Keywords
Keywords are the words and phrases people type into search engines, and the ones you choose to make your pages findable for.
Keywords are the words and phrases people type into a search engine. In SEO, they're also the searches you choose to target: the phrases you want your pages to show up for. "Coffee subscription," "best espresso beans" and "how to descale a kettle" are all keywords.
Keyword research is where most SEO starts. It tells you what your customers search for, how often, and in what words, so you can write the pages that answer them.
Kinds of keywords
SEOs sort keywords in a few ways. By length: short, broad ones like "coffee," and long, specific ones like "low acid coffee for sensitive stomach," which are searched less but are usually easier to win and closer to a decision. By intent: learning, comparing, buying or looking for a particular site. And by brand: searches that name you, and searches that don't.
From keywords to prompts
People tend to ask AI platforms whole questions, often with their situation attached. Someone who types "coffee subscription UK" into Google might ask ChatGPT "which coffee subscription in the UK is best for someone who only drinks decaf and wants to pause deliveries in summer?"
So in AI search, the unit is the prompt. Keywords are still useful as a map of what your customers care about. For example, if "decaf coffee subscription" is one of Fernhill Coffee's best keywords, a good set of prompts would ask about decaf subscriptions the ways a real customer might: comparing brands, asking about taste, asking about price.
In AnswerOrbit
We track prompts. Write each one as a whole question, the way a customer would put it to a person, and group them into topics. You can connect Google Ads in Settings to see the keywords you bid on next to your visibility on each topic. The Demand tab in Topics estimates how many conversations a month use a word or phrase on the AI platforms. See Topics and prompts and Set up your brand.