keyword-research Checked

**Striking-distance shortcut** (when ~~search console is connected): before broad discovery, mine your own GSC query data for terms already ranking in positions ~5–20 — page-one tail and page two. These are proven demand a small push can convert, so they are the fastest opportunity set. The Search Analytics API sorts by clicks and has **no position filter**, so request a high rowLimit and filter the 5–20 window client-side, then attach volume / difficulty / intent to that shortlist. Work this set first; treat its metrics as **Measured**.

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.

Label every metric **Measured** (tool/export), **User-provided**, **Calculated**, **Estimated**, **Proxy**, or **Unknown**; retain query, locale, language, source ref, observation time, and window per field. Preserve conflicting sources. If an applicable metric is unavailable, mark it Unknown with a missing reason — N/A is only for a genuinely non-applicable field. An attention proxy never becomes search volume, and an Unknown decision-critical input makes the opportunity score NOT_SCORED.

### Impact × Confidence lens (optional, layers onto Phase 5)

When you have richer signals than volume/difficulty alone, add a second pass on top of the Opportunity score:

• **Impact** = volume + CPC + funnel stage + trend direction (how much winning the term is worth).
• **Confidence** = difficulty + current ranking position + topic authority (how likely you are to win it).
• **Priority = Impact × Confidence** — surfaces terms that are both valuable *and* winnable, not just high-volume.

Tag each keyword by funnel stage from its pattern:

• **BOFU** — commercial/transactional, or contains "pricing", "best", "vs", "services", "agency", "hire", "buy".
• **MOFU** — informational with buying signals: "how to", "guide", "roi", "case study", "review".
• **TOFU** — pure informational (definitions, broad questions).

Work BOFU first when revenue is the goal; use TOFU/MOFU for reach and GEO answer coverage. (Impact×Confidence + funnel-stage scoring adapted from an external SEO-ops competitive analysis.)

**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 (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

See references/example-report.md (references/example-report.md) for a full worked sample.

Save Results

Write path: memory/research/keyword-research/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>.md; promote durable keyword priorities to memory/hot-cache.md. See Skill Contract (../../../references/skill-contract.md) §Save Results Template.

Reference Materials

• SEO/GEO Evidence and Cycle Control Profile (../../evaluate/performance-monitor/references/evidence-and-cycle-control.md) — query/SERP observations, missingness, page bindings, and index receipts
• Instructions Detail (references/instructions-detail.md) — Workflow, scoring, cluster template, advanced usage
• Keyword Intent Taxonomy (references/keyword-intent-taxonomy.md) — Intent signals and content mapping
• Topic Cluster Templates (references/topic-cluster-templates.md) — Pillar and cluster patterns
• Keyword Prioritization Framework (references/keyword-prioritization-framework.md) — Scoring and prioritization rules
• Example Report (references/example-report.md) — Worked sample

Next Best Skill

Primary: competitor-analysis (../competitor-analysis/SKILL.md). Also: content-gap-analysis (../content-gap-analysis/SKILL.md) and serp-analysis (../serp-analysis/SKILL.md).