Staying ahead in SEO means more than just tracking search trends. There’s a little bit of psychology involved too. It’s about understanding what people are looking for when they use a certain search term, and providing information that best matches their need and intent.
Keyword research and semantic terms will get you so far, but without careful consideration you can end up with just another piece of content designed to tick a box rather than serve the user. The nuance in SEO lies in understanding the exact context, sentiment, and emotion behind a search.
Consider someone arranging a funeral. Their search term is likely to be something along the lines of “funeral director near me”. An SEO tool will spit out all the semantic terms associated with this topic, and in theory you have everything you need to rank against the term. However, in this case, the person performing the search is likely to be in a very emotional place. You also need your content to understand their current mindset, anticipate their emotional needs and respond accordingly. Otherwise, you’re not helping them. You’re only helping yourself.
The tricky bit is getting a full insight into people’s needs. Enter Perplexity AI.
What makes Perplexity AI a game-changer for SEO?
Perplexity is much like other AI tools on the market, but it includes an easy-to-use feature which can help SEOs deal with the exact issue we’re discussing. You can use its “social” functionality to search for discussions and opinions.
This feature unlocks a new layer of data—allowing SEOs to go beyond keywords and delve into the emotions, context, and fresh trends driving conversations around key topics. This means you can dive straight into the heart of real-time discussions happening on platforms like Reddit, Twitter, and more. It provides a snapshot of what’s being said, how people feel, and what’s trending—all in real time.
For SEOs, this is a goldmine. Imagine spotting content gaps, uncovering pain points, and catching onto trending questions that your audience is asking right now.
How SEOs can use social data to power content ideas
Creating content that ranks is one thing—creating content that connects with your audience is another. Traditional keyword tools show you what people are searching for but often miss the why and how behind those searches. This is where Perplexity AI shines.
By harnessing its social insights, SEOs can:
- Spot emerging trends: Platforms like Reddit and X (formerly Twitter) are where conversations typically start. By crawling these, you can catch onto trends before they even become popular searches, allowing you to create content that’s ahead of the curve.
- Tap into user sentiment: Ever wonder how your audience feels about a topic? Social discussions offer this insight—whether users are frustrated, excited, curious, or anything in between. You can then tweak your content to address these emotions, building stronger connections with your readers.
- Discover long-tail keywords: Social platforms are full of niche questions that traditional tools often miss. These long-tail keywords can help you create highly targeted content, answering specific problems and driving valuable organic traffic.
Turning social insights into actionable content
Once you’ve got a treasure trove of insights, it’s time to put them to work in your content:
- Answer user questions: By tapping into frequently asked questions from platforms like Reddit, you can create blog posts, FAQs, or articles that directly address what users are asking right now. This ensures your content is timely and user-driven.
- Capitalise on trending discussions: When a topic starts trending, you can quickly produce content to jump on the bandwagon. This could be a blog, video, or social post that taps into the growing interest—boosting your chances of ranking in Google’s Top Stories or other search features, or just enhancing an existing page.
- Tailor tone based on sentiment: If users are feeling negative about a particular product or service, create content that addresses these concerns. If they’re buzzing about something new, match that excitement in your content to help position you as a thought leader in the space.
- Enhance SEO with user-driven keywords: Beyond basic keywords, you can enrich your content with user-generated language—think slang, colloquialisms, or region-specific terms that people are actively using. This not only improves relevance but also helps you match the way people are talking about the topic, boosting your SEO performance.
TL;DR
Perplexity AI’s social functionality provides SEOs with a powerful new tool to create content that’s not only optimised for search engines but also hyper-relevant to what users are actually talking about, and how they feel about certain topics, meaning SEOs can craft content that’s more engaging, timely, and user-centric.
If you need help with your SEO efforts, or positioning your brand effectively against user needs, why not get in touch with us to see how we can help?