ChatGPT has emerged as a potential solution for many SEO tasks, including keyword research. Keyword research is usually the most time-consuming and nerve-racking part of the SEO process, especially for busy founders. But the SEO journey starts with the right keyword research, so it’s such an important part of the process.
With ChatGPT’s ability to generate ideas instantly and understand natural language, it seems like the perfect tool for resource-strapped startups.
But before you completely replace your traditional keyword research processes with AI, it’s important to understand both the remarkable capabilities and significant limitations of using ChatGPT.
Let’s answer these questions once and for all:
- Is it truly reliable?
- How useful is it in practice?
- And most importantly, when should you rely on it, and when should you turn to other methods?
Is ChatGPT Reliable for Keyword Research?
No, it’s not 100% reliable for real keyword data. But is it useful? Yes!
ChatGPT is trained on billions of data points, but it doesn’t have access to SEO data like search volume and keyword difficulty. The good news is that it’s extremely useful for your entire keyword research process. We’ll talk more about this process later…
But first…let’s try comparing ChatGPT keyword research vs. keyword research from Surfer SEO. Let’s use the keyword “optimize seo for llm.”
ChatGPT actually gave a very good answer. It provided related concepts, giving me more ideas for keyword research. In 2023, when ChatGPT was first released, it provided fake search volume!
Here is the data from Surfer:
You can see that the concepts mentioned in ChatGPT are not even in the keyword research. That means I can use those topics and do another keyword research on Surfer SEO, expanding my search and potential keywords we can write about.
Need help with your keyword research? Book a free SEO strategy call with me.
What Makes ChatGPT Appealing for Keyword Research
There’s no question that ChatGPT offers several compelling advantages that make it attractive for keyword research, especially for startups with limited resources.
Speed and Convenience
Speed and convenience stand out as the most obvious benefits. Traditional keyword research can take hours as you sift through data, analyze competitors, and organize your findings. ChatGPT can generate dozens of keyword ideas in seconds with a single prompt.
Easy User Interface
For non-SEO experts, ChatGPT provides an accessible entry point. You don’t need to understand complex metrics or navigate specialized tools—just ask in plain language, and you’ll receive keyword suggestions that make sense, even without technical SEO knowledge.
Cost Effectiveness
Cost efficiency is another significant factor. While professional keyword research tools typically require monthly subscriptions ranging from $99-$500, ChatGPT offers a free version and relatively affordable premium options, making it budget-friendly for startups watching every dollar. Even upgrading to ChatGPT Plus isn’t such a huge investment. For a team account, it only costs me $30 per month per team member.
Identify Conversational Keywords
Perhaps most impressively, ChatGPT excels at identifying conversational keywords that reflect how real people ask questions. As search becomes increasingly conversational due to voice search and the growing influence of Large Language Models (LLMs), this ability to generate natural-sounding queries is increasingly valuable.
The Limitations of ChatGPT for Keyword Research
Despite its appeal, ChatGPT has several significant limitations that prevent it from being a complete keyword research solution.
No Real Data
The most critical limitation is the lack of search volume and competition data. ChatGPT cannot tell you how many people search for a keyword each month or how difficult it might be to rank for it. Without these metrics, you’re essentially flying blind when it comes to prioritizing which keywords to target.
Another major issue is ChatGPT’s knowledge cutoff and potential for outdated information. The model’s training data only extends to a specific date, meaning it doesn’t know about recent trends, emerging topics, or shifts in search behavior that happened after its training period.
Fake “Keywords”
ChatGPT can also sometimes generate what experts call “hallucinations”—entirely fabricated keywords that sound plausible but have zero search volume or aren’t actually used by real people. This can lead you to waste time creating content that no one is searching for.
The tool also lacks contextual understanding of your business niche. Without specific expertise in your industry, ChatGPT might suggest keywords that seem relevant on the surface but miss important nuances or fail to align with commercial intent in your specific market.
Do note that ChatGPT’s accuracy gets better in every update, so it’s providing fewer hallucinations. But still, it can provide inaccurate information.
No Search Intent Signals
Finally, ChatGPT provides no visibility into search intent signals that help you understand where users are in their buying journey. It is difficult to distinguish between informational, navigational, and transactional keywords without additional verification.
Ultimately, ChatGPT wasn’t meant to be a tool to get search engine data. So, it’s hard to rely on it for accurate keyword research.
If you need an expert SEO team to do keyword research for you, check out our fractional SEO marketing service.
When to Use ChatGPT for Keyword Research
Despite its limitations, ChatGPT can be extremely valuable in specific situations and for certain aspects of the keyword research process.
Brainstorming Seed Keywords
Brainstorming seed keywords and topics is where ChatGPT truly shines. When you’re starting with a blank slate and need to generate initial ideas around your topic, ChatGPT can provide a wealth of starting points much faster than manual brainstorming.
Long-tail Variations
For generating long-tail keyword variations, ChatGPT can be impressively thorough. Once you have a primary keyword, asking ChatGPT to expand it into longer, more specific phrases can uncover valuable opportunities that traditional tools might miss because they fall below conventional search volume thresholds.
ChatGPT excels at creating topic clusters and content ideas. By asking it to organize keywords into thematic groups, you can quickly develop a content structure that covers a topic comprehensively, perfect for creating comprehensive FAQs and building topical authority.
Question-Based Keywords for FAQ
When you need question-based keywords for FAQs, ChatGPT’s conversational nature makes it particularly effective. It can generate dozens of how-to, what-is, and why questions that reflect how real users might phrase their queries when seeking information about your products or services.
Here are questions I recently tried to include in a blog post about Slack. I wanted to get more ideas on what kind of questions people ask beyond what shows up on Google and Bing’s People Also Ask.
Finally, ChatGPT can be invaluable for exploring niche markets with limited conventional data. In highly specialized industries where traditional keyword tools may not have sufficient data, ChatGPT can suggest relevant terminology and potential search queries based on its broad understanding of the topic.
When to Avoid Using ChatGPT for Keyword Research
While ChatGPT has its uses, there are situations where relying on it would be counterproductive.
- When you need precise search volume data: If you’re making decisions about which keywords to prioritize based on potential traffic, you’ll need actual search volume metrics from tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or even Google Keyword Planner.
- For competitive analysis requiring metrics: It can’t tell you keyword difficulty scores, analyze what competitors are ranking for, or identify gaps in your competitors’ keyword strategies—all essential aspects of a comprehensive SEO approach.
- When recency is critical: In fast-moving industries (like AI!) where search behavior changes quickly, you need tools that access current data, not information that might be months or years old.
Most importantly, ChatGPT should never be used for final keyword selection without verification. Even the SEO tools can’t get it 100% right all the time. For example, Surfer might say that the keyword difficulty is low. But when you actually search the keyword, the competition is high based on the sites that are already ranking.
SEO tools don’t provide real-time data most of the time, so it’s important to cross-check the real story behind the numbers. For example, we have a lot of AI startups as clients, and the keyword difficulty is always a moving target.
Best Practices for Using ChatGPT in Your Keyword Research Process
To make the most of ChatGPT while avoiding its pitfalls, follow these best practices for integrating it into your keyword research process.
- Start with clear, specific prompts to guide ChatGPT’s responses. Vague requests will yield vague results.
- Always verify results with dedicated SEO tools. Use ChatGPT for the initial brainstorming, then run the most promising keywords through tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or even free options like Keywords Everywhere to check search volume, difficulty, and SERP features.
- Create a hybrid approach combining AI with traditional methods. For example, you might use ChatGPT to expand a list of keywords you’ve already verified have decent search volume, or vice versa—use traditional tools to find high-volume keywords, then ask ChatGPT to suggest related long-tail variations.
Remember that ChatGPT should be a starting point, not a complete solution. Think of it as a creative assistant that can help you explore possibilities, rather than a decision-making tool that tells you exactly what to target.
Practical ChatGPT Prompts for Effective Keyword Research
Here are some effective prompts you can copy and paste directly into ChatGPT to jumpstart your keyword research:
For finding seed keywords
“I’m creating content for a [your type of business]. List 20 broad seed keywords that potential customers might search for when looking for solutions like mine.”
For generating long-tail variations
“Take this seed keyword: [your keyword]. Generate 15 long-tail keyword variations that include questions, specific features, or customer problems related to this topic.”
For creating topic clusters
“Organize the following keywords into 5 thematic clusters based on search intent and topic relevance: [paste your list of keywords]. Give each cluster a descriptive name that could serve as a pillar content topic.”
For developing question-based keywords
“Create 20 question-based keywords that potential customers might ask about [your topic], divided into beginner questions, intermediate questions, and advanced questions.”
For identifying user intent categories
“For the keyword [your keyword], generate 10 variations for each of these search intents: informational (learning about the topic), commercial investigation (comparing options), and transactional (ready to purchase).”
Remember to customize these prompts with your specific business details and objectives for the most relevant results. As you see the responses from ChatGPT, it will spark more ideas.
How I Do Keyword Research with ChatGPT
We are a fractional SEO team, so keyword research is a part of our weekly and monthly workflows.
But most times, I already know which keywords to target because we have many sources of data to decide which keywords to target, including:
- Google Search Console – I look at queries we are showing up for, but we don’t have a blog post yet.
- Ahrefs – Discover keywords related to our target keywords.
- Surfer SEO – Use the SEO site audit and topic research to discover topics we haven’t covered yet.
Your own data and data from SEO tools are still the most accurate way to decide which keywords to write about.
When I use ChatGPT:
- When I have exhausted a keyword cluster and need more related ideas for another cluster of keywords.
- When I need more questions that I can include in the FAQ.
- When I’m brainstorming potential keyword clusters for new clients.
- When a client shared a topic, I couldn’t find keywords with enough search volume.
ChatGPT is really great at expanding your ideas and thinking of topics that you won’t normally think of because you’re limited to what you know about a topic or industry.
The Future of AI in Keyword Research
There is a lot of potential regarding keyword research and ChatGPT. Here are some of my predictions:
- ChatGPT could integrate with Ahrefs and similar SEO tools, so you can have accurate data within ChatGPT.
- Ahrefs could have data from ChatGPT and show what people are asking in ChatGPT.
- New tools will emerge to combine both!
Regardless of the tools and the tech, make sure to talk to your target audience and customers. Ultimately, they are the freshest and most original source of getting ideas for keywords.
FAQs About Using ChatGPT for Keyword Research
Can ChatGPT completely replace traditional keyword research tools?
No, ChatGPT cannot fully replace traditional keyword research tools. While it excels at generating keyword ideas and variations, it lacks critical data on search volume, keyword difficulty, and competitor analysis. For comprehensive keyword research, you’ll need to use ChatGPT alongside dedicated SEO tools.
How accurate is the keyword data provided by ChatGPT?
ChatGPT’s keyword suggestions are based on training data, not real-time search data. This means its suggestions are generally plausible but not backed by current search volume metrics. Always verify ChatGPT’s keyword suggestions with dedicated SEO tools before building your content strategy around them.
What are the best prompts to use for keyword research in ChatGPT?
The most effective prompts are specific about your business, target audience, and content goals. Include details about your industry, what problem you solve, and the type of content you’re creating. Ask for variations based on different search intents (informational, commercial, transactional) and request both short-tail and long-tail options.
Conclusion
ChatGPT represents a valuable addition to the SEO toolkit, particularly for resource-constrained startup founders looking to maximize efficiency. While it excels at creative ideation, topic expansion, and identifying conversational phrases, it cannot replace data-driven keyword research tools entirely.
The most effective approach combines the strengths of both worlds: use ChatGPT for its creative capabilities and speed, then verify and refine those insights with dedicated tools that provide search volume, competition metrics, and trend data. This hybrid methodology gives you both the breadth of possibilities AI can generate and the data-backed confidence needed to make strategic content decisions.
