Keyword Research

Discovers, scores, and clusters keywords for SEO and GEO planning.

Quick Start

Research keywords for [topic/product/service]

What keywords is [competitor URL] ranking for that I should target?

Skill Contract

Expected output: a prioritized keyword brief plus the standard handoff summary for memory/research/.

• Reads: goals, market inputs, tool data, and prior strategy from CLAUDE.md and the shared State Model when available.
• Writes: a user-facing research deliverable and reusable summary.
• Promotes: durable keyword priorities, competitor facts, and pending strategy decisions to memory/hot-cache.md, memory/open-loops.md, and memory/research/.
• Primary next skill: competitor-analysis when the keyword set is ready for market comparison.

Handoff Summary

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

Data Sources

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

Instructions

When a user requests keyword research, run eight phases and announce each as [Phase X/8: Name]:

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

Quality bar: every recommendation includes at least one specific number. Rewrite generic advice into a concrete keyword + volume + difficulty + reason.

> Reference: See references/instructions-detail.md for the full 8-phase templates, expansion patterns, intent table, difficulty tiers, opportunity matrix, GEO indicators, cluster template, actionable-vs-generic examples, and advanced usage.

Example

Example outcome: 150+ keywords analyzed, 23 high-priority opportunities, ~45K/month traffic potential across 3 focus areas. See the full sample in references/example-report.md.

Advanced Usage

Intent mapping, seasonal analysis, competitor gaps, and local keyword workflows live in references/instructions-detail.md.

Tips for Success

Start with seeds, respect intent, cluster tightly, prioritize quick wins, and review quarterly. Full notes live in references/instructions-detail.md.

Save Results

After delivering, offer to save memory/research/keyword-research/YYYY-MM-DD-.md and promote durable conclusions to memory/hot-cache.md.

Reference Materials

• Instructions Detail — Workflow, scoring, cluster template, advanced usage
• Keyword Intent Taxonomy — Intent signals and content mapping
• Topic Cluster Templates — Pillar and cluster patterns
• Keyword Prioritization Framework — Scoring and prioritization rules
• Example Report — Worked sample

Next Best Skill

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