Picture the setting: You’ve just had a fantastic idea for an article. You’re ready to get started to plan out everything here, from the storyboard to your outline, excited to dive into a topic that you have a strong amount of subject matter expertise in, but BOOM: you hit a wall because you don’t know exactly where you should start.
This is a common challenge for many writers. We often overestimate our ability to craft an engaging piece from scratch, especially when it comes to creating something that resonates with readers. Even more tricky, we sometimes overlook whether the idea we’re passionate about is something that people are actively searching for. That’s where a tool like ChatGPT can be incredibly helpful.
While it’s true that AI-generated content can feel a bit mechanical or different from a human’s voice, ChatGPT can serve a valuable purpose when it comes to keyword research. Rather than relying on it to write the entire article for you, you can use it to identify extremely relevant keywords and uncover the specific niches within your topic that people are actively searching for.
By feeding your disconnected ideas into ChatGPT, you can receive a web of ideas that help you plot the course to write multiple articles. From there, you can use the insights to create a targeted outline for your article—one that captures both your original intent and the search interests of your audience. This allows you to write with clarity and confidence, knowing you’re hitting the right notes for both readers and search engines.
Using ChatGPT for SEO keyword and topical research
In this piece, we’ll be talking about the specific ways that we use ChatGPT for keyword and topic research that fits the central idea. We will be including prompts that we put into ChatGPT in order to create a roadmap to follow for our keyword research.
The goal here is to help you discover ways to find topics to outline for a topic that you want to write about, and to help you format those topics in a way that makes sense.
How to start your ChatGPT prompt
When you first start your keyword research by using ChatGPT, you have to remember that you need to establish the following:
- A primary topic (let’s use golf in this example)
- Categories of that primary topic
- Article ideas for each category
- A starting point for your keyword research
Step 1 – Website research
In order to do this, we inputted the following prompt into ChatGPT to establish all of the above:
What are the most popular blogs and websites about golf?
Looking at all of those sites (Ignore all other inputs from different sites) if you had to organize all of the things they write about into 5-10 core categories, what would those categories be?
Give a brief description of each category and a couple of specific examples of topics they’ve written about that would fit into the category.
Please provide links to articles from each website that represent each category.
So if we’re using golf as an example topic here, you first need to establish categories inside of that topic that we can use as starting points for articles that people may be looking to read.
Two examples that we came up with were golf instruction and equipment reviews or comparisons.
Your first step should always be website research. As noted above, take a handful of the websites that you think provide good information and, in your prompt on ChatGPT, ask it to target the best-performing categories on the site, giving you a description of each category and specific examples. This is where you can grab article ideas and formulate your own niches that people will be interested in learning about inside of your main topic.
When you put this prompt into ChatGPT, it will spit out article ideas from those categories that should give you a roadmap to follow of what people are interested in. Here is what was provided from the prompt
From there, you can get to a point where you’re ready to start your keyword and topical research on a subject that you know people want to learn about.
Step 2- Twitter research
After you get all of these website results and you pick article titles inside of the niche that you want to focus on, it’s time to dive deeper into SEO and topical research and a great way to start is by using Twitter, or X, as it’s now called.
We inputted the following prompt into ChatGPT to accomplish this:
What are the most popular Twitter accounts that tweet frequently about golf?
Looking at all of those accounts, ignoring all other accounts, if you had to organize all of the things they write about into 5-10 core categories, what would those categories be? Give a brief description of each category and a couple of specific examples of things they’ve tweeted about that would fit into the category.
Please provide links to relevant tweets.
We used Twitter for research here because, realistically, a lot of content creators aren’t JUST making long-form blog and website content.
Another thing to keep in mind here is that by researching what people are searching on Twitter as it relates to your topic, you can get a good idea of how to repurpose your website or blog content for Twitter as well as other social platforms. This is a great way to increase your SEO and organic traffic because it adds multiple vehicles to carry your content.
This sequence gives you another angle to look at about how people on social media view the topic that you’re trying to write about.
For example, if we have the golf instruction article angle, you might get a tweet from someone like Rick Shiels, who is a golf content creator and professional, talking about how to improve your bunker game, complete with a video in that tweet that illustrates what you need to do.
Here are some of the results we got from our ChatGPT Twitter prompt:
Step 3 – Reddit research
Another component of keyword research is Reddit, and a reason that Reddit works, especially with a topic like golf, is that people like to ask questions in community forums, which is exactly what Reddit is.
Here is the third prompt that we fed into ChatGPT, this time focusing on Reddit:
What are the most popular subreddits about golf?
Looking at all of those subreddits, and ignoring all other subreddits, if you had to organize all of the most popular posts on these subreddits into 5-10 core categories, what would those categories be?
Give a brief description of each category and a couple of specific examples of things they’ve written about that would fit into the category.
Please provide links to relevant Reddit threads.
You won’t get a lot of visual help like you can on Twitter or other social media platforms, but the purpose of including Reddit in your ChatGPT prompt is that it offers a different perspective, and that perspective will typically be from the people you’re trying to reach. In addition to this, it is fairly common for Reddit threads to show up on Google search results. This is because searchers actively seek out content from these forums, which leads to Google giving them high authority in search.
Reddit has a high popularity on Google Search due to this, and in fact, a Reddit thread will show up 97.5% of the time in Google Search product review queries.
Your ChatGPT prompt can utilize Reddit results by asking the AI to search for comparable Reddit threads that include questions that you’re asking, whether they be about tips on how to get faster swing speed or opinions on which golf ball is best. When we put this prompt into ChatGPT, here was some of the results:
You can go to many different subreddits to request advice, so the platform is a valuable tool to do SEO and keyword research on to figure out what other information to put in your article.
Step 4 – Influencer and thought leader research
The next thing that you should do for your prompt on ChatGPT is get a sense of what influencers and thought leaders have to say on your topic. During this step, you may see a solid amount of overlap with your Twitter research, which is to be expected. After testing different prompts, we found that adding this additional step for influencers and thought leaders, helped us close a few gaps in our research, and led to an overall better end product.
Here is the prompt that we inputted:
Are there individual people who are golf influencers or thought leaders? If so, who are they?
You just gave me a list of popular golf Twitter accounts and a list of golf thought leaders and influencers; based on the things those accounts and people tweet and write about, create a list of broad categories with specific examples of tweets that have been sent or things the influencers have said or talked about.
Please include the most popular tweets from those accounts in a separate list.
The extra layer here helps us dive further into the space, as influencers and thought leaders commonly have their fingers on the pulse of what people are interested in seeing (often by their own content research!).
This is separate from the prompt for Twitter research because it provides more context for searches. For instance, people who do not use Twitter frequently, like professional golfers or TV analysts, might have an opinion on a topic like this that they won’t put on Twitter themselves, but it might get aggregated within the industry. So including an additional prompt for this category can help in situations like that.
When we put this final prompt into ChatGPT, here are the results that it came up with:
There also exists the unfortunate reality that niche communities on Twitter, whether that be golf, fantasy football, or others, tend to be echo chambers in the sense that one opinion gets echoed by everyone else, even if it might not be the most correct one.
How to use this research
Okay, now that you’ve compiled all of this research in your ChatGPT prompt, it’s time to organize it into a content plan. To do this efficiently, we inputted one final prompt into ChatGPT:
Ok, so in this chat, we’ve looked at popular golf websites, popular golf Twitter accounts, popular golf subreddits, and notable golf influencers and thought leaders.
Please Combine all of these areas to create one extensive list of possible sub-niches or categories of topics related to GOLF for a new GOLF website – include the general category, a brief description of the types of posts for that category, and some specific ideas for posts based on everything we’ve learned in this chat.
Please provide me with a written list and a table for this information. In the table, create an additional column for links to relevant articles, tweets, and subreddit threads.
When we input this final prompt into ChatGPT, the result is an organized starting point for your content planning efforts.
With this table, it’s time to build a plan of content around it that you can do all of the topical and keyword research that you need to. Here are a few things that we recommend you do.
| Category | Description | Ideas | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golf Instruction and Tips | Practical advice on swing mechanics, putting, and gameplay improvement. | - "10 Simple Tips to Fix Your Slice"- "Golf Short Game Drills: Mastering Your Wedges and Putts" | Rick Shiels on fixing slicer/golftips thread on putting tips |
| Equipment Reviews and Comparisons | In-depth reviews and comparisons of clubs, balls, and accessories. | - "2024 Driver Showdown: Top Brands Compared"- "Best Golf Balls for Low vs. High Handicappers" | MyGolfSpy's driver reviewr/golf on Titleist drivers |
| Golf Course Reviews and Travel | Reviews of golf courses worldwide and travel guides for golf vacations. | - "Bucket List Golf Courses in Scotland"- "Best Public Courses in California" | r/golf Pebble Beach reviewGolf Digest course guide |
| Golf News and Tour Coverage | Updates on PGA, LPGA, and other tours, with insights on tournaments and players. | - "Recap of the Latest Masters"- "How LIV Golf is Changing Pro Golf" | Golf Channel's Masters recapr/golf discussion on LIV Golf |
| Golf Fitness and Wellness | Tips on exercises, nutrition, and mental game for better performance and injury prevention. | - "Core Exercises for a Stronger Swing"- "Golf Mobility Routines" | Golf Digest on fitness exercisesr/golf fitness tips |
| Golf Culture and Lifestyle | Covers etiquette, fashion, and humor in the golf world. | - "Do's and Don'ts of Golf Etiquette"- "Top Golf Fashion Trends" | Paige Spiranac tweet on dress codesr/golf funny moments |
| Golf Technology and Innovations | New tech in equipment, simulators, and apps that enhance gameplay and practice. | - "Golf Simulators Revolutionizing Practice"- "The Future of High-Tech Golf Clubs" | MyGolfSpy on simulatorsr/golf tech discussion |
| Women’s Golf and Influencer Spotlights | Highlights female golfers, influencers, and women-focused content. | - "Top Female Golfers to Watch"- "Paige Spiranac’s Impact on Golf" | Paige Spiranac on social mediaGolf Monthly on female influencers |
| Golf History and Legends | Stories about legendary players, historic tournaments, and the sport's evolution. | - "The Legacy of Arnold Palmer"- "Historic Moments in the Masters" | Golf Digest on Tiger Woodsr/golf history discussion |
| Golf Business and Industry Trends | Insights on golf's business side, from course management to economic impacts. | - "The Rise of Golf Tourism"- "Sustainable Golf Courses" | Golf Business Monitorr/golf on LIV impact |
Content categories/pillars
From the top of the funnel, your content pillars are the main topical ideas that you have, things like golf instruction or equipment reviews. These will be the foundations of your content plan.
From here, you can decide which articles relating to these topics that need to be prioritized.
Topic ideas
The next thing that you should do is take the topic ideas, which are your articles ideas for each category that you want to talk about and put them into a keyword research tool like Ahrefs or SEMRush.
By searching for volume, difficulty, and related terms and topics, you will get a sense of what keywords that you should be focusing on in each article. This will also ensure that you don’t get stuck writing about a topic that you might not be able to rank highly enough for due to external factors like lesser topical authority or existing volume.
Article and site links
The third step is to take all of the articles and site links that your ChatGPT prompt spit out and put them into a tool like Ahrefs Site Explorer. What this does is help you reverse engineer almost every piece of site traffic.
You can see how much estimated traffic that the article or site is getting, what keywords that they’re ranking for, how much estimated traffic those keywords are bringing to the site, and what backlinks exist for that article or site.
Organize data
Lastly, it’s time to organize all of the data that you just got from the above steps. You now have a large list of keywords, websites, and backlinks to draw from.
Firstly, make sure you organize them so that you can dive deeper to find more keywords. We have found that a Google Sheet is well equipped for this.
You should also analyze backlink profiles of your competitors to help find future backlinking opportunities. This will give you insights on how you can outrank those competitors and can show you any link opportunities that you may be missing.
Final Thoughts
ChatGPT is a very useful tool for keyword and topical research. Simply by being precise and specific with your instructions, you can make figuring out what topics people are most interested in reading and learning about an exercise that is quick and easy,
