ChatGPT for SEO: 20 prompts that actually get work done

For SEO, ChatGPT is a fast helper for writing and thinking, but not a source of numbers. It does not know your Search Console numbers and has no search volumes from Google. What is online right now it only knows if it goes searching itself.

Use it as a helper and you save hours every week. Use it as a replacement for your data and you make decisions on made-up numbers.

What can ChatGPT do for SEO, and what not?

ChatGPT is strong at language and structure, and weak at everything that needs data. In the prompts below you ask the question and you take the next step. Software that chooses and carries out the steps itself is called an AI agent. Read the difference between a chatbot and an AI agent.

Good at	Bad at
Explaining the search intent behind a query	Search volumes: it does not have Google’s numbers and gives an estimate that looks like a fact
Outlining an article around your customer’s questions	Knowing your site: it only knows what you paste in
Writing ten variants of a title or meta description	Your rankings and clicks: it cannot see Search Console
Writing JSON-LD and regular expressions	Current search results, unless it searches the web itself
Rewriting a stiff text with your facts	Knowing what your business does differently from competitors

About that searching: since the launch of ChatGPT search on October 31, 2024, ChatGPT can search the web and answer with links to sources. What it finds then differs from the results page your customer sees in Google. For your rankings you need Search Console, or one of the SEO tools that track rankings.

Can you simply use ChatGPT’s texts? Yes. Google writes in its explanation of AI content that it rewards quality, however it was made. Using AI to manipulate rankings does count as spam. How to get the recognizable AI tone out of a text is in AI content that sounds human.

SEO for ChatGPT is a different question

Want to know how to be found in ChatGPT itself? Then it is about your visibility in AI answers. ChatGPT mainly names businesses whose pages it can read, that answer the question directly and that are also mentioned on other sites. That topic is in getting found in ChatGPT. This article is about ChatGPT as a tool for your work in Google.

The difference between SEO with AI and being found in AI is explained in AI SEO.

How to use the prompts

Replace everything in [square brackets] with your own details. Always include your industry, city and customer group, or you get an answer that fits any business. The examples use a painting contractor in Pittsburgh.

Check every fact before it goes live. Google asks in its guidance on generative AI to review AI content. That also applies to titles, descriptions and structured data, the code that tells Google what is on your page.

Search intent

1. The intent behind a search query

I run a [painting contractor in Pittsburgh]. What does someone searching for "[exterior house painting cost]" want to know or do? Give the main intent (learn, compare, buy or find a business), the three questions they likely have and the type of page that fits best.

You paste your industry, city and one query. You get the intent and page type, so you know whether to make a service page or a blog post.

2. The questions behind a topic

List 15 questions customers of a [painting contractor in Pittsburgh] ask in plain language about "[wood rot in window frames]". Group them by intent. Do not give search volumes.

You paste your service and customer group. You get questions in your customer’s words, which you then look up in Search Console.

3. Grouping queries from your own export

Below are the queries from my Search Console export for the last three months, with impressions and clicks. Group them by topic and intent. Give each group a name, the queries, total impressions and the page on my site that belongs to it.
[paste export]

You paste the Queries table from the Performance report. You get groups based on your real numbers.

Outlining an article

4. An outline around your facts

Make an outline for an article on "[painting window trim on a 1930s house]" for a [painting contractor in Pittsburgh]. Start with the answer in one sentence. Make the H2s real questions. Use only the facts below and mark where an own example is needed.
[paste prices, timeframes, service area and customer questions]

You paste your own facts. You get headings with blanks for your experience.

5. What is missing compared to the competition?

Below are the subheadings of my page and of the three pages at the top of Google for "[query]". Which questions do they answer that I do not? Put it in a table: question, who answers it, suggestion for my page.
[paste headings]

You paste headings you copy from Google yourself, because ChatGPT does not see that results page. You get the gaps on your page, in order.

Titles and meta descriptions

6. Five title tags

Write 5 title tags for this page of at most 60 characters including spaces, with "[query]" up front and "[brand name]" at the end. Put the character count after each title.
[paste the first paragraph of the page]

You get five options with a character count. Count yourself too: language models do not always count characters correctly.

7. A meta description

Write 3 meta descriptions of 140 to 160 characters for this page. Put the core in the first 120 characters and end with a sentence that prompts action. Use only facts from the text below.
[paste page text]

You get three descriptions to compare. Why 140 to 160 characters is in the right length for a meta description.

8. Many impressions, few clicks

Below is a Search Console export with page, clicks, impressions, CTR and position. Pick the 5 pages with the most impressions and a CTR under 2 percent. Suggest a new title and meta description per page and explain in one sentence why it fits the query better.
[paste export]

You get a work list for this week, based on your own numbers. CTR is the share of people who see your page and also click it.

FAQ

9. FAQs from your own inbox

Below are 20 questions customers asked us by email or phone. Turn them into the 6 most asked, in the customer's words. Write an answer of 2 to 3 sentences for each, with the answer in the first sentence.
[paste questions]

You get an FAQ block with the questions your customers actually ask.

10. An answer that can be quoted on its own

Rewrite this answer so the first sentence holds up without the rest of the page, with a number, timeframe or price from the text. At most 60 words.
[paste answer]

You get an answer a visitor and an AI search engine can both use directly.

Write an FAQ for your reader. Google stopped showing FAQ rich results, the expandable questions in search results, on May 7, 2026. So do not let anyone tell you FAQ schema gets you extra space in the results.

Schema in JSON-LD

JSON-LD is a piece of code that tells Google what is on your page, such as your address or a price.

11. LocalBusiness for a local business

Write valid JSON-LD of type [LocalBusiness] for this business. Use only the details below and make nothing up. Leave out fields with no data.
[name, address, phone, opening hours, website]

You get a script block for the head of your page. Test it in Google’s Rich Results Test before it goes live. More in the guide to JSON-LD and schema markup.

12. Product for an online store

Write JSON-LD of type Product for this product page of an [online paint store]: name, brand, SKU, price in US dollars, availability and description. Use only the details below.
[paste product details]

You get Product markup with an offer in it. Check the price in particular: it must match the price on the page.

Internal links

13. Links from a new text

Below are a new blog post and a list of my pages with URL and title. Suggest 3 to 5 internal links: in which sentence, with which anchor text and to which URL. Use anchor texts with the target page's search term, never "click here".
[paste post and page list]

You get a table you copy straight into WordPress. How to place internal links Google understands is in our article on that.

14. Which pages get too few links?

Below is, per page, how many internal links point to it, from the Links report in Search Console. Which of my service pages get the fewest links, and from which existing pages would you link to them?
[paste export and list of service pages]

You get your neglected pages, with suggestions for links to them.

Rewriting

15. Taking out the AI tone

Rewrite this paragraph. Cut empty phrases like "a wide range of", "tailored solutions" and "plays a key role". Replace every general claim with a fact from the list below. Mix short and long sentences. No em dashes.
[paste paragraph]
[paste your facts: prices, timeframes, city, an example]

You get a text that sounds like your business.

16. Simpler and shorter

Rewrite this text at an 8th-grade reading level without dropping information. At most 15 words per sentence. Put the answer to the question "[customer's question]" in the first sentence.
[paste text]

You get a text your customer understands in one read.

Regular expressions for Search Console

A regular expression, regex for short, is a search pattern for text. Search Console’s Performance report has a Custom (regex) filter that uses RE2 syntax. Since June 2021 you can also exclude everything that matches. That is in Google’s explanation of regex in Search Console.

17. All question queries

Write a regular expression in RE2 syntax for the regex filter in Google Search Console. It should find all queries that start with an English question word, such as what, how, why, when, which, where, who, can, should and does. Explain in two sentences how it works.

You get something like ^(what|how|why|when|which|where|who|can|should|does)\s. With it you see which questions your pages already get impressions for, and which deserve their own answer.

18. Excluding your brand name

My business is called [business name]. Write a regular expression in RE2 syntax that catches all spellings and typos of that name, with and without a space. I want to exclude branded queries in Search Console with it.

You get a series of variants separated by a vertical bar: the OR of regex. In the filter, choose the option that does not match. Then you only see queries from people who do not know your name yet.

Local SEO

19. Comparing your business details

Below are my business name, address, phone number and opening hours as they appear on my website, in my Google Business Profile and on Yelp. Put them side by side in a table and mark every difference, including spelling.
[paste the three versions]

You get the differences to fix. Why that matters for Google and for AI search engines is in GEO for local businesses.

20. One page about your service area

Make an outline for one page about the service area of a [painting contractor in Pittsburgh]. Per town, use only the real information below, such as the projects we did there and the travel time. Do not make a separate page per town with the same text.
[paste your information per town]

You get one page with real local content. Google’s spam policies call making many pages without value for the reader scaled content abuse.

What not to ask ChatGPT

Do not ask for search volumes and difficulty scores. ChatGPT does not have those numbers. A plan built on its estimates rests on nothing.

Do not ask for your rankings in Google either. “Where do I rank for painter Pittsburgh?” is something ChatGPT cannot answer. Search Console can, and those numbers are free.

Do not let it make fifty pages at once. A series of near-identical pages is exactly what Google treats as spam. One good page beats fifty mediocre ones.

Do not use it for medical, legal or financial claims without review. Google writes that its systems give extra weight to how trustworthy a source is for health, finance and civic topics. Always have such texts checked by someone who knows the subject.

A chat that does know your site

With ChatGPT you supply everything yourself. The GreatCompany SEO assistant turns that around. It is the chat in your GreatCompany dashboard. You ask your SEO question in plain language and get an answer based on your website, your measurements and your competitors. Ask “Why does my exterior painting page get fewer clicks than last month?” and you paste nothing. The answer is about your page and your numbers. You can also ask it for an extra blog post.

The assistant is included in Pro, $49 a month. Read more about the AI SEO assistant.

Unsure between ChatGPT and another assistant? Read ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini for SEO.

The full keyword plan is in keyword research with AI.

Want a whole article written? Read having AI write your blog.

Want the work to happen by itself? Read automating SEO with AI.