Keyword and prompt research for AI SEO and AEO

Executive overview

Most keyword research misses a critical filter: even high-traffic, low-difficulty keywords can be worthless if an AI overview fully answers the query and kills the click. The BID formula (Business potential, Intent, Difficulty) vets keywords on traditional criteria, but a fourth AI filter determines whether to target a keyword for organic ranking or for AI mention instead.

AI can't replace tool-based searches yet — those organic clicks remain fully available.

Building your keyword list

• Start with seed keywords (1–2 broad terms) and modifiers (best, how-to, calculator, etc.)
• Prompt your AI assistant: specify site type, revenue model, target audience — ask for 10 seeds and 5+ modifiers with no overlapping words
• Paste seeds into Keywords Explorer, use the matching terms report, apply modifiers as include filters

Vetting keywords with the BID formula

• Business potential: does ranking #1 actually help the business? "What is espresso" doesn't; "best espresso machine under $500" does
• Intent: Google the keyword and read the SERP — if top results are ecommerce pages and you're writing a blog post, don't target it
• Difficulty: check referring domains and domain rating of top pages; low-DR sites in the top 10 signal an opening

The AI filter — avoiding dead-end keywords

• AI overviews appear on ~21% of all keywords; for informational/question queries it reaches 58%
• 99.9% of AI overview keywords are informational in intent
• Google the keyword and ask: does the AI overview fully satisfy the query? If yes, don't target it for organic ranking
• Tool-based queries (calculator, checker, generator, template, finder) trigger no AI overviews — organic clicks are intact
• Filter for transactional intent directly in Keywords Explorer to surface buy/sign-up queries AI hasn't absorbed

Finding AI mention opportunities

• Keywords the AI overview "nails" still matter — target them for brand mentions in AI responses, not organic clicks
• 43.8% of AI-cited pages are listicles; being mentioned across multiple lists signals consensus and increases AI pickup
• Use Brand Radar: enter your site, filter for "Others Only" to see competitor mentions you're missing
• Filter for queries containing best, top, versus, review, or alternative — these are the AI shortlist queries
• Over 45% of AI overview citations change on average every two days — revisit this report regularly

Prompt research for conversational AI

• Users on ChatGPT, Perplexity, and AI Mode don't type keywords — they ask full-context questions
• The same question phrased 10 different ways can return 10 different brand mentions
• AI fans each prompt into many subqueries behind the scenes; most have zero search volume and never repeat
• Visibility for a topic requires breadth across the whole topic, not optimisation for one specific prompt