How to Use ChatGPT for SEO

SEO involves a mix of creative work (like crafting content) and technical work (like analyzing keywords and optimizing HTML tags). ChatGPT, as an AI language model, turns out to be a surprisingly handy assistant for many of these SEO tasks. 

Whether you’re a solo blogger or part of a marketing team, you can save time and spark new ideas by incorporating ChatGPT into your workflow. Let’s explore some practical ways to use ChatGPT for SEO, step by step.

1. Brainstorming Keywords and Topics

One of the first steps in SEO is figuring out what topics and keywords to target. ChatGPT can act as a brainstorming partner:

• Expand Keyword Lists: If you have a seed keyword, you can prompt ChatGPT with something like: “Give me 20 related keyword phrases for ‘homemade pizza recipes’.” The AI might suggest variations, long-tail phrases, and related concepts (e.g., “best dough for homemade pizza,” “Neapolitan pizza recipe at home,” etc.). While ChatGPT doesn’t have access to search volume data, it’s great at uncovering angles you might not have thought of.
• Discover User Intent Questions: Ask ChatGPT, “What questions might people ask about [your topic]?” For example, “What questions might people have about electric cars?” It could return questions like “How long do electric car batteries last?”, “Are electric cars cheaper to maintain than gas cars?”, etc. These questions are golden for creating FAQ sections or standalone blog posts that directly match user intent.
• Topic Clustering: You can even use ChatGPT to cluster related keywords into groups. Provide it a list of keywords and ask it to organize them by theme. This can help you plan content silos or sections of your site.

Pro Tip: Always verify keyword ideas with an SEO tool if possible. ChatGPT’s suggestions are creative and relevant, but you’ll want to check if those terms have search volume and are worth targeting. Use ChatGPT for ideation, then use SEO tools for validation.

2. Creating Content Outlines and Drafts

Staring at a blank page is hard. ChatGPT can help you go from zero to a full outline (and even a first draft) in no time:

• Generate an Outline: Tell ChatGPT your target keyword or topic and ask for an article outline. For example: “Create an outline for a blog post about improving indoor air quality in apartments.” The AI might produce a structured outline with an intro, key subheadings like “Why Indoor Air Quality Matters,” “Common Pollutants in Apartments,” “Tips to Improve Air Quality (with sub-points like plants, air purifiers, ventilation),” and a conclusion. You can take this outline as a starting point, rearrange or tweak it, and ensure it covers all the points you want.
• Write Paragraphs or Sections: You can then ask ChatGPT to flesh out a specific section of that outline. For instance: “Write a paragraph on how houseplants can improve indoor air quality, including examples of effective plants.” You’ll get a paragraph or two that you can then edit or integrate into your draft.
• Meta Descriptions and Titles: Crafting a catchy title or a concise meta description can be a pain. Hand that task to ChatGPT. For example: “Give me 5 potential meta description sentences (155 characters or less) for an article about electric car maintenance.” You’ll receive a few options to choose from or tweak. Similarly, you can ask for title ideas: “Suggest a compelling blog post title for an article about beginner yoga mistakes to avoid.”

Using ChatGPT in this way can speed up content production significantly. It’s like having a junior copywriter on call. However, remember that AI content should be reviewed. Add your expertise, make sure facts are correct, and adjust the tone to fit your voice.

3. Optimizing and Expanding Existing Content

Have an existing article that’s a bit thin or maybe not as engaging? ChatGPT can help polish and expand it:

• Suggest Additional Subtopics: Provide ChatGPT a short summary or the headings of your article and ask, “What other subtopics could enrich this article?” For example, if you have a how-to article on baking sourdough bread, ChatGPT might suggest adding subtopics like “Troubleshooting common sourdough problems” or “How to store your starter,” which could make the piece more comprehensive.
• Improve Readability: You can paste a paragraph from your content and say, “Rewrite this paragraph to be clearer and more engaging for a general audience.” ChatGPT will typically simplify complex sentences and add a bit of flair, which you can then refine further. This is helpful for making sure your content hits that sweet spot for readers (and thereby for SEO).
• On-Page SEO Checks: Ask ChatGPT to check if a certain keyword is used naturally. For instance, “Is the keyword ‘digital nomad lifestyle’ used in this paragraph in a natural way? If not, can you adjust it?” It can help seamlessly integrate keywords if you’re struggling to fit them in without sounding awkward.
• Generate FAQs: Google loves FAQ sections (especially with the FAQ schema for rich results). Take your topic and ask ChatGPT: “Give me 5 FAQs related to [topic] with concise answers.” It will produce question-answer pairs you can add, which can improve your content’s usefulness and possibly snag those rich snippet positions.

4. Technical SEO Assistance (Schema, Code, and More)

Beyond writing, ChatGPT has knowledge of coding and structured data, which can be useful for technical SEO tasks:

• Schema Markup: If you want to add structured data (like FAQ schema, article schema, etc.) but aren’t sure of the format, ask ChatGPT. For example: “Provide JSON-LD schema markup for an FAQ with the following questions and answers…” and list your Q&As. It will generate the JSON-LD code which you can then plug into your page. Always use Google’s Rich Results Test to verify it, but ChatGPT’s output usually is a great starting point.
• Robots.txt or .htaccess Rules: Need a quick regex or rule? You could ask: “How do I write a redirect in .htaccess from /old-page to /new-page?” or “Give me a robots.txt that disallows all crawlers from the /private/ folder.” ChatGPT can produce the code snippet or syntax. (Be cautious and double-check such outputs, but it’s often accurate.)
• Excel Formulas for SEO: If you’re doing SEO data analysis in spreadsheets, ChatGPT can help write formulas. For instance: “I have a list of URLs in Excel. Give me a formula to extract the domain name from each URL.” It might give you a formula using Excel’s text functions. This is tangentially SEO, but it saves time when dealing with data for SEO audits or reports.
• Analyzing Log or Analytics Explanations: If you have some data (nothing proprietary or sensitive ideally, since sharing data with an online AI has privacy considerations), you can describe a pattern and ask ChatGPT’s take. Example: “Our Google Analytics shows a spike in bounce rate on June 15 for our blog section. What could be some reasons?” ChatGPT might enumerate possibilities (e.g., a slow-loading script, a change in content, a bot causing analytics issues, etc.), which could guide your investigation.

5. Content Localization and Multilingual SEO

If you operate in multiple languages or regions, ChatGPT can assist with translation or localization tasks:

• Draft Translation: Want to quickly see what your content might look like in Spanish or French? ChatGPT can translate paragraphs for you. Keep in mind it’s not a certified translator, but for getting the gist or a first pass translation, it works remarkably well.
• Cultural Adaptation: You can ask it things like, “I have a US-centric article on credit card tips. What changes should I make for a UK audience?” It might point out replacing “credit score” with “credit rating,” using “£” instead of “$,” or mentioning UK-specific credit agencies. This is useful for adapting content to different English-speaking markets as well.

6. Idea Generation for Link Building and Marketing

SEO isn’t just on-page. Off-page SEO, like earning backlinks, is critical too. ChatGPT can brainstorm creative ideas:

• Link Bait Content Ideas: Ask “What are some unique data-driven content ideas in the fitness niche that could attract backlinks?” It might suggest things like “A study on how different music genres affect workout performance” or “Interactive calorie burn calculator by activity.” These might spark a content campaign that naturally draws links.
• Outreach Email Drafts: If you’re doing email outreach to promote your content or for guest posting, have ChatGPT draft a polite outreach email. For example: “Draft a friendly outreach email to a tech blog editor, pitching our infographic about smartphone usage trends, and mentioning why it’s valuable to their readers.” You’ll get a decent draft which you can personalize further.
• Social Media Post Ideas: While not directly SEO, social buzz can indirectly help. You can ask for “5 tweet ideas to promote our new blog post on productivity apps, with a casual tone.” This can help in driving traffic to your content initially, which can then lead to engagement signals or even some links.

7. Mind the Limitations

While ChatGPT is incredibly useful, a few words of caution in the SEO context:

• Knowledge Cutoff: If you’re asking about SEO trends or algorithm updates, ensure you’re talking about events before ChatGPT’s knowledge cutoff (which is currently 2021 for the base GPT-4 model, unless using the browsing feature). It may not be aware of the latest core update or the fact that, say, Google Search generative experience is rolling out. Always double-check current events from up-to-date sources.
• Accuracy: For content, as mentioned, always verify facts. Don’t blindly trust ChatGPT on specific data (e.g., “market share of search engines in 2024” could be wrong or outdated if ChatGPT attempts it).
• Not a Human Substitute: SEO involves understanding your audience deeply. ChatGPT can emulate that understanding to an extent, but it’s not your actual audience. Use it to assist and speed up tasks, but still rely on real user feedback and your own expertise for strategy.
• Avoid Over-Optimization: If you use ChatGPT to insert keywords, be mindful not to accidentally stuff keywords or make the text awkward. Sometimes the AI, in trying to be helpful, might overdo exact matches. Always read aloud or have a human review to ensure the content flows naturally.

Final Thoughts

ChatGPT is like a Swiss Army knife for an SEO professional…  It has many tools that, when used wisely, can make your job easier. From churning out content ideas and drafts to handling technical chores and even providing strategic suggestions, it’s a versatile assistant. 

The key is to guide it with clear prompts and always apply a layer of human judgment on top.

By incorporating ChatGPT into your SEO workflow, you free up time for the higher-level work – analyzing strategy, understanding users, building relationships, and so on. Let the AI handle the grunt work and initial drafts, while you steer the ship with the insights and instincts that only a human SEO expert has. In a fast-paced digital world, that combination of human + AI can be a competitive edge.

Happy optimizing – and don’t be afraid to chat with your new AI teammate when you need a helping hand (or just a second opinion) on your SEO tasks!