Setting Up Your Topics and Prompts

Prompt (copy this)

Key Concepts

Topic: A container that groups related prompts around a coherent area of intent. Topic-level metrics aggregate from the prompts inside, so mixing unrelated prompts dilutes your data.

Coverage topic: A broad topic that monitors whether you're in the conversation for a category (e.g., "historical data"). Answers: are we visible here?

Depth topic: A focused topic designed to win a specific opportunity (e.g., "historical data for marketers"). Answers: are we the default recommendation?

Commercial intent prompt: A prompt that forces the answer engine to recommend rather than explain. Outputs typically include "best tools," "top platforms," or "recommended options."

Query fan-out: When a user asks a complex question, answer engines break it into multiple sub-queries, fetch sources, then synthesize. Winning specific sub-queries helps you appear in broader answers.

Quick Reference

The Hierarchy

• Category contains topics
• Topics contain prompts
• Tags slice across topics and prompts (covered in Lesson 10)

Coverage vs. Depth Strategy

Keep both in your setup:

• Coverage topics (most of your topics): 3-5 broad commercial prompts each
• Depth topics (2-5 strategic priorities): compound prompts with multiple qualifiers

Building Commercial Prompts

Start with a base (your product/category term), then add qualifiers:

• ICP/Audience: "for marketing teams," "for agencies"
• Evaluation criteria: "with historical data tracking," "that shows month-over-month trends"
• Constraints: "under $500/month," "with Salesforce integration"
• Comparisons: "versus traditional SEO tools," "alternatives to X"

Compound prompt example: "What's the best AI search platform for marketing teams who need historical visibility data to justify their 2026 budget?"

Avoid brand names in prompts as they skew visibility scores.

Translating Keywords to Prompts

1. Cluster keywords into 10-25 coverage topics
2. Decide which topics need depth versions (2-5 strategic priorities)
3. Write prompts: coverage topics get broad commercial prompts; depth topics get compound prompts
4. Target 10-25 prompts per topic

What Makes a Good Topic Bucket

Group prompts where:

• The same competitors tend to appear
• The same evaluation criteria matter
• The same content strategy applies

If competitors and criteria differ significantly, split into separate topics.

Common Topic Sources

• Business lines/capabilities (integrations, pricing, model coverage)
• ICPs and functions (for marketers, for SEO teams, for agencies)
• Evaluation criteria (accuracy, freshness, reporting)
• Constraints (budget, region, compliance)
• Moments that matter (launches, campaigns, seasonal pushes)