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Key takeaways
- ChatGPT is great for brainstorming keywords but can’t check search volume or trends.
- Use ChatGPT to organise, refine, and expand keyword lists, then verify with SEO tools like Ahrefs.
- Pair ChatGPT with Google Search Console or automation tools to level up your SEO workflow.
Keyword research can feel like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
SEO tools are great, but they can be overwhelming or limited.
That’s where ChatGPT comes in.
It’s not exactly an SEO tool, but it’s damn clever.
It can help you brainstorm ideas, organise keywords, and think creatively.
But to be clear… it has limits.
ChatGPT doesn’t know search volumes or trends.
It doesn’t pull live data from the web.
Still, it’s fantastic as a brainstorming buddy.
In this guide, I’ll show you three easy steps to use ChatGPT for keyword research.
You’ll get real prompts you can copy and paste.
By the end, you’ll know how to make ChatGPT work for you without over-relying on it.
Let’s dive in.
Step #1 — quickly brainstorm keyword ideas
Coming up with fresh ideas is hard.
ChatGPT makes it less painful.
Unlike traditional SEO tools, it doesn’t just spit out numbers.
It generates creative, outside-the-box suggestions.
This makes it perfect for niche topics and long-tail keywords.
And it’s great for finding content ideas your competitors might miss.
- Example prompt: “Create a list of 20 creative blog topics for a website about eco-friendly travel. Try to use angles for SEO purposes. Strictly give me topics, not titles using a maximum of 1-4 words. Base it on what people search for in Google SERP”
ChatGPT might suggest:
- “Top 10 Eco-Friendly Destinations for 2024”
- “How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint While Flying”
- “Sustainable Packing Tips for Minimalist Travelers”
Each idea can inspire a blog post or even a content series.
You can use the prompt below directly after your one above:
An example follow-up prompt:
- “What are some related keywords to ‘eco-friendly travel’ focusing on sustainable activities?”
Here’s what you might get:
- “Green hiking trails”
- “Zero-waste camping”
- “Ethical wildlife tours”
These subtopics help diversify your content.
If you want to dig deeper, you need to focus on your audience.
- Example prompt: “What keywords would a budget traveler searching for eco-friendly destinations use? Use broad match keywords”
Now you’re getting terms like:
- “Cheap eco-lodges”
- “Low-cost sustainable travel”
- “Affordable green vacations”
This helps you target specific groups of people.
ChatGPT does really well when you ask it to “think” like your audience.
So you’ve got to think about asking the right questions.
Step #2 — refine your keyword list for relevance and clarity
A big keyword list isn’t always helpful.
It’s messy and hard to use.
And you’ll end up with cognitive overload or paradox of choice.
AI can clean it up for you.
It can remove duplicates, group keywords into categories, or add useful modifiers.
An example prompt might be:
- “Here’s my list of keywords: [insert list]. Clean it up by removing duplicates and organising them into categories.”
From this, you’ll usually get a tidy list broken down into themes.
Something like:
- “Eco-friendly hotels” goes under “accommodations.”
- “Sustainable packing tips” goes under “travel hacks.”
- “Green hiking trails” goes under “outdoor activities.”
It’s easier to work with organised lists.
You can also use ChatGPT to create variations of keywords.
For example, “Take the keyword ‘eco-friendly hotels’ and generate variations with location modifiers (e.g., cities, regions).”
And you’ll get:
- “Eco-friendly hotels in Bali”
- “Green accommodations in California”
- “Sustainable lodges in New Zealand”
This is gold for local SEO.
Because it helps you come up with keywords for specific places or niches.
This transitions into another quick win for creating FAQs:
For example: “Turn these keywords into questions someone might search for on Google.”
Then…
- “Eco-friendly hotels” becomes “What are the best eco-friendly hotels in Costa Rica?”
- “Green hiking trails” becomes “Where can I find green hiking trails near me?”
These questions can help you add FAQ schema to your blog posts.
Because people love answers, and so does Google.
Step #3 — fact check and expand your keyword research
ChatGPT is creative, but it’s not perfect.
So, you need to validate its suggestions using proper SEO tools.
Like Ahrefs (which is what I use) or Semrush.
Think of ChatGPT as your idea generator, not your fact-checker.
So once you’ve validated your keywords, use ChatGPT to expand on them.
For example, try: “Based on these keywords, what topics might my competitors be targeting? Come up with ideas for less competitive angles.”*
If everyone’s writing about “eco-friendly hotels,” you could explore:
- “Eco-friendly hostels”
- “Sustainable Airbnb options”
- “Off-grid eco retreats”
This helps you find gaps in the market for content angles.
You can also cross-check search intent with ChatGPT.
An example prompt might be: “For the keyword ‘eco-friendly travel,’ break down the search intent into informational, navigational, transactional, and commercial.”
Here’s what that might look like:
- Informational: “What is eco-friendly travel?”
- Navigational: “Best eco-friendly travel blogs.”
- Transactional: “Book an eco-friendly tour.”
- Commercial: “Top eco-friendly luggage brands.”
Understanding intent helps you create targeted content.
But remember, ChatGPT guesses based on patterns.
So you need to always double-check with tools like Ahrefs or Semrush.
Fact-checking is non-negotiable.
When to trust ChatGPT and when to proceed with caution
As you know by now, ChatGPT is amazingly creative.
It’s great for brainstorming, organising, and coming up with ideas.
I use it to help me with:
- Coming up with unique topics.
- Expanding content clusters.
- Creating content outlines and FAQs.
But it has blind spots.
Like:
- It doesn’t know real-time search volumes.
- It can’t detect trends or live competition (unless you use the search function).
- It’s not reliable for technical SEO decisions.
Image Source: DeepLearning.AI
To avoid making mistakes, I recommend:
- Always validate keywords with SEO tools (like Ahrefs, etc).
- Test multiple prompts to refine the output.
- Don’t rely on ChatGPT alone (duh).
You’ve gotta think of it as a creative partner, not an SEO specialist.
New ways to level up with ChatGPT
Once you’ve mastered the basics, you can take it up a notch.
If you’re tech-savvy, try using ChatGPT’s API (with Zapier or Activepieces).
You can run multiple prompts and connect them together.
This saves 100s of hours of manual input.
Like, we save 70% of blog writing time doing this.
Another advanced move is to combine ChatGPT with Google Search Console.
You can export your GSC data and let ChatGPT analyse it.
Either take a screenshot or upload CSV data from GSC.
- An example might be: “Take a look at these search queries from my GSC data and group them by search intent.”
This can show you what’s already driving traffic.
Another use for it could be to create detailed content briefs.
- Example prompt: “Create a content brief for the keyword ‘sustainable travel tips,’ including target audience, subheadings, and call-to-actions.”
This gives you a roadmap for creating high-quality content.
The possibilities are endless if you experiment.
Ready to give it a try? Here’s your first prompt
Open ChatGPT and type this:
- Prompt: “What are 10 low-competition keywords I could target for a blog about [your topic]?”
Play around with prompts.
Change them to suit your needs.
And don’t forget… fact check everything before you put it out on the internet.
ChatGPT is a tool, not a human.
Pair it with solid SEO tools, and you’ll crush it with your keyword strategy.
