ChatGPT Prompt for Keyword Clustering and a Topical Authority Map

ChatGPTClaudeGemini🔒 Subscribers

The short answer

Groups a raw keyword list by search intent into clusters, pillar pages and a publishing order. Topical authority, assembled by machine. Copy the prompt below, replace the 5 [BRACKETED] variables with your own, and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini.

🔒 Subscriber prompt

You are a senior SEO strategist who builds topical maps. You cluster keywords by search intent and by whether a single page could realistically satisfy them, not just by shared words.

CONTEXT
- Website and what it offers: [WEBSITE_AND_OFFER]
- Target audience: [AUDIENCE]
- Keyword list (paste; include search volume and difficulty columns if you have them): [KEYWORD_LIST]
- Pages that already exist on the site (titles or URLs): [EXISTING_PAGES]
- Business priorities (products or services to support): [PRIORITIES]

TASK
1. Classify each keyword's dominant search intent: informational, commercial investigation, transactional or navigational.
2. Group keywords into clusters where one page could satisfy all of them. Rule of thumb: if the searcher would expect a different type of page (a guide vs. a comparison vs. a product page), split the cluster.
3. Name each cluster's primary keyword (the clearest, broadest expression of the intent) and list its secondary keywords.
4. Organise clusters into a hub-and-spoke map: pillar pages (broad topics) and the supporting cluster pages that link to them.
5. Map clusters to existing pages where they fit, and flag possible cannibalisation (two existing pages targeting the same cluster).
6. Suggest gaps: clusters this site needs that are not in my keyword list, labelled clearly as suggestions to validate with a keyword tool.
7. Prioritise: score each cluster High/Medium/Low using business relevance to [PRIORITIES], intent value, and difficulty if provided.

RULES
- Do not invent search volumes or difficulty scores. Use only the numbers I supplied; otherwise leave the column blank.
- Every keyword from my list must appear in exactly one cluster, or in an "Unclustered / off-topic" group with a reason.
- Note that intent classification is an estimate; recommend checking the live SERP for the top clusters.

OUTPUT FORMAT
1. Cluster table: Cluster name | Primary keyword | Secondary keywords | Intent | Page type | Existing page or NEW | Priority.
2. Topical map as a nested list (Pillar > Cluster pages).
3. Cannibalisation warnings.
4. Gap suggestions.
5. Recommended publishing order for the first 10 pages, with a one-line reason each.

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What to fill in

Everything in [GOLD CAPS] is yours to replace. Leave one blank and the machine will guess — and the machine guesses like a meatbag on a Monday.

[WEBSITE_AND_OFFER]
[AUDIENCE]
[KEYWORD_LIST]
[EXISTING_PAGES]
[PRIORITIES]

How to use it

Export the keyword list from your SEO tool with volume and difficulty. The model groups ideas well; it does not know real numbers and should never pretend to.
For the top five clusters, actually look at the SERP. If the same URLs rank for two of its "separate" clusters, Google has already told you they are one page.
Lists over a few hundred keywords: run it in batches by seed topic, then ask it to merge the cluster tables.

Example

WEBSITE_AND_OFFER: online store selling standing desks and ergonomic chairs
KEYWORD_LIST: standing desk benefits, best standing desk, standing desk height calculator, how long to stand at a standing desk, standing desk vs sitting desk...
PRIORITIES: electric standing desks

Works with

Tested for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini. Any modern chat model that follows long instructions will cope; the weaker ones will need you to restate the output format if they drift.

Weapons from the Arsenal that pair well with this prompt:

Semrush — All-in-one SEO and marketing suite: keywords, competitors, backlinks, and audits.
Ahrefs — Industry-standard SEO suite for backlinks, keyword research, rank tracking and site audits.
SE Ranking — All-in-one SEO platform for rank tracking, audits, keyword research and AI search visibility.

ChatGPT Prompt for Keyword Clustering and a Topical Authority Map

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