In this article
- Differences Between Search Terms and Search Keywords
- Researching Search Terms First May Feel Out-of-Order
- Catching Extraneous Search Terms
- Defining and Pre-formatting initial Search Terms for ChatGPT and Bard
- Transforming Search Terms into Keywords targets with AI assistance
- AI Chats vs Programatic AI for SEM
- Remember to Remove Sensitive Data when using AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly advancing the field of SEM, providing marketers, advertisers, and businesses with new ways to garner valuable insights, and quickly.
One such area where AI is starting to prove its worth is in SEM-related keyword research.
In this article, we explore how AI-assisted tools, specifically ChatGPT and Bard, can assist, even those with no knowledge of coding, in the discovery and targeting of keywords for SEM.
Differences Between Search Terms and Search Keywords
Search terms and search keywords are two important concepts in keyword research. While they are often used interchangeably, they actually refer to distinctly different things.
- Search terms are the actual phrases or queries that individuals enter into search engines when looking for information or services.
- Search keywords are the selected terms or phrases that businesses choose to target and bid on in their search engine marketing (SEM) campaigns. These keywords are strategically incorporated into ad copy, landing pages, and website content to optimize visibility, improve ad ranks and ad scores, and so on.
For example, a search term entered could be “the best personal injury lawyers in center city Philadelphia.”
A search keyword that is triggered by the above search term might be “Philadelphia personal injury lawyer.”
It is important to understand the distinction between search terms and search keywords in order to effectively utilize AI in keyword research. By understanding how these two concepts differ, businesses can better target their SEM campaigns and improve their chances of success.
To further explore the distinctions between search terms and search keywords be sure to visit our recent article: Search Terms vs Search Keywords.
Researching Search Terms First May Feel Out-of-Order
Some search engine marketers may find that researching search terms feels out-of-order at this stage, as most people start with keywords when they are first learning about SEM and keyword research. Most SEM platforms put more emphasis on keywords by default, so the tendency to focus on keywords over search terms is understandable.
However, by focusing on search terms from the very beginning of your campaign research, advertisers can stay in tune with what people are actually searching for. Search terms are more specific than keywords, and can give businesses and advertisers a better understanding of what potential customers are actually looking for.
Catching Extraneous Search Terms
In addition to expanding keyword targets, researching and focusing on search terms from the start of a campaign can also help advertisers catch extraneous search terms in their reports early on and blacklist them before they waste significant money.
Defining and Pre-formatting initial Search Terms for ChatGPT and Bard
At this point, we’ll assume you have a basic target audience identified.
In our example, we’ll focus on targeting a hypothetical law firm in Philadelphia that specializes in trademark infringement.
In many cases, you will have some data coming in, such as lists of related search terms that have been brainstormed or generated from third-party keyword research platforms.
To further define the target audience, let’s consider the following factors:
- Geographic location: In this example, the target audience should primarily consist of individuals or businesses located in Philadelphia or the surrounding area who may require legal assistance for trademark infringement matters specific to that region. This ensures that the search terms and keywords we generate are location-specific and cater to the needs of the local audience.
- Industry or business type: In line with our running law firm motif, we want to think about industries or business sectors that are most likely to encounter trademark infringement issues. This could include sectors such as technology, e-commerce, entertainment, or manufacturing, among others. Understanding the specific industries or businesses that are more susceptible to trademark infringement allows us to tailor our search terms and keywords accordingly.
- Demographics: With the trademark example, we want to consider the demographics of the target clients, such as age and/or company size. Think about the characteristics of the potential clients seeking assistance with trademark infringement. This enables the creation of search terms and keywords that resonate with the specific target audiences.
- Needs: Analyze the specific needs of the target audience. In this case, trademark infringement could involve protecting intellectual property rights, enforcing trademarks, resolving disputes, or providing legal advice and guidance. Thinking about the needs of the target audience will allow for the generation of search terms and keywords that address those needs directly.
Start by feeding a small grouping of your highly targeted search terms to the AI models like ChatGPT and Bard.
To generate a list of related search terms based on the initial search terms using ChatGPT, you could follow these steps:
First: Enter the search terms as the input to ChatGPT:
“best trademark infringement lawyers in the Philadelphia area”
“trusted firm to talk to about trademark infringement in Philadelphia.”
“enforcing my trademarks in Philadelphia”
“resolving trademark disputes in Philadelphia”
“protecting intellectual property rights in Philadelphia”

Second: Request suggestions: Ask ChatGPT to provide suggestions or alternative search terms that are related to the initial search term.
For example, you could ask ChatGPT,
“Can you suggest other search terms related to finding top trademark infringement lawyers in Philadelphia?”
AI will return back something along the lines of:
Leading trademark attorneys in Philadelphia
Highly recommended trademark infringement lawyers near me
Top-rated law firms for trademark disputes in Philadelphia
Reliable firms for trademark enforcement in Philadelphia
Resolving trademark infringement cases in Philadelphia
Protecting intellectual property rights with Philadelphia lawyers
Skilled attorneys for trademark litigation in Philadelphia
Expert advice on trademark infringement in Philadelphia
Philadelphia-based law firms specializing in trademark law
Trusted legal professionals for trademark matters in Philadelphia

Explore variations: Review the suggestions generated by ChatGPT and consider different variations of the initial search term. Look for terms that capture the essence of the search intent, such as “Skilled attorneys for trademark litigation in Philadelphia,” “experienced trademark infringement lawyers near me,” or “Trusted legal professionals for trademark matters in Philadelphia.”
Utilize Bard to validate and refine the search terms: Input the search term variations into Bard, which can provide further insights and alternative search terms. Bard can suggest related long-tail search terms, refine the language, or propose alternative phrasing that may attract more relevant traffic.
Seek additional information: If needed, you can ask ChatGPT and Bard for additional information related to the target audience. In our example this might be specific legal needs, or any other relevant aspects that can help generate more refined search terms.
For instance, we could ask, “What are some common legal issues related to trademark infringement in Philadelphia?”
Iterative process: Engage in an iterative conversation with ChatGPT and Bard, building upon the generated suggestions and refining the search terms based on the context and relevance to the target audience.
You can ask follow-up questions or ask AI to generate more search term ideas based on the ongoing discussion.
By leveraging ChatGPT’s language capabilities and conversational nature, you can generate a comprehensive list of related search terms that align with the initial search intent. Remember to review and validate the generated search terms to ensure their relevance and suitability.
Next we're going transform our search term ideas into precise and impactful keyword targets with the help of AI.
Transforming Search Terms into Keywords targets with AI assistance
We’ll now take our search terms and begin to generate Keyword targets with help of AI:
Request suggestion: Ask ChatGPT or Bard to generate a list of keywords using your search terms for the purposes of search engine marketing:
We copy our search terms from above and enter with our request suggestion “generate a list of keywords using these search terms for the purposes of search engine marketing”
- Leading trademark attorneys in Philadelphia
- Highly recommended trademark infringement lawyers near me
- Top-rated law firms for trademark disputes in Philadelphia
- Reliable firms for trademark enforcement in Philadelphia
- Resolving trademark infringement cases in Philadelphia
- Protecting intellectual property rights with Philadelphia lawyers
- Skilled attorneys for trademark litigation in Philadelphia
- Expert advice on trademark infringement in Philadelphia
- Philadelphia-based law firms specializing in trademark law
- Trusted legal professionals for trademark matters in Philadelphia

Explore variations: You can specify by match type and other modifiers depending on your use case.
If you keep it basic, you’ll get something along the lines of:
From Bard:
- Philadelphia trademark attorney
- Philadelphia trademark lawyer
- Philadelphia trademark infringement lawyer
- Philadelphia trademark dispute lawyer
- Philadelphia trademark enforcement lawyer
- Philadelphia trademark litigation lawyer
- Philadelphia intellectual property lawyer
- Philadelphia IP lawyer
- Philadelphia trademark law firm
- Philadelphia trademark legal services
From ChatGPT:
- trademark attorneys Philadelphia
- trademark infringement lawyers near me
- trademark disputes law firms
- reliable trademark enforcement firms
- resolving trademark infringement
- protecting intellectual property rights Philadelphia
- skilled trademark litigation attorneys
- expert trademark infringement advice
- Philadelphia trademark law firms
- trusted trademark professionals
If you request phrase match types, you’ll get a response more along the lines of:
- “leading trademark attorneys in Philadelphia”
- “highly recommended trademark infringement lawyers near me”
- “top-rated law firms for trademark disputes in Philadelphia”
- “reliable firms for trademark enforcement in Philadelphia”
- “resolving trademark infringement cases in Philadelphia”
- “protecting intellectual property rights with Philadelphia lawyers”
- “skilled attorneys for trademark litigation in Philadelphia”
- “expert advice on trademark infringement in Philadelphia”
- “Philadelphia-based law firms specializing in trademark law”
- “trusted legal professionals for trademark matters in Philadelphia”
You can be as exacting or as broad as fits your use-case.
Remember that there’s more to SEM than Search Term & Keyword Research.
It should go without saying that the above is merely one method for one small aspect of SEM research and optimization, which we have generalized for a broad audience.
Expert SEM accounts with manual setups, for example, will take into account a myriad of additional account settings before deployment that go well beyond what we could cover in one article.
AI Chats vs Programatic AI for SEM
With this article, we’ve decided to focus solely on aiding SEM with AI chats versus the more complex programmatic AI solutions for SEM. We’ll cover programmatic AI and SEM in a forthcoming article.
Remember to Remove Sensitive Data when using AI
When using chat.openai.com or bard.google.com for SEM research, you interact with the AI models through a web interface provided by OpenAI or Google AI, respectively. While both take measures to ensure data security, it’s important to be cautious when dealing with sensitive information. As the data passes through the models’ systems during the conversations, there is a potential risk that sensitive data could be accessed or stored.
When integrating AI as part of a program, the security concerns may vary depending on how the program is implemented and the measures taken to protect sensitive data. As the integration involves developing custom software or applications, the responsibility for data security lies with the developers and the infrastructure they deploy.