Search Terms

Discover the internal search queries AI platforms use when answering prompts about your brand and industry

What Search Terms Is

When AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google AI Overview generate a response, they often run internal search queries — also called fanout queries — to find relevant information. Search Terms captures these queries and shows you exactly what the AI is searching for behind the scenes.

For example, when a user asks ChatGPT “What’s the best SEO tool for small businesses?”, the AI might internally search for “best SEO tools 2026”, “SEO software pricing comparison”, or “small business SEO features”. Search Terms surfaces these hidden queries so you can see what information AI platforms look for when responding to prompts in your space.

Why It Matters

Understanding what AI platforms search for gives you a unique advantage:

• Discover content gaps: See the exact queries AI models use and check whether your content covers them
• Identify new keyword opportunities: Find search queries you haven’t targeted yet
• Understand AI reasoning: Learn how AI platforms research and formulate their answers
• Spot emerging trends: Track which search terms are rising in frequency over time
• Improve AI visibility: Create content that matches the queries AI platforms are already making

Key Metrics

The top of the Search Terms page displays three summary cards:

• Total Queries: The total number of internal search queries captured across all tracked prompts in the selected period
• Unique Terms: The number of distinct search queries (deduplicated)
• Avg Queries / Day: The average number of search queries captured per day

Rising Terms

The Rising Terms section highlights search queries that are new or trending compared to the previous period.

Each term shows:

• The search query text
• A trend indicator: New (first time seen), +N (increasing), or -N (decreasing)
• Platform icons showing which AI platforms used the query

Use Rising Terms to spot emerging topics early and create content before competitors.

Top Search Terms

The main table lists search terms ranked by frequency. Each row shows:

Column	Description
Search Term	The internal search query the AI platform used
Occurrences	How many times the term appeared across all runs
Platforms	Number of AI platforms that used the term
Frequency	Visual bar showing relative frequency

Sorting options

Sort the table by:

• Latest: Most recently seen terms first
• Most Occurrences: Highest frequency first
• Least Occurrences: Lowest frequency first

Track as Prompt

When you discover a search term that matters to your brand, you can turn it into a monitored prompt directly from the table.

1. Hover over any row in the Top Search Terms table.
2. Click Track.
3. Fill in the details:
   • Prompt Text: Pre-filled with the search term. Edit if needed.
   • Topic: Select which topic to group the prompt under.
   • Platforms: Choose which AI platforms to monitor.
   • Schedule: Set how often to run the prompt.
   • Location: Choose the geographic location for the query.
4. Click Track Prompt.

The new prompt starts running on your chosen schedule and appears in your Prompts list.

Filters

Use the filter bar at the top to narrow your data:

• Platform: Filter by AI platform (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overview, and others)
• Prompt: Focus on search terms from a specific monitored prompt
• Location: Filter by geographic location
• Date Range: Select 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, or a custom range

Click Clear All to reset all filters to defaults.

Best Practices

1. Check Rising Terms weekly

Review Rising Terms regularly to catch new queries early. A term that appears as “New” one week could become a high-volume query the next.

2. Turn high-frequency terms into content

If a search term appears frequently and you don’t have content covering it, that’s a content gap. Create a page that directly addresses the query.

3. Track important terms as prompts

Use the Track as Prompt feature for search terms that matter to your brand. This lets you monitor whether AI platforms mention you when answering those queries.

4. Compare across date ranges

Switch between 7-day and 30-day views to distinguish short-term spikes from sustained trends.

5. Cross-reference with Citation Analysis

If AI platforms are searching for a term but not citing your content, check Citation Analysis to understand which sources they cite instead.

What’s Next

• Citation Analysis — see which URLs AI platforms cite in their responses
• Sentiment Analysis — understand how AI platforms describe your brand
• Scheduled Prompts — automate prompt tracking on a recurring schedule