50 Best SEO Writing Prompts for ChatGPT

Have you integrated ChatGPT into your SEO content creation process yet? 

I’ve seen some SEOs and writers jump right into the deep end with ChatGPT and others dip a tentative toe into AI waters. Most of us probably fall somewhere in the middle. If you haven’t started experimenting with AI or are looking for ways to seamlessly integrate it into your process without starting at zero, this post is for you.

For the past few months, I’ve used ChatGPT almost daily to help support our internal content creation. I’ve learned quite a few tricks and seen plenty of bad advice, so I decided to compile the best SEO blog writing prompts for ChatGPT all in one place.

These prompts may work with other AI platforms, but I’ve only tested them on ChatGPT. Feel free to edit and enhance them as you see fit and run your own experiments!

Before jumping into the prompts, let’s talk about what makes a good prompt so you can create your own repository (and here’s the cheat code for those of you that want to skip right to the prompts).

ChatGPT Prompt Engineering?

The phrase “prompt engineering” is popping up more frequently as additional people jump on the ChatGPT and AI bandwagon. It simply refers to the iterative process of perfecting a ChatGPT prompt to consistently get quality results.

It’s really easy to ask ChatGPT a question or make a quick request. Depending on what you need, though, this may not be enough. 

Iterating prompts by including specific requirements or information and examples helps improve the output. Basically — if you’re hoping for a useful response, you need to put in the time to learn how to best frame different requests.

ChatGPT can save you hours of work — but it can also feel like it’s wasting your time when you just can’t seem to get what you want from the tool. Enter the process with a beginner’s mindset, question your assumptions, and experiment to uncover the ChatGPT writing prompts that will work best for you.

And remember — what works today may not work tomorrow. ChatGPT undergoes regular updates. You may also need to update your prompts to get the output you want. 

To get the best results:

1. Be clear and specific. Make sure your prompt clearly conveys the information or question you want the model to answer. Ambiguity is the enemy of quality output. If you want a certain number of answers, state that. If you want a specific tone, include it in your prompt.
2. Provide context. Provide enough background information to help ChatGPT understand the context of your question or request. If you want the tool to take a specific point of view — like that of your professional role — let it know. 
3. Experiment and iterate. ChatGPT can be sensitive to slight changes in phrasing or wording. If you’re not getting what you want, rephrase your prompt. Creating effective prompts requires some trial and error, so experiment and iterate — and have a little fun — until you get the desired results.

Also, just because you can create a lot of content quickly doesn’t mean you should. You want your content to relate to your SEO strategy and business goals. Otherwise, it won’t help you move the needle on your KPIs. Build up topical authority, support your search engine optimization, and have fun!

First: AI Prompt Cheat Sheet Caveats

I can’t guarantee the output you receive with these prompts will be what you’re looking for. I’ve noticed that even with the same prompts, ChatGPT can give different outputs. I asked the tool why this is.

So, your mileage may differ, but I hope you still find the following prompts valuable. At the very least, they’re a jumping-off point for creating your own tailored prompts to support your content marketing program.

Also, you’ll note that some of the ChatGPT avatars are green in the images and some are black. Green represents ChatGPT 3.5 and black is 4.0.

Ok, let’s talk about the fun stuff now.

Ramp Up Your Content Marketing: ChatGPT Prompts for SEO Blog Writing

ChatGPT can be a valuable tool at any stage of the content production process. The following sections reflect a general process, from topic ideation to content distribution. That doesn’t mean every content piece needs to go through this entire process, though. Feel free to use the parts that work best for you and scrap or evolve the ones that don’t.

• Get Topic Ideas
• Find Keywords
• Research
• Create an Outline
• Create a Brief
• Analyze Existing Content for Better Prompts
• Write an Optimized Post
• Add FAQs
• Improve Style, Tone & Content
• Create Social Posts To Distribute Your Content
• Summarize Your Posts for Your Newsletter

Get Topic Ideas

1. What questions would a [role, position, type of person] have about [service, product, industry concern]?
   • What questions would a marketing professional have about local SEO ranking factors?
   • What questions would a cat owner have about organic cat food?
   • What questions would a middle-aged mother have about starting a meditation practice?
2. I’m a [role, position, type of person] and I want to describe [general topic] to [target audience]. What are some specific topics I should write about?

3. I’m a [role] at a [industry] company. Our target audience is [description]. Please create a list of pain points my target audience has. (Get more specific by adding “with [trouble area]” to the end of this prompt, or keep it slightly vague to get a longer list.)

4. My target audience is [description with pain point]. What topics should I write about?

At this point in the prompting process, it’s ok to be vague. Just drill down into the basic topics to find even richer ideas. For example, in the above screenshot, ChatGPT says I should write about exercise and fitness for dogs. I imagine, though, that these needs differ based on breed. 

Iteration can take some time, but it’s worth it to land on actionable topics that help you reach your target audience and move the needle on your business goals.

Find Keywords

I keep seeing LinkedIn posts about how you can use ChatGPT for keyword research. And while it’s certainly possible, I don’t think it’s advisable unless you’re just looking for ideas. At the time of writing, ChatGPT can’t provide you with any information newer than September 2021 — and it’s unable to ascertain monthly search volume or keyword difficulty. 

What it can do is generate possible search terms you can then google or plug into your favorite keyword research tool.

So take these prompts with a large grain of salt and then run any possible keywords through another tool.

5. What keywords might someone who needs [solution, product] search?
   • What keywords might someone who needs a pet sitter search?
6. What keywords might someone looking for a [product, service] search?
   • What keywords might someone looking for roof repair search?
7. What keywords might someone looking for a [product, service] in [location] search?
   • What keywords might someone looking for a Jamaican restaurant in Austin search?
8. You’re a [member of the target audience] and you want to find [product, service, offering]. What keywords would you search?

9. I’m writing about [topic]. What are some possible keywords I can use?
   • I’m writing about how AI can help improve advertising results. What are some possible keywords I can use?
   • I’m writing about how regulations in the cannabis industry impact advertising. What are some possible keywords I can use?

Research

Not sure why a particular audience segment might use your service or product? Want to uncover different motivations for particular actions?

10. Why would a [member of the target audience] search “[keyword]” on Google?

Alternatively, you can turn ChatGPT into your target audience.

11. You are a [member of the target audience]. Why would you search for [keyword]?

12. What pain points might a [member of a target audience] searching for [keyword] have?

13. I’m a [role] at a [industry] company. I’m writing about [keyword] and want to reach [target audience]. How should I frame my article?

14. I want to create an article about [keyword]. What are five different innovative angles I can take?

15. Create a list of the benefits of [product/service] and what the outcomes are for [target audience].

Create an Outline

Almost every post you see on this blog gets an outline — and some of those are generated with the help of ChatGPT.

Blog outlines can help save your writers time and ensure their efforts are aligned with your vision. The more specific your prompt, the better your outline will be. 

You can create your prompt in a sentence format or use “shift+enter” to start a new line. Alternatively, write up your prompt in a doc first, then copy and paste it into ChatGPT.

16. Create a hierarchical outline for a/an [educational, how-to, persuasive, promotional] blog post using the following:
    • Topic: 
    • Audience: 
    • Tone: 
    • Key message: 
    • Goal:
    • Keywords: 

17. Create a chronological outline for a how-to blog post detailing how to [action/activity]. 
    • Audience: 
    • Tone: 
    • Keywords: 

18. Create a persuasive outline for a promotional blog post using the following:
    • Topic: 
    • Audience: 
    • Tone: 
    • Key message: 
    • Goal:
    • Keywords: 

Create a Brief

If you prefer to brief a post and then have someone else create the outline, these prompts are for you!

19. Please create a writer’s brief for an article about [topic]. The article should convey [goal].

Analyze Existing Content for Better Prompts

Iteration is the key to extracting quality content from ChatGPT. That also applies to prompts. Not every prompt is going to give you the output you want. To improve your prompts, you can go right to the source.

20. Describe the tone, style, and layout of the following article: [paste article]

Use the information you get back to create a more descriptive prompt so you can get better output.

For example, based on the feedback from the above, I could create this prompt: 

Please create an outline for an article about [topic] that is informative and helpful, providing practical tips and insights for improving [topic]. Use examples and analogies to explain complex concepts in a way that is easy for readers to understand.

Now, I’ve flat-out asked ChatGPT to create prompts and the results have been mixed. For one, it doesn’t understand the idea of prompts. After all, as far as it knows, there aren’t other generative AI tools like the ones we’ve all been toying with. While ChatGPT can “imagine” a large language model and provide prompts for it, I have yet to get one back that I like.

Write an Optimized Post

21. Using the following outline, create a 2,000-word article: [paste outline]

Chances are, you aren’t going to get 2,000 words from ChatGPT, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. Once you have a post, ask additional questions to increase the word count.

• What is missing from the above article?
• What other [benefits, advantages, issues, effects, etc.] can I mention in the above article?
• What else might people looking for [topic] want to know?
• What additional questions might someone reading the above article have?

22. You’re a [topic] expert and you want to help [target audience] understand [topic nuance] so they can [goal]. Create a 1,000-word article about [topic] in a [descriptor] tone. Include [actionable tips, analogies, examples, etc.].

Add FAQs 

FAQs can help you more comprehensively cover a topic. And ChatGPT excels at “thinking” up questions.

23. Here is a post about [topic]. What additional questions might a [member of the target audience] have? [paste post]
24. You are a [member of the target audience] who wants to learn more about [topic]. What questions would you ask?
25. You are a [member of the target audience] who has never [activity] but you want to try it. What questions would you ask?
26. List out frequently asked questions about [topic].

Once you edit your new FAQs, you can ask ChatGPT to create FAQ schema, but be sure to check it for accuracy before adding it to your site.

Improve Style, Tone & Content

The following prompts can help you make your existing content more exciting. Feel free to add additional information about the changes you are looking for, what you’re trying to achieve, and who you’re trying to reach before the prompt to get even better results.

27. What’s a good metaphor for [xyz]?

28. Create a metaphor for [topic] that includes [items to compare topic to].
29. How can I make this [paragraph/sentence/section] more engaging? [paste]
30. Does this clearly convey [xyz]? [paste]
31. What is a good example of [xyz]?
32. List synonyms for [word].
33. Improve this text: [paste]
34. Clarify the main idea of the following paragraph: [paste]
35. Improve the sentence structure of the following paragraph: [paste]
36. Strengthen the transitions in these paragraphs: [paste]
37. How can I make the following paragraph more [descriptor (engaging, informative, etc.)] for [target audience]? [paste]
38. What can I add to this paragraph to better explain [concept] to [target audience]? [paste]
39. Create examples to support the main idea of this paragraph: [paste]
40. Add tips for how to [activity] to this paragraph: [paste]
41. How can I make the following paragraph more actionable? [paste]
42. Shorten this paragraph without losing its main idea: [paste]
43. Provide more context to this paragraph to help explain how [x] relates to [y]: [paste]
44. I want to explain [complex idea] to [target audience]. Please modify the following paragraph so it’s easier for [target audience] to understand: [paste]

When in doubt, ask ChatGPT. 

45. What is the best way to ask you to [need]?

Create Social Posts To Distribute Your Content

Once you’ve got your content all edited and ready to publish, ask ChatGPT to distill the finer points into some punchy social posts. You can paste in parts of the article (or even the whole thing) and provide it with some guidelines [audience, tone, voice, character count] to help you brainstorm. Some of the posts will be ready to go, while others may need some iteration. I’ve noticed that ChatGPT has a penchant for certain phrases. If you find you keep getting similar suggestions, tweak your guidelines to exclude those repetitive phrases.

46. Please create a two-sentence synopsis of the paragraphs below. Use a [descriptor] tone and add emojis where appropriate: [paste]
47. Describe the [professional or personal] benefit of the following article in three sentences and highlight what readers will learn. Use a [descriptor] tone: [paste]
48. I want to share this post about [topic] on [platform]. Create five [word count] long posts that highlight [benefit, statistic, etc.]: [paste]

Summarize Your Posts for Your Newsletter

Get more mileage from your posts by sharing them in your newsletter.

49. The following will be included in my newsletter to [describe subscribers]. Please create an engaging, two-sentence introduction that entices them to read more. [paste]
50. My newsletter contains [articles, information] about [subject]. Create five enticing subject lines that are [length requirement] to get subscribers to open it.

What About Gemini?

In the time that it’s taken me to write this post, Gemini has gotten noticeably better. But it still has a long way to go. However, the only way the platform will improve is if people use it. I’ve found Gemini useful for “brainstorming” and uncovering different angles from which to tackle a topic.

Download the ChatGPT Cheat Sheet!

Get the Most Value From AI

Whatever tool you choose to utilize for content creation, maximize your investment by thoroughly editing and improving each AI-assisted piece and optimizing it with SEO best practices. The latter can help you get more eyeballs on your posts and boost your organic traffic. Learn more about the value of combining your content marketing strategy with SEO here.