Keyword Research

Discovers, analyzes, and prioritizes keywords for SEO and GEO content strategies. Turns market signals into reusable strategic inputs (volume, difficulty, intent, clusters, GEO relevance).

Quick Start

Start with one of these prompts. Finish with a short handoff summary using the repository format in Skill Contract.

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?

Skill Contract

Expected output: a prioritized research brief, evidence-backed findings, and a short handoff summary ready for

memory/research/

Reads: user goals, target market inputs, available tool data, and prior strategy from CLAUDE.md and the shared State Model when available.
Writes: a user-facing research deliverable plus a reusable summary that can be stored under
```
memory/research/
```
.
Promotes: durable keyword priorities, competitor facts, entity candidates, and strategic decisions to
```
memory/hot-cache.md
```
,
```
memory/decisions.md
```
, and
```
memory/research/
```
; hand canonical entity work to
```
entity-optimizer
```
.
Next handoff: use the
```
Next Best Skill
```
below when the findings are ready to drive action.

Handoff Summary

Emit the standard shape from skill-contract.md §Handoff Summary Format.

Data Sources

Optional integrations: ~~SEO tool, ~~search console. Without tools, users provide seed keywords, audience, goals, and any known metrics manually. See CONNECTORS.md.

Instructions

When a user requests keyword research, run eight phases (announce each as

[Phase X/8: Name]

Scope — clarify product, audience, business goal, DR, geography, language
Discover — seed from core/problem/solution/audience/industry terms
Variations — expand with modifier and long-tail patterns
Classify — tag each by intent (informational/navigational/commercial/transactional)
Score — assign difficulty (1-100) and compute
```
Opportunity = (Volume × Intent Value) / Difficulty
```
with Intent Value 1/1/2/3
GEO-Check — flag AI-answer-friendly queries (questions, definitions, comparisons, lists, how-tos)
Cluster — group keywords into pillar + cluster topic hubs
Deliver — Executive Summary, Quick Wins / Growth / GEO opportunities, Topic Clusters, Content Calendar, Next Steps

Quality bar — every recommendation must include at least one specific number. Generic advice like "target long-tail keywords for better results" must be rewritten as "Target 'project management for nonprofits' (vol: 320, KD: 22) — no DR>40 sites in top 10" before including.

Reference: See references/instructions-detail.md for the full 8-phase templates, expansion patterns, intent classification table, difficulty tiers, opportunity matrix, GEO indicators, cluster template, deliverable quality bar with actionable vs. generic examples, and tips.

Example

User: "Research keywords for a project management software company targeting small businesses"

Output (abbreviated): 150+ keywords analyzed, 23 high-priority opportunities with ~45K/month traffic potential across 3 focus areas (task management workflows, team collaboration, small business productivity). Quick Wins prioritized by KD × volume × intent fit.

Reference: See references/example-report.md for the full report for "project management software for small businesses".

Advanced Usage

Intent Mapping, Seasonal Analysis, Competitor Gap, Local Keywords — see references/instructions-detail.md.

Tips for Success

Start with seeds; don't ignore long-tail; match intent; cluster for topical authority; prioritize quick wins; include GEO keywords; review quarterly. See references/instructions-detail.md.

Save Results

After delivering, offer to save a dated summary to

memory/research/keyword-research/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>.md

. Promote key conclusions to

memory/hot-cache.md

if they influence ongoing strategy.

Reference Materials

Instructions Detail — Full 8-phase workflow, expansion patterns, scoring, cluster templates, advanced usage, tips
Keyword Intent Taxonomy — Complete intent classification with signal words and content strategies
Topic Cluster Templates — Hub-and-spoke architecture templates for pillar and cluster content
Keyword Prioritization Framework — Priority scoring matrix, categories, and seasonal keyword patterns
Example Report — Complete example keyword research report for project management software

Next Best Skill

Primary: competitor-analysis. Also: content-gap-analysis, serp-analysis.

Keyword Research

AI Skill Market Insights

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