Search volume
The estimated number of times a query is searched in a period, usually derived from Google Ads data and modelled by third-party tools.
ContentQuery research
Keyword research
Identifying and prioritising the queries a business should target, using volume, difficulty, intent, business value and current visibility.
In full
Sources include search engine keyword tools, Search Console query data, autocomplete and People Also Ask, competitor gap analysis, internal site search, and sales and support conversations. Volume figures from third-party tools are modelled estimates and should not be treated as measurements. In 2026 the practice increasingly extends to prompt-level research — what people ask AI assistants — which behaves differently from classic query data because it is longer, more conversational and largely unmeasured.
Example
Support ticket subject lines reveal that customers ask about 'transfer without penalty', a phrase absent from every keyword tool but with clear commercial intent.
Related terms
Keyword difficulty
A vendor-specific 0-100 score estimating how hard it is to rank on page one for a query, usually derived from the link profiles of current…
Long-tail keyword
A specific, low-volume query, usually longer and more precise, that collectively with millions of others makes up the majority of search…
Search intent
The underlying goal behind a query — typically classified as informational, navigational, commercial investigation or transactional.
Prompt volume
An estimate of how often a given question or prompt is asked of AI assistants — a nascent, poorly measured analogue of search volume.
Where to read more
- Ahrefs Academy · Course · ahrefs.com
- Ahrefs SEO Course for Beginners · Course · ahrefs.com
- Ahrefs: SEO — The Complete Guide for Beginners · Documentation · ahrefs.com
- Moz Academy · Certification · academy.moz.com
- Semrush SEO Crash Course with Brian Dean · Course · semrush.com
- The Art of SEO: Mastering Search Engine Optimization · Book · openlibrary.org