/keyword-research

name: keyword-research
argument-hint: "<topic, niche, or seed keyword>"
description: >
  Discover, analyze, and prioritize keywords for SEO and GEO content strategies.
  Identifies high-value opportunities based on search volume, competition,
  intent, and business relevance. Generates topic clusters and content calendars.
  Use when asked to "find keywords", "keyword research", "what should I write
  about", "keyword analysis", "find me topics to write", "search volume",
  "keyword difficulty", "content ideas", or any keyword discovery task.

Keyword Research

Discovers, analyzes, and prioritizes keywords for SEO and GEO content strategies. Identifies high-value opportunities based on search volume, competition, intent, and business relevance.

When This Must Trigger

Use this when the conversation involves any of these situations — even if the user does not use SEO terminology:

Use this whenever the task needs reusable market intelligence that should influence strategy, not just an ad hoc answer.

• Starting a new content strategy or campaign
• Expanding into new topics or markets
• Finding keywords for a specific product or service
• Identifying long-tail keyword opportunities
• Understanding search intent for your industry
• Planning content calendars
• Researching keywords for GEO optimization

What This Skill Does

1. **Keyword Discovery**: Generates comprehensive keyword lists from seed terms 2. **Intent Classification**: Categorizes keywords by user intent (informational, navigational, commercial, transactional) 3. **Difficulty Assessment**: Evaluates competition level and ranking difficulty 4. **Opportunity Scoring**: Prioritizes keywords by potential ROI 5. **Clustering**: Groups related keywords into topic clusters 6. **GEO Relevance**: Identifies keywords likely to trigger AI responses

Quick Start

Start with one of these prompts.

Basic Keyword Research

Research keywords for [topic/product/service]

Find keyword opportunities for a [industry] business targeting [audience]

With Specific Goals

Find low-competition keywords for [topic] with commercial intent

Identify question-based keywords for [topic] that AI systems might answer

Competitive Research

What keywords is [competitor URL] ranking for that I should target?

Data Sources

> **Note:** All integrations are optional. This skill works without any API keys — users provide data manually when no tools are connected.

**With ~~SEO tool + ~~search console connected:** Automatically pull historical search volume data, keyword difficulty scores, SERP analysis, current rankings from ~~search console, and competitor keyword overlap. The skill will fetch seed keyword metrics, related keyword suggestions, and search trend data.

**With manual data only:** Ask the user to provide: 1. Seed keywords or topic description 2. Target audience and geographic location 3. Business goals (traffic, leads, sales) 4. Current domain authority (if known) or site age 5. Any known keyword performance data or search volume estimates

Proceed with the full analysis using provided data. Note in the output which metrics are from automated collection vs. user-provided data.

Instructions

When a user requests keyword research:

1. **Understand the Context**

Ask clarifying questions if not provided:

• What is your product/service/topic?
• Who is your target audience?
• What is your business goal? (traffic, leads, sales)
• What is your current domain authority? (new site, established, etc.)
• Any specific geographic targeting?
• Preferred language?

2. **Generate Seed Keywords**

Start with:

• Core product/service terms
• Problem-focused keywords (what issues do you solve?)
• Solution-focused keywords (how do you help?)
• Audience-specific terms
• Industry terminology

3. **Expand Keyword List**

For each seed keyword, generate variations:

   ## Keyword Expansion Patterns
   
   ### Modifiers
   - Best [keyword]
   - Top [keyword]
   - [keyword] for [audience]
   - [keyword] near me
   - [keyword] [year]
   - How to [keyword]
   - What is [keyword]
   - [keyword] vs [alternative]
   - [keyword] examples
   - [keyword] tools
   
   ### Long-tail Variations
   - [keyword] for beginners
   - [keyword] for small business
   - Free [keyword]
   - [keyword] software/tool/service
   - [keyword] template
   - [keyword] checklist
   - [keyword] guide

4. **Classify Search Intent**

Categorize each keyword:

| Intent | Signals | Example | Content Type | |--------|---------|---------|--------------| | Informational | what, how, why, guide, learn | "what is SEO" | Blog posts, guides | | Navigational | brand names, specific sites | "google analytics login" | Homepage, product pages | | Commercial | best, review, vs, compare | "best SEO tools [current year]" | Comparison posts, reviews | | Transactional | buy, price, discount, order | "buy SEO software" | Product pages, pricing |

5. **Assess Keyword Difficulty**

Score each keyword (1-100 scale):

   ### Difficulty Factors
   
   **High Difficulty (70-100)**
   - Major brands ranking
   - High domain authority competitors
   - Established content (1000+ backlinks)
   - Paid ads dominating SERP
   
   **Medium Difficulty (40-69)**
   - Mix of authority and niche sites
   - Some opportunities for quality content
   - Moderate backlink requirements
   
   **Low Difficulty (1-39)**
   - Few authoritative competitors
   - Thin or outdated content ranking
   - Long-tail variations
   - New or emerging topics

6. **Calculate Opportunity Score**

Formula: `Opportunity = (Volume × Intent Value) / Difficulty`

**Intent Value** assigns a numeric weight by search intent:

• Informational = 1
• Navigational = 1
• Commercial = 2
• Transactional = 3

   ### Opportunity Matrix
   
   | Scenario | Volume |