TL;DR Summary:
Modern Strategy: Build keywords around both Google rankings and AI prompts, not just old-school search data, so your strategy matches how people actually search now.Missed Opportunities: Traditional keyword research often misses conversational questions, niche intent, and topics competitors overlook, which leaves valuable traffic on the table.Smart Priorities: Focus on goals, search intent, competition, and available resources, then organize everything into topic clusters that can scale across search and AI platforms.How do I create a keyword strategy that works for both Google and AI search tools?
The way people search for information has changed dramatically. You need a keyword strategy that works for traditional Google searches and AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, and other conversational search platforms.
Most businesses still build keyword strategies using outdated methods from 2020. They analyze competitor rankings, check Google’s autocomplete suggestions, and pull data from keyword tools. These approaches only show what already exists in traditional search results.
Meanwhile, people type longer, more specific questions into AI tools. They ask for personalized recommendations that don’t match typical keyword patterns. Google itself now handles complex queries with AI features that change how search results appear.
Your business needs a modern approach that captures opportunities across all search platforms, not just the old ones.
Why Traditional Keyword Strategy Methods Fall Short
The standard keyword strategy process misses huge opportunities because it only looks backward at existing search data.
Competitor analysis shows keywords your rivals already target. If they haven’t covered a topic, it won’t appear in your research. But topics aren’t irrelevant just because competitors missed them.
Google’s autocomplete and “People Also Ask” features typically suggest short queries. You miss the longer, conversational questions people ask AI tools.
Keyword databases built on traditional search data can’t predict the specific, personalized queries that AI search handles best.
Google announced at I/O 2026 that search will expand to handle longer queries, AI-powered suggestions, and input beyond text like images and files. Your strategy needs to account for this shift.
Building Your Modern Keyword Strategy Framework
A modern keyword strategy defines which search queries and AI prompts you want to appear for, how you’ll target them, and which ones deserve priority based on your business goals.
This differs from basic keyword research. Research surfaces data about search volume and competition. Strategy combines that data with your goals, resources, and realistic opportunities.
You might discover that “online accounting software” gets searched ten times more than “accounting software for contractors.” But your strategy might focus on the second term because it’s less competitive and more relevant to your target customers.
Step 1: Review Your Current Search and AI Visibility
Check where you already appear in Google search results and AI responses before hunting for new opportunities.
Use Google Search Console to see your current keyword rankings. Go to Performance > Search Results and check all boxes. The Queries table shows which keywords drove impressions and clicks, plus your average ranking position.
For AI visibility, you need to track which prompts already mention your brand or content. Tools like Screpy can help monitor your visibility across different AI platforms alongside your traditional search performance.
Check AI tools manually by searching relevant prompts, but this becomes impossible to scale. Automated tracking shows you which topics associate with your brand across AI platforms.
This baseline helps you separate keywords where you have foundation to build on from completely new territory.
Step 2: Define Your Marketing Goals Before Choosing Keywords
Your goals determine which keywords actually matter for your business.
Brand awareness campaigns need broad topic coverage across terms related to your industry and audience. You want to appear when people ask general questions about your field.
Conversion-focused strategies prioritize commercial and transactional keywords. These reflect people actively evaluating options or ready to buy.
Local businesses need keywords that drive calls and visits, not just website traffic.
Decide what success looks like before building your keyword list. It changes which opportunities you pursue and how you rank them.
Step 3: Find Keyword and Prompt Opportunities Competitors Miss
Create a tracking spreadsheet with columns for keyword/prompt, search volume, difficulty, search landscape, intent, competition, and required resources.
Keyword Gap Analysis
Find relevant keywords your competitors rank for that you don’t using gap analysis tools. Look for terms where multiple competitors appear in top 10 results but you’re missing.
Filter results by search volume minimums and keyword difficulty to match your site’s authority level. Also filter by search intent:
- Informational: People want information
- Navigational: People want a specific site
- Commercial: People research products or services
- Transactional: People want to complete an action
Add promising keywords to your tracking spreadsheet with their metrics.
Topic Discovery Beyond Competitor Data
Tools like WriterZen help you discover keyword opportunities through topic-based research rather than just analyzing what competitors already do.
Topic discovery generates keyword clusters around broad subject areas, revealing angles competitors may have missed. This addresses the core limitation of traditional research – only seeing what already exists in search results.
Enter a broad topic related to your business. The tool generates topic clusters with associated keywords already grouped thematically. This helps identify content gaps and streamlines the organization process you’ll need later.
Prompt Gap Analysis
Find AI prompts your competitors appear for that you don’t. Look for prompts where competitors get mentioned in AI responses but your brand doesn’t appear.
Since AI prompts don’t have traditional search volume metrics, note them as opportunities and analyze demand during landscape research.
Step 4: Analyze the Search and AI Landscape
Understanding what appears for each keyword helps predict whether users will see and click your content.
Search your target keywords in Google and note what appears before the first organic result. Paid ads, shopping carousels, AI Overviews, map packs, and featured snippets all push organic results down and reduce click rates.
The SERP layout also tells you what content format might work best. Paid ads and shopping results suggest you need product pages. Video carousels indicate video content might outperform blog posts.
For AI prompts, test them in tools like Google AI Mode or ChatGPT. Note whether the AI recommends specific brands, what types of pages get cited as sources, and whether product cards appear in responses.
Screpy can help track your performance across both traditional search features and AI Overview appearances from one dashboard instead of checking multiple platforms manually.
Step 5: Understand What Searchers Actually Want
Search intent goes deeper than basic categories. You need to understand the specific information or outcome people want.
Search your target keywords and examine what currently ranks or gets cited by AI tools. Look for patterns in:
- Content format (guides, lists, product pages, videos)
- Angle (beginner-focused vs expert-level)
- Depth and detail level
Someone searching “nintendo switch 2” likely wants product information or shopping options, not a blog post. Someone searching “upcoming nintendo switch 2 games” might want news and analysis content.
Understanding these nuances helps you create content that matches user expectations and increases your chances of ranking or getting cited.
Step 6: Assess Your Competition Realistically
Keyword difficulty scores give you a starting point, but you need to analyze actual competitors to understand your real chances.
Look at the authority scores, backlink profiles, and estimated traffic of sites ranking for your target keywords. If top results have significantly more authority and links than you, that keyword may require building your overall site strength first.
Also assess resource requirements. Do competitors perform extensive product testing? Do their articles contain original research data you can’t replicate? Do videos have production values beyond your budget?
Note these competitive factors in your tracking spreadsheet to help prioritize winnable opportunities.
Step 7: Match Opportunities to Your Resources
Take honest inventory of your team’s time, budget, skills, knowledge, and tools.
You can’t target video-focused keywords without video creation capabilities or budget to hire professionals. Keywords requiring original research need staff and data access to create competitive content.
Also catalog existing assets like blog posts, ebooks, videos, case studies, and proprietary data. Some keywords might not need completely new content if you can repurpose existing materials into the right format.
Add resource requirements and available assets to your spreadsheet to guide implementation planning.
Step 8: Organize Keywords into Topic Clusters
Group related keywords into topic clusters – sets of thematically connected pages that establish authority in specific areas.
Each cluster includes a pillar page covering a broad topic and subpages diving into specific subtopics. This structure mimics how AI tools respond to queries by covering topics comprehensively with related subtopics.
WriterZen can automate this clustering process using its Keyword Planner feature. Upload your keyword list and the tool groups related terms based on semantic relationships and search intent, saving hours of manual sorting.
For manual clustering, upload your spreadsheet to an AI tool and ask it to group keywords into topic clusters with identified pillar topics and supporting subtopics.
Step 9: Track Results and Adapt Your Strategy
Monitor your keyword rankings and AI mention tracking to see which tactics drive results.
Set up tracking for your target keywords to see ranking changes over time. Also monitor your visibility in AI Overviews and citations in AI tool responses.
Look for keywords where you’re gaining or losing ground. Analyze whether content issues hold you back or if competitive changes make certain targets less achievable.
Use this data to refine your approach and identify which types of content and topics generate the best results for your specific situation.
The Future Requires Integrated Tracking and Strategy
Modern businesses need keyword strategies that work across traditional search engines and AI platforms, not just Google’s organic results.
The challenge lies in tracking performance across multiple platforms while maintaining the strategic focus that drives real business results. Screpy consolidates keyword tracking, technical SEO monitoring, and AI visibility into one dashboard, eliminating the need to juggle separate tools for each platform. You can monitor your keyword strategy performance across all search environments without losing strategic insights in platform fragmentation.
