Because it isn’t. It’s about understanding people — and what they need from you.

Why conduct keyword research at all?

SEO is about connecting with your target audience in search.

In practice? That means ranking for the queries they use.

Or to put it bluntly, ranking for keywords.

In other words, keywords are at the core of everything we do in SEO.

• Keywords guide what content you create.
• They tell you what your audience cares about.
• They shape your entire SEO strategy.
• They’re even how you track success (by monitoring rankings).
• We even use keywords as anchor text when building links and we track the strategy's performance by monitoring how well we rank for various keywords.

So yeah — there’s no SEO without keywords. Which makes keyword research the first thing you need to nail.

Different types of keywords

When we talk about keywords, we usually mean either specific words, phrases, or even complete questions that people use to find information online.

For example, all these are keywords:

• Accounting software
• Accountant in Dublin
• When are my taxes due?

But they are not the same types of keywords.

We categorize them by intent (why someone searches) and format (how the phrase is structured).

Keyword types by intent

Commercial keywords are phrases and queries customers use when considering buying a product  but need to find out more about it first.

In other words, people use those phrases when they're shopping around.

Some examples of commercial keywords include:

• "Best invoicing software"
• "Best software to run a law firm"

Transactional keywords help customers find a specific product they want or need.

Or, simply put, people use those keywords when they are ready to buy.

For example:

• "Buy iPhone 15"
• "Buy Samson S2U microphone online"

Informational keywords help customers gain more knowledge on a particular topic and when they want to learn. These keywords often relate to your audiences pain points or problems they encounter (and that your startup is helping them overcome.)

Example:

• "How to get invoices paid faster?"
• "What is the best dictation software?"
• "How to get through customer support emails faster?"

Navigational keywords help users get to a specific website or platform through a search engine. They often take the form of a brand-related keyword.

Example:

• "Tripadvisor"
• "Facebook login"

Keyword types by format

The other way to classify keywords is by their format:

Seed terms are generic words and phrases related to your product, niche, or product category.

Generally, we don't target these keywords directly in an SEO strategy. We use them to describe generic topics that our audiences care about, and then, use that knowledge to find actual keywords to target.

For example, seed keywords for this very site would include:

• "SEO"
• "Content"
• "Rankings"
• "Backlinks"

I definitely stand zero chance at ranking for those. But also, it, most likely, wouldn't make much sense for me to rank Stacking Pancakes for phrases like SEO or content. They aren't defined enough to guarantee to attract people like you - startup founders.

However, seed keywords allow me to narrow the list of actual keywords to ones that relate to those seed terms, and thus, always stay on topic.

Short-tail keywords are slightly more defined version of seed keywords. They expand seed keywords with 1-3 additional words and provide extra information and as a result, narrow their focus.

Examples:

• "SEO for startups"
• "Link building for startups"
• "Content marketing strategy"

These keywords are still generic. Like seed keywords, they target broad topics, too. They might have high search volume, but because of their generic focus, they offer low conversion rates.

In other words, they form great category keywords - Phrases that describe specific topics or topical categories that your website is relevant to.

Again, using Stacking Pancakes as example, I'd use (and I do!) short-tail keywords like "SEO for startups" as my primary category that I target.

Long-tail keywords are, probably, the most commonly used and most commonly targeted keywords in SEO.

That's because they are highly specific, and relate to a very well defined intent and need.

Long-tail keywords are usually long and contain 3+ words.

A bit of trivia - Their name, long-tail doesn't actually refer to the usual length of those keywords but the fact that they are the end of the keyword tail:

Because these keywords are so defined, and target a very specific need for information, they usually have lower search volume BUT a much higher conversion. They also attract more relevant visitors.

Example:

• "What software to use to manage customer emails across a team"
• "How freelancers get clients to pay them faster"
• "Best time to send NPS"

Geotargeted keywords are keywords that contain a location (a country, city, area, etc.) Often, we also consider keywords that contain the term "near me" as geotargeted (even though the actual location isn't specified.)

Example:

• "SEO agencies in Vancouver"
• "Startup consultant New York"
• "Startup accountants London"

Why understanding different keyword types matters so much?

Keyword types (either by intent or format) help you define why someone would use that keyword, and also, where they are in their buying journey. With that knowledge, you can decide what information to include on a page to meet that need, and as a result, rank and connect with those people.

For example, by knowing that a particular keyword you want to target has a transactional intent you'd also know that a tutorial or a how-to guide wouldn't deliver on that need. A commercial sales page, however, would.

Keyword research metrics

There are four key metrics (plus several associated ones) that help you determine whether a keyword is good to target for your startup:

Search volume

Keyword search volume determines the average number of times a particular keyword is used per month.

There are several things to remember about search volume:

• Search volume shows only an estimation, not an exact figure. The fact that search volume (SV) in your keyword research tool says 740, it doesn't mean that the keywords was typed into the search box exactly 740 times. But it suggests a relatively decent interest about the topic.
• The search volume relates to a single keyword, not an entire topic. Almost certainly, there are other phrases that users type to search for similar information. This means, that, usually, the search volume for a topic is far greater.
• There is no good or bad search volume. Not only these numbers are approximations only, they are also relative. A keyword with a search volume of 10 but targeting a highly defined pain point is better than a short-tail keyword with a large search volume. Why? Because that low search volume keyword stands a much greater chance at attracting your actual best customers. So, even though you might get fewer visits from it, you'll, most likely, get far more sales.

Keyword difficulty

Keyword difficulty is, probably, the most confusing keyword metric of all.

For one, many founders treat it as an absolute truth. But in reality, it's nothing but a rough guide. That's all.

Keyword difficulty defines (or aims to, at least) how hard it would be to rank well for a particular keyword. It takes various data points about top-ranking domains, and tries to establish whether the keyword is do-able or not.

This metric looks at who already ranks for a keyword — usually factoring in their domain authority, backlinks, and content strength — and uses that to estimate how challenging it would be to break into the top results.

And this is exactly the problem with it - Keyword difficulty considers those data points in generic terms, not in the context of your domain.

For example, SEMrush reports this keyword as semi-difficult. The actual keyword difficulty score is in a region of 9/100.

But that might be true for an established domain.

A quick look at the top ranking domains reveals only highly authoritative sites.

Most likely, your startup, with its new site and low authority, fares differently in comparison. As a result, for you, that keyword might be unachievable for now. Not until you build that authority.

The opposite can be true, too. Your SEO platform might determine a particular keyword as difficult. But your site, with its laser-focus topical authority on that very topic, might be able to crush the competition without having large number of links and so on.

So, as useful as keyword difficulty is, remember to only consider it as a rough guideline, not an absolute truth. And always consider the data in the context of your current situation.

Cost per Click (CPC)

CPC is not an SEO metric. It determines how much money other brands are willing to pay for a click through Google Ads.

But this keyword delivers a highly important metric you can use to evaluate the keyword - It's commercial potential.

The logic here is simple: If brands are willing to bid money on a keyword, then, it's highly likely that it pays off. They get signups and sales from that traffic.

And so, it stands to reason that the keyword is worth investing time and effort to rank.

Trend

Trend is another highly useful metric for keyword research.

It reveals how the interest in a particular keyword or topic is changing throughout the year.

Knowing the keyword trend can help you plan and decide when to work on that particular topic.

For example, knowing that the interest in a particular topic peaks around the summer, it'd make sense to start working on the keyword at the start of the year. This way, by the time summer comes, your page might already be ranking well enough to capitalize on that interest.

Keyword research process

Overall, to find the best keywords, you need to follows a simple process:

In practice, it looks like this:

• First, you need to understand what information your audience is searching for online,
• Then, you need to identify which of these topics are the most relevant to your product.
• You research actual keywords based on these topics, and build various keyword lists.
• Finally, you conduct keyword analysis to choose the best keywords to target, and use that information to create a content plan.

In other words, contrary to what most founders assume, the keyword research process doesn't begin with jumping into SEMrush or Ahrefs and well, researching a bunch of keywords.

As you can see from the list above, that's actually step three.

The process actually starts with learning about what information your audience actually searches for online.

Let's see how to do that.

Step 1: Figure out what your audience is searching for

Important to note - At this stage, you're not interested in what keywords they type into Google.

Before you even think about keywords, zoom out.

Ask: What problems are my potential customers trying to solve?

And that process starts with figuring out what pain points and problems drive them to searching for information.

For example, let's assume that you've built an cold outreach product. Some immediate topics that come to mind include:

• Cold email copywriting
• Deliverability
• Acquiring (or building) lists of qualified leads
• Sending frequency
• Generating responses
• Calls to action, and more.

None of these are keywords. These are just topics of interests that relate to your product that you'll use to identify your actual keywords.

For example, if your audience keeps complaining that their emails never get opened, that pain point might translate into a keyword like "how to improve cold email open rates" or "subject lines for cold outreach."

If they’re struggling to find the right prospects, that might lead to searches like "how to build B2B lead lists" or "tools to find email addresses."

Or if they’re frustrated with follow-ups going unanswered, you might see keywords like "cold email follow-up templates" or "how often to follow up on a cold email."

But the thing is - The above is, probably, not a complete list. There are many other topics that you could target with specific keywords.

Here are some methods to uncover those:

Wikipedia's Table of Contents

This is by far one of the coolest methods to identify topics that might be relevant to your product.

Head to Wikipedia, and type in your broad topic. In the case of our cold outreach software example, the broad topic is cold email.

(Note, the reason we're not using "cold outreach" is because, as it happens, Wikipedia doesn't have an article on the topic. But it does have one on cold email.)

Review the article's table of contents to look for potential topics of interest.

For this topic, I can immediately see that two sections - Deliverability and Rules and regulations - contains quite a number of various subtopics that I could research further to find keywords people use to learn more about them.

Internal links on Wikipedia

Another way to use Wikipedia is to follow some of the internal links on the page.

Using our cold email page as an example again, note that its authors linked to other relevant articles. There aren't that many internal links here, I admit, but that's probably a good thing. It cuts down my research time, but still allows me to uncover some potentially interesting topics.

Reddit

Reddit has been becoming a hugely influential resource online. The site always dubbed itself "the front page of the Internet" but recently, with its rising prominence in the search results, it's influence has only grown.

Which means that your audience, most likely, is very active on Reddit. You can research what they discuss, and uncover much about their pain points and problems that way.

Here's how:

On Reddit, type in your broad topic into the search box. We're going to use "cold email" again.

Reddit will return a list of subreddits relevant to that topic.

Choose one (you can always research the others later, if there is more than one), and go through the most popular thread titles, identifying what information these people discuss.

TIP: Once you're done with researching the broad topic, research any subreddits related to your audience. The chances are that there are dedicated ones to the very people you're trying to attract AND that they go there too to discuss information related to what your product does.

Support inquiries

Finally, dig into your support queries. For most startups, they are a treasure trove of customer problems, issues, and challenges.

Granted, if your startup has just launched, you might not have that many support inquiries (and that's one reason why I included this at the end of the list). But as your customer base grows, so will the number of questions you get from them.

It’s that simple.

Step 2: Turn those pain points into research topics

Most likely, the research so far, generated a ton of data and information. If you've done it well, you might have hundreds of data points in front of you.

But naturally, not all of this is useful to your keyword research.

For one, some of these might be duplicates. Sure, the audience used slightly different phrases to describe their problems, but overall, they're looking for the same information.

Other pain points might not be as severe in the context of what your product does.

Using our cold outreach product as an example, you might have discovered the audience discussing email signatures a lot. But the ability to create good-looking signatures is only a small part of your products offering. It's also not the core value proposition that differentiates you from others. Not to mention that it's rarely a deal breaker when it comes to choosing a cold outreach product. It's hard to imagine it being a pain point that would push someone to search for such a product either.

As a result, it's, probably, not the most critical audience problem to tackle right now.

So, as the next step, you need to sift through it, and identify the most relevant topics for keyword research.

Luckily, doing so is relatively simple.

• Go through your list of pain points and problems, and write down the most commonly repeating ones. This will reduce the list to the most common pain points, removing duplicates.
• Mentally grade each pain point, considering how likely it would be to spark someone to look for a product like yours.
• Shortlist 10-20 topics to start researching further. Then, prioritize them using a simple scoring framework:

1. Proximity to Purchase: Ask yourself — how likely is it that someone experiencing this problem would be actively looking for a solution like yours? Give it a score from 1–5. The closer it brings them to signing up, the higher the sc

2. Product Relevance: How well does your product solve this issue? If your solution is tailor-made for this pain point, bump the score.

3. Content Opportunity: How easy is it to create high-quality, useful content around this topic? Do you have insights, data, or examples that make your take stand out?

Add up the scores for each topic and prioritize the top ones. This makes it easier to focus your keyword research on topics with the highest potential for impact and conversion.

Step 3: Use a keyword tool to find real keywords

To conduct keyword research, you will need to use a dedicated keyword research tool. You could, probably, find some keywords without it but the tool will make the process easier, faster, and will deliver all the insights you need to analyze your keywords and build a content plan.

I'm covering a whole bunch of them in a separate guide. But overall, the two most popular are SEMrush and Ahrefs.

I'm using the former, and will show you how to research keywords with it. However, the process is pretty much the same with the other one.

So, here's how to find keywords for your startup.

The tool will deliver several data points:

1/ Overview of the topic, including local and global search volume, generic keyword difficulty, intent (although, keep in mind that these tools often get this wrong), cost per click, the competition, and more.

This is a great starting point, and allows you to get a "feel" for the topic.

But naturally, what we're really interested in are keywords.

2/ Keyword ideas

Note how the tool splits this into two categories - variations and questions.

Clicking on each of the categories will take you to the actual list of keywords the tool has in its database for your broad topic.

Here's the top of the variations list.

The first thing you notice on that list of keywords is that these phrases are a bit all over the place, right?

I mean, some relate to recruitment, others to sales, etc.

That's because by default, the tool shows you Broad keywords, which are basically variations of the broad topic including all words in it in any order.

In other words, it includes every keyword with the words "cold" and "email" in it.

Such list is obviously too long to sift through. Luckily, you can filter it in two ways:

1/ You can change the keyword format from Broad to Phrase (exact keywords or keyword phrase in any order) or Exact (all words in your broad topic in the exact order).

You can also switch to show only keywords (in any of those formats) that use the question format.

But even with changing the format, you usually up with long lists of keywords.

2/ Another way to filter your results is to filter by keyword categories.

This is what's included in the left sidebar beside the keyword list:

Clicking on each category will filter the list to keywords including that topic only. For example, here are the results for the category "template."

These are much more precise and specific, right?

This is how I use this process to build initial keyword lists:

• I research the broad topic to get a "feel" for it. I also look at who's ranking on page one (most platforms show that info), who my online competitors are, and so on.
• Then, I review those categories in left sidebar, looking for any that are relevant to my product or audience's pain points. As you can imagine, not all of those categories will be a fit. Even with a quick glance at the above screenshot, I can see categories like "internship" or "jobs" that wouldn't match what my sales cold outreach product does (but they would, if my product targeted the HR use case...)  
• From then on, just add all relevant keywords in each category to keyword lists.

Step 4: Check out what your competitors rank for

I need to make something clear before we move on - Competitive keyword research seems like the easiest way to find profitable keywords for your startup.

It’s tempting to just plug a competitor’s domain into a keyword tool and call it a day. You’ll get a list of keywords they rank for, and some of them will even look like a good fit for your business.

But here’s the catch: their strategy isn’t tailored to your product, your audience, or your brand positioning. What works for them might not work for you — and vice versa. Plus, competitors might be targeting keywords simply because they have the domain authority to pull it off. You might not.

That said, competitor research is still a goldmine — when used correctly. It can show you:

• What topics your audience already cares about
• What gaps you might be able to fill
• Which keywords generate real traffic (especially if multiple competitors are ranking for the same ones)

Use competitor research to supplement, not replace, your own keyword discovery process. Combine what you learn from them with your own understanding of your customer’s pain points. That’s when you’ll start uncovering keywords that are truly worth pursuing — ones that align with your strengths and convert better for your business.

So, how do you conduct it properly?

Well, you need to use two methods.

First, research keywords each of your competitors is ranking for already.

To do that, once again, you need to use a keyword research tool.

Most such tools allow you not only to research keywords but also domains.

So, this time, instead of typing your broad topic into the search box, paste your competitors domain.

The tool, in my case, SEMrush, will deliver various metrics about the domain - it's authority, no. of links, estimated traffic, etc.

I need to make something clear before we move on - Competitive keyword research seems like the easiest way to find profitable keywords for your startup.

From then on, you can access the full list of ranking keywords, along with relevant keyword data.

TIP: Most SEO platforms will also list the domain's most popular pages - URLs that the platform has in its keyword database.

The report is another great place to look for keywords. Although, this time, you review the domains top ranking pages, and then, look at what keywords each of those pages ranks for.

Secondly, compare what keywords all your competitors rank for.

The logic behind this method is that if two or three of your competitors "go after" a specific keywords, it probably has at least some value to them.

Here's how to figure that out.

Most major SEO platforms - SEMrush, Ahrefs, etc. - offer the ability to compare domains.

SEMrush calls this feature Keyword Gaps.

Ahrefs calls it Competitive Analysis.

I'm sure other platforms have their own way of labelling the feature.

Nonetheless, for all of them, it works the same way. It allows you to compare domains against each other.

You can compare these domains in several different ways.

But here's the best method to uncover their top ranking keywords:

Filter the results to show only the top 10 ranking keywords for each domain.

You will see a list of keywords that all your competitors rank relatively well for.

Review the list, just like you did with other methods we discussed earlier, and add the most relevant phrases to your keyword lists.

It's that simple.

Let's start with the important bit - Clustering and analysis are not the same thing.

Keyword clustering is a process of grouping similar keywords based on their search intent.

In this process, you take all keywords on your list (even there are thousands of them there) and group them into groups of similar keywords.

Using cold email as an example again, your keyword list might include hundreds of keywords relating to cold email templates.

But this doesn't mean that you need to target each of those keywords individually.

In fact, many of those keywords would target a similar intent, meaning that you could rank for them with just a single page.

Keyword clustering helps you identify those clusters of keywords, and significantly reduce your target list.

How to cluster keywords?

Because of the, potentially, large volume of keywords to evaluate and cluster, you generally don't cluster keywords by hand.

Instead, you need to use a dedicated tool that will research the intent (and top ranking pages) for each keyword, and cluster all keywords on your list accordingly.

Keyword analysis, on the other hand, is a systematic way to identify phrases that are ideal to reach your current SEO goals.

When you analyze keywords, you basically review your clusters to decide which keywords to work on now, and which ones are best left for later.

In other words, analysis helps you prioritize keywords and start building a content plan.

How to analyze keywords?

You analyze keywords by looking at various data points, combined with your knowledge of the target market, to decide which topics to target and when.

Search traffic potential (or search volume)

Whatever tool you’ve used to build the keyword list probably provided you with the average search volume data as well so you can review that quickly.

When you do, remember that the search volume doesn’t tell you how many people will visit your site from this keyword. It only suggests the interest level in that phrase or topic each month.

But it's a great data point to get an idea of the audience's interest level.

TIP: Don’t immediately discount keywords with low search volume. Sometimes these keywords might attract fewer visitors but these might also be highly relevant to your product.

Keyword difficulty

Most keyword research tools include a metric like a keyword difficulty (some call it slightly differently, so you might need to check how your platform refers to it.)

This metric can tell you roughly, how hard it might be for you to target that phrase.

But note, I said roughly.

That’s because these tools evaluate keyword difficulty in general, not in the context of your site. So the actual keyword difficulty might be lower or higher, depending on how authoritative your site already is, how great your content is, and many other factors. That said, KD is a good indicator to review when evaluating keywords.

CPC (Commercial potential)

High CPC = people make money from this traffic.

When advertisers are dropping serious cash on a keyword, it’s a dead giveaway: that traffic converts. High CPCs aren’t just random numbers — they’re market signals. They tell you which keywords bring in buyers, not browsers.

Topic scope

When you're scoping a keyword cluster, don’t stop at surface-level volume. Ask: is there enough substance here to build out a full content hub — not just toss up a one-off blog post and call it a day?

Say you’re targeting "cold email templates." If you also see keywords like "cold email template for job outreach," "cold email template for SaaS sales," and "follow-up cold email example," you’ve got something. That’s a clear signal there's depth — and demand — around that topic.

That’s your chance to go big: think a pillar page covering the full landscape, with focused subpages branching off to tackle each variation in detail. That kind of structure signals to Google, "Hey, we own this topic."

And it works. You get more chances to rank. You reduce keyword cannibalization. You build topical authority fast.

Bottom line — clusters like this aren’t just SEO-friendly. They’re your shortcut to relevance, authority, and trust.

Trend and seasonality

Some keywords spike at specific times. Plan accordingly.

This is where trend and seasonality data comes in. Certain topics see predictable surges throughout the year — and if you publish content too late, you’ll miss the wave.

Some keywords spike at specific times. Plan accordingly.This is where trend and seasonality data comes in. Certain topics see predictable surges throughout the year — and if you publish content too late, you’ll miss the wave.

For example, keywords like "Black Friday SaaS deals" or "best budgeting tools for the new year" tend to peak in Q4 and January, respectively. If you publish in November or December, it’s already too late for search engines to index, rank, and trust your page.

That’s why planning ahead matters. Check tools like Google Trends or seasonality graphs in SEMrush/Ahrefs. If you see a topic starts gaining traction three months before its peak, that’s your cue to begin content production.

By aligning your content calendar with seasonal search behavior, you give your startup the best shot at showing up when demand hits its highest.

Gut feeling

If you know this keyword drives conversions, trust that.

Sometimes your internal data beats anything a keyword tool can tell you. Maybe your product team noticed that users who searched for a specific feature tend to convert at much higher rates. Or perhaps a low-traffic blog post has quietly become a top-performing lead generator over time.

Your gut, shaped by user behavior, conversion tracking, and real conversations with customers, is often your most reliable compass.

So while search volume, difficulty, and CPC all matter — if your data says a keyword delivers conversions, double down. Build more content around it. Target it from different angles. Strengthen your ranking. That’s how you make SEO not just a traffic channel, but a revenue engine.

So what is AI search, exactly?

AI search engines don’t just list 10 blue links. They summarize answers. They reference sources. They sometimes replace the need for the user to click through to your site. Which means if your content isn’t showing up in those AI-generated results — or worse, if it’s not even visible to the LLMs powering those engines — you’re invisible.

This has big implications for how you do keyword research.

How to adapt your keyword strategy for AI search

The big shift is from targeting exact-match queries to targeting intent clusters and answer patterns.

Here’s how:

1. Think in questions, not just keywords

In AI search, users tend to ask full questions like:

• "What’s the best cold email software for B2B startups?"
• "How do I improve email open rates without spam filters blocking me?"

That means you need to map your keyword strategy to common, conversational queries — and make sure your content actually answers them, clearly and thoroughly.

TIP: AI engines favor content with structured answers. Use subheadings, numbered lists, FAQs, and TL;DR summaries to boost your inclusion odds.

2. Cover the full context of a topic

AI search favors pages that show topical depth. If you want to be cited by ChatGPT or Perplexity, you can’t just answer the keyword — you need to answer the follow-ups, too.

Instead of writing just "Best email subject lines," aim for something like:

• "How to write email subject lines that boost open rates — with templates, psychology breakdowns, and testing strategies."

3. Use the language your audience uses

LLMs are trained on real content. That means the phrasing matters. If your audience tends to say "onboarding emails" instead of "welcome sequences," use their terms.

The more your language matches user phrasing, the better your chances of being featured.

That’s where Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) comes in.

GEO is about making your content so damn clear, structured, and trustworthy that AI-powered search engines have no choice but to include it in their answers.

These models aren’t just scanning for keywords anymore. They’re piecing together intent, credibility, and context. If your page rambles, lacks structure, or dodges the actual question — you're out. But if you give it to them straight — useful, well-organized, and easy to quote — you earn a seat at the AI search table.

How to apply GEO principles to your keyword strategy

1. Structure matters more than ever

• Use question-based H2s and H3s.
• Add TL;DRs and summaries up top.
• Include clearly labeled sections, bullet points, and step-by-step instructions.

This format isn’t just good for humans — it makes it easier for AI to parse and repurpose your content as an answer.

2. Get to the point — fast

Generative engines prioritize clarity. If it takes five paragraphs to get to your main point, you’re already losing.

Open with the takeaway, fast — then break it down.

For example, if your post is about improving email deliverability, don't ease into it with a long intro about why email matters. Hit them with the advice right away: "Use domain authentication, trim your list, and avoid spammy words." Then unpack each one.

That’s what AI engines pick up — sharp, structured, skimmable content that solves a problem from the first scroll.

3. Build authority on your topic

GEO rewards brands and sites that show consistent, high-quality content around a subject. This means:

• Creating multiple pieces around the same topic cluster
• Using internal links strategically
• Demonstrating experience, expertise, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T)

4. Include citations and sources

Some AI models give preference to content that references other credible work. Link out to reputable sources, studies, and industry research when appropriate. This signals depth and reliability.

5. Watch how your brand shows up in AI search

Use tools like Perplexity, Poe, and Bing Copilot to test how your content is surfaced (or not). If AI answers aren’t referencing you — that’s a sign to go deeper on structure, authority, and clarity.

Keyword research is not about finding random phrases to stuff into blog posts.

It’s how you figure out what your best-fit customers are searching for. What pain they feel. What they want to solve.

And when you get that right, you’re not just writing content.

You’re showing up when they need you most.

Good luck!