Practical Ecommerce Merchant

July 16, 2025

SEO: Keywords

Keywords Don’t Work for AI SEO

The search engine industry is changing quickly, upended by AI platforms that have altered queries and informational journeys.

Consumers increasingly type extended prompts into AI platforms versus single keywords or phrases in traditional search engines. Prompts are much longer and are often voice-activated with follow-up questions.

Moreover, prompts are typically much more descriptive and thus harder to predict.

Nonetheless, knowing shoppers’ prompts is essential for understanding their needs. Unfortunately, third-party “question” tools are typically keyword-driven, unsuited for prompts.

Prompt analytics tools

New prompt-analysis tools are coming.

For example, Similarweb’s new “AI Traffic Intelligence” reveals the prompts driving traffic to any web page. The tool is an add-on to the company’s “Web Intelligence” platform, which starts at $1,500 per year. Similarweb has not published pricing for the AI addition. There is no free trial.

Aiso is another tool to see actual prompts based on topic, brand, or keywords. Users describe their business, products, and services. Aiso then shows actual, related prompts from ChatGPT and other AI platforms.

Llms.txt Could Help AI Find Your Store

The proposed llms.txt standard would guide large language models to relevant web content, helping online shops show up in AI-powered shopping.

Charts: Global Job Trends from AI

A just-released PwC report shows that AI has the potential to increase workers' wages — even in roles that are easily automated. Read article >

From the Archive: May 2007

Toolking.com: From eBay to $31 Million Empire

If you order pliers from Toolking.com, you really can’t just order pliers. You need to know what kind. Do you want locking pliers? Needle-nose pliers? Tongue-and-groove pliers? Read article >

📊 Ecommerce Chart

Chart: Employee learning needs

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