Navigational query
A navigational query is a search from someone trying to reach a particular website or page, like "Fernhill Coffee login" or "Kestrel Roasters."
A navigational query is a search from someone who wants to get to a particular website or page. They already know where they're going and use the search box as a shortcut. "Fernhill Coffee," "Kestrel Roasters opening hours" and "Harrow & Pine returns" are all navigational.
It's one of the classic ways of sorting search intent, next to informational searches (learning something) and commercial or transactional ones (comparing and buying).
Why they matter
Navigational searches come from your own customers, or people very close to becoming one. They're usually easy to win: you're the obvious result for your own name. The risk is in what else shows up around you.
For example, someone searches "Harrow & Pine." The first result is Harrow & Pine's site. But below it sits a review site with an old one-star complaint, a reseller with higher prices, and a competitor's ad. Each of those can pull away a customer who'd already chosen you.
So it's worth looking at your brand searches the way a customer does: does the page they land on answer what they came for, and does the rest of the page help you or hurt you?
Navigational queries and AI search
People do the same thing with AI platforms. They ask "what's Fernhill Coffee's phone number?" or "how do I cancel my Kestrel subscription?" These are navigational prompts, and the stakes are higher than in search, because the platform gives one answer instead of a list of links. If it gives an old phone number, or sends the person to a competitor, there's often no second result to correct it.
In AnswerOrbit
Track a few navigational questions as branded prompts, in their own topic or with a tag, so they don't lift your visibility on the questions where you have to compete. What the answers say about you is checked against your facts in Claims.