Traditional keyword research takes hours. You bounce between spreadsheets, export CSVs from three different tools, manually tag intent, and somehow still end up with a messy list that's hard to act on.
AI changes the workflow — not by replacing your judgment, but by compressing the grunt work. Here's the exact process I use to go from a blank slate to a prioritized content plan in under 30 minutes.
Step 1: Start with seed keywords (not topics)
Most guides tell you to "brainstorm topics." That's too vague. Start with 3–5 specific seed keywords that describe what your business does.
For example, if you run a project management SaaS:
- "project management software"
- "team task tracking"
- "agile project planning"
- "project timeline tool"
These aren't guesses — they're the words your customers actually use when searching for solutions like yours. Pull them from your Google Search Console data, your sales calls, or your support tickets.
With AI: Instead of brainstorming alone, describe your product in plain language and ask AI to generate seed keywords. A conversational AI SEO tool like Jello SEO lets you say something like "find keyword ideas for a project management tool aimed at small agencies" and get back data-backed suggestions in seconds.
Step 2: Expand your seed list with related keywords
Each seed keyword unlocks dozens of related terms. Traditional tools give you a flat list sorted by volume. AI can do better — it understands relationships between keywords and groups them logically.
What you're looking for:
- Long-tail variations — "best project management software for remote teams"
- Question keywords — "how to track project deadlines" (People Also Ask gold)
- Comparison keywords — "asana vs monday vs clickup"
- Problem keywords — "why do projects go over budget"
With AI: Ask for keyword expansion by intent. Instead of exporting 500 keywords and manually sorting, you get clusters with context: "these are informational, these are transactional, these are comparison queries."
In Jello SEO, you'd run the keyword research tool on each seed, then ask the AI to find patterns across the results. The AI reads the SERP data and search volumes — it's not hallucinating keywords.
Step 3: Analyze search intent for each cluster
This is where most people skip a step and pay for it later. A keyword with 10,000 monthly searches is worthless if the intent doesn't match your content type.
The four intent buckets:
- Informational — searcher wants to learn ("what is agile methodology")
- Commercial investigation — comparing options ("best project management tools 2026")
- Transactional — ready to buy ("project management software pricing")
- Navigational — looking for a specific brand ("asana login")
With AI: Instead of checking each SERP manually, AI analyzes the top-ranking pages and tells you the dominant intent. If the top 10 results for a keyword are all blog posts, you know it's informational — don't try to rank a product page there.
Jello SEO's SERP analysis tool shows you exactly what's ranking, what SERP features appear (featured snippets, People Also Ask, video carousels), and what content format Google prefers for that query.
Step 4: Score and prioritize keywords
Not every keyword is worth targeting. You need a scoring system that balances:
- Search volume — enough people searching to matter
- Keyword difficulty — can you realistically rank?
- Business relevance — does this keyword connect to what you sell?
- Intent alignment — does the intent match content you can create?
A simple scoring formula:
Priority = (Volume × Relevance) ÷ Difficulty
High volume, high relevance, low difficulty = your best opportunities.
With AI: This is where AI really shines. Instead of building a spreadsheet formula, you describe your priorities and AI ranks the keywords for you. "Show me keywords where difficulty is under 40, volume is above 500, and the intent is commercial" — done in one query.
Step 5: Cluster keywords into content topics
Individual keywords don't become content — clusters do. Group related keywords that can be targeted by a single page.
For example, these all belong to one cluster:
- "project management for small teams" (1,200/mo)
- "simple project management tool" (800/mo)
- "lightweight project management software" (400/mo)
- "project management small business" (600/mo)
One well-written page can rank for all of these. Targeting them separately wastes effort and creates cannibalization.
With AI: Keyword clustering is one of the most tedious manual tasks in SEO. AI handles it naturally — it understands semantic similarity and groups keywords that share the same search intent and SERP overlap.
In Jello SEO, keyword clustering is built into the workflow. Run keyword research, then ask the AI to cluster the results. You get groups with suggested page titles and target volumes.
Step 6: Map clusters to content types
Each cluster needs a content format:
| Intent | Content Type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Informational | Blog post / Guide | "What is agile project management?" |
| Commercial | Comparison / Review | "Best project management tools for agencies" |
| Transactional | Landing page | "Project management software — free trial" |
| Question-based | FAQ / How-to | "How to create a project timeline" |
Don't write a blog post for a transactional keyword. Don't build a landing page for an informational one. Match the format to the intent.
With AI: Ask AI to suggest content types for each cluster based on SERP analysis. It's seen what's ranking — it knows whether Google wants a listicle, a tutorial, or a product page.
Step 7: Build your content calendar
Now you have:
- Prioritized keyword clusters
- Intent labels for each
- Content format recommendations
Turn this into a content calendar. Start with your highest-priority clusters — the ones with the best volume-to-difficulty ratio and the strongest business relevance.
A realistic publishing cadence for a small team: 2–4 pieces per week. At that rate, prioritization matters more than volume.
With AI: Export your prioritized clusters and ask AI to draft a 30-day content plan. Jello SEO can export keyword data to Google Docs, making it easy to share with writers or your team.
The 30-minute workflow (summary)
- Minutes 1–5: Feed seed keywords to AI, get expanded keyword list with volumes and difficulty
- Minutes 5–10: Ask AI to cluster by intent and semantic similarity
- Minutes 10–15: Review clusters, score by priority (volume × relevance ÷ difficulty)
- Minutes 15–20: Map top clusters to content types based on SERP analysis
- Minutes 20–25: Ask AI to draft a content calendar from your top 10 clusters
- Minutes 25–30: Review, adjust, and export
What used to take a full afternoon now takes a coffee break. The AI handles the data processing — you make the strategic decisions.
Common mistakes to avoid
Don't skip intent analysis. Volume without intent is a vanity metric. A 50-volume keyword with perfect intent beats a 5,000-volume keyword you can't rank for.
Don't target single keywords. Always think in clusters. One page per keyword is a 2015 strategy.
Don't ignore difficulty scores. If you're a new site, targeting DR 80+ keywords is a waste. Find the gaps where competition is low and content is thin.
Don't let AI make the final call. AI is great at processing data and spotting patterns. But you know your business, your audience, and your competitive landscape better than any model. Use AI as a power tool, not an autopilot.
Getting started
If you want to try this workflow yourself, Jello SEO lets you do the entire process through a chat interface — no spreadsheet juggling required. Ask it for keywords, cluster them, analyze SERPs, and export your plan.
Or use whatever tools you have. The workflow is what matters. AI just makes each step faster.