30 ChatGPT Prompts for SEO That Actually Work (2026)

ChatGPT is a better SEO analyst than it is a ghostwriter, and most "ChatGPT SEO prompts" lists get this backwards — they hand you fifty variations of "write me a blog post about X," which produces exactly the generic, unopinionated content that Google and AI answer engines skip. The 28 prompts below use ChatGPT for what it's actually reliable at: clustering keywords, structuring briefs, auditing on-page details, and editing drafts. The last section flips the tool around entirely — prompts that check what ChatGPT already says about your brand, which is the real AEO question most SEO checklists never ask. Copy any of these, swap the brackets, and treat the output as a first draft, not a final answer.

Keyword research & clustering prompts

Feed ChatGPT a seed list or a page's existing keywords and it can cluster by intent, catch cannibalization, and surface question-shaped long-tail variants faster than a manual spreadsheet pass — verify volume in a real keyword tool before committing budget to any of it.

1. Cluster by intent

Here is a list of keywords for [TOPIC/INDUSTRY]: [PASTE LIST].
Group them into clusters by search intent (informational,
commercial, transactional, navigational). For each cluster,
suggest one page that could rank for the whole group without
cannibalizing the others.

2. Find question keywords

List 20 question-format keywords people search related to
[TOPIC], grouped by funnel stage (awareness, consideration,
decision). Skip generic questions with no clear searcher intent.

3. Spot cannibalization

I have these page titles and URLs targeting similar topics:
[PASTE LIST]. Which are likely competing for the same keywords
in Google, and how should I differentiate or consolidate them?

4. Expand a seed into long-tail variants

Take the keyword "[SEED KEYWORD]" and generate 15 long-tail
variants a real buyer might type, including comparison, "vs,"
"for [use case]," and price/cost phrasings. Mark which ones
sound like they have commercial intent.

5. Classify intent at scale

For each keyword in this list, label the search intent as
informational, commercial, or transactional, and note whether a
blog post, comparison page, or product page fits best: [PASTE LIST]

Content brief & outline prompts

A good brief prompt gives ChatGPT the keyword, the audience, and the competing pages, then asks for structure — not prose — so you're still the one making the actual argument.

6. Brief from a single keyword

Build a content brief for the keyword "[KEYWORD]": target
audience, search intent, 5-7 H2 subheadings, one open question
the article should answer that competitors don't, and a
one-sentence angle that makes this different from a generic
explainer.

7. Competitor gap outline

Here are the top 3 ranking pages for "[KEYWORD]": [URLS or
PASTE TEXT]. What do they all cover? What's missing that a
searcher would still want to know? Build an outline that fills
the gaps.

8. Answer-first section openers

For each of these H2 headings, write a 1-2 sentence answer-first
opener (40-60 words) that directly answers the heading's implied
question before any elaboration: [PASTE HEADINGS]

9. FAQ from People Also Ask

Here are People Also Ask questions for "[KEYWORD]": [PASTE
LIST]. Pick the 5 most useful for a buyer researching [TOPIC],
and draft 2-3 sentence answers for each.

10. Title and meta variants

Write 8 title tag options (under 60 characters) and 4 meta
description options (under 155 characters) for an article about
"[TOPIC]" targeting "[KEYWORD]". Avoid clickbait — each title
should describe what the reader actually gets.

On-page optimization prompts

These prompts work on a draft you already wrote, tightening the parts most likely to affect how AI answer engines and Google parse the page.

11. Answer-first rewrite

Rewrite this paragraph so the first 1-2 sentences directly
answer the heading above it, then the rest adds detail:
[PASTE HEADING + PARAGRAPH]

12. Readability pass

Review this paragraph for readability: flag sentences over 25
words, passive voice, and jargon a first-time reader wouldn't
know. Suggest shorter replacements without changing the
meaning: [PASTE TEXT]

13. Internal link suggestions

Here's a paragraph from my article on [TOPIC]: [PASTE TEXT]. I
also have pages on [LIST RELATED PAGE TOPICS]. Where would an
internal link genuinely help the reader, and what anchor text
would sound natural, not keyword-stuffed?

14. Schema JSON-LD generation

Generate FAQPage JSON-LD schema for these Q&A pairs: [PASTE
Q/A PAIRS]. Output valid JSON-LD I can paste directly into a
<script type="application/ld+json"> tag.

15. E-E-A-T gap check

Review this article draft for E-E-A-T signals: does it cite
sources, show first-hand experience, or explain who wrote it
and why they're credible? List specific gaps, not general
advice: [PASTE DRAFT]

Technical & audit prompts

ChatGPT can't crawl your live site, so these prompts work best when you paste the actual file or export — treat the output as a first pass, not a final audit.

16. robots.txt review

Here is my robots.txt file: [PASTE CONTENTS]. Are there rules
here that would accidentally block important pages (product,
blog, category) from being crawled?

17. Sitemap sanity check

Here is a list of URLs from my sitemap: [PASTE LIST]. Flag any
that look like they shouldn't be indexed: thin, duplicate,
parameterized, or test URLs.

18. Heading structure audit

Here are all the headings from a page in order: [PASTE H1-H6
LIST]. Is the hierarchy logical? Flag skipped levels, duplicate
H1s, or headings that don't match their section's content.

19. Redirect map review

Here is a list of old URLs mapped to new URLs for a site
migration: [PASTE MAP]. Flag any redirects pointing to a page
with different topical intent than the original.

Editing & quality prompts

Run these last, once content and structure are settled, since they're about cutting and verifying rather than generating.

20. De-fluff pass

Edit this paragraph to remove filler phrases, hedging, and
repeated ideas, without cutting any factual claims: [PASTE TEXT]

21. Claim-vs-source check

Here is a paragraph with a statistic or claim: [PASTE TEXT].
Does this need a citation? If so, what kind of source would back
it up (study, government data, official report)? Don't invent a
source — tell me what to go find.

22. Tone consistency check

Compare the tone of these two paragraphs from the same article:
[PASTE PARAGRAPH 1] / [PASTE PARAGRAPH 2]. Do they sound like the
same writer? Flag inconsistencies in formality or voice.

23. Cut to word count

This section is [CURRENT WORD COUNT] words and needs to be
[TARGET WORD COUNT]. Cut it down without losing any of the
distinct points it makes: [PASTE TEXT]

AEO prompts: check what ChatGPT says about YOU

The prompts above make ChatGPT useful for writing about your topic; these five flip it around to find out what it already says about your brand when someone else asks — which is the real question behind AEO.

24. Category recommendation test

I'm looking for [CATEGORY, e.g. "an SEO audit tool"]. What are
the top options and why would you recommend each one?

25. Brand perception check

What do you know about [BRAND NAME]? What do they do, who is it
for, and what would you tell someone deciding whether to use them?

26. Competitor comparison

How does [YOUR BRAND] compare to [COMPETITOR]? What would you
recommend for someone who [SPECIFIC USE CASE]?

27. Source-citation check

Where did you learn about [YOUR BRAND]? What sources or pages
would you point someone to if they wanted to verify what you
just told me?

28. Objection surfacing

What are the downsides or limitations of [YOUR BRAND] compared
to alternatives in [CATEGORY]?

Running prompts 24-28 by hand means opening a new chat, typing each one, and repeating it next week to see if the answer changed — then doing it again in Perplexity, Gemini, and Google's AI Overview, since each engine can describe your brand differently. Our guide on how to rank in ChatGPT covers what actually moves these answers, and ChatGPT SEO explains why keyword tactics alone don't transfer to answer engines. AEOeye runs a version of prompts 24-28 automatically across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI at once, so you get the comparison without the chat-by-chat checking.

If you're rethinking your process around what AI search actually rewards, AI for SEO is a good next read, and if you're weighing doing this in-house versus hiring it out, AI SEO services covers what to look for.

See what ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI are already saying about your brand — run a free AEOeye audit.