Module 01 · Lesson 2 of 6
Search Intent: The Reason Behind the Query
Search intent is the job the user is trying to get done when they type a query. The same words can carry different jobs: "seo audit" can mean "learn what an SEO audit is" or "hire someone to do one". Engines decide which job dominates, and they reward pages that match it.
The four working types
| Intent | The user wants | Example query | Page that wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| Informational | To understand something | what is generative engine optimisation | Definition-led guide |
| Navigational | A specific site or brand | search console login | The official page |
| Commercial investigation | To compare before deciding | best ai seo course | Comparison or review page |
| Transactional | To act now | seo audit template download | Product, booking or download page |
Treat the labels as a starting grid, not a law. Real queries mix intents, and the mix shifts. That is why you read the SERP instead of arguing about labels.
Read the SERP, not your opinion
Search the query and look at what already ranks. The results are the engine's published opinion of the intent. If the first page is all comparison tables, the intent is investigation, and your 3,000-word explainer is the wrong page no matter how well it is written. If videos and forums dominate, the SERP wants discussion and demonstration. You are collecting the page type, the format, and the angles covered, then deciding where you can genuinely beat what is there.
This is the single most common failure in SEO projects: excellent content in the wrong format loses to a mediocre page in the right one.
Prompts carry intent too
Conversational prompts behave the same way. "Help me choose between GEO and traditional SEO for a local business" is commercial investigation phrased conversationally: the user wants a comparison and a recommendation, not a history of search. When you build content for AI search, you classify prompts exactly as you classify queries.
- Search
what is an ai seo course. Expect definition-led guides. Informational. - Search
best ai seo course. Expect comparisons and roundups. Commercial investigation. - Search
google search console. Expect the official tool page and its documentation. Navigational.
Run all three yourself and note the top three results for each. The page types differ sharply across the three SERPs even though every query is about the same subject. That gap is intent at work.
Take ten queries from your own niche, the kind your customers actually type.
- Search each one. Record the dominant page type in the top three results.
- Classify each query: informational, navigational, commercial investigation, transactional.
- Mark every query where your current pages are the wrong type for that SERP.
- Choose the one mismatch with real commercial value. That is a future project; write it down.
What decides intent: the label you assign or the SERP?
A brilliantly written guide targets a query whose SERP is all product pages. What happens?
Do conversational prompts have intent?
Sources used in this lesson
Google Search Central: SEO starter guide