Illustration for SEO marketing skills
SEO skill · v0.1.0

Keyword research skill

Find keywords worth targeting from Search Console, competitors and SERPs, judged by intent, difficulty and fit, then add them as ideas.

Free · MIT licence · Copy needs a free sign-in

Category
SEO
Works with
Claude, Codex, Cursor, any agent
Format
SKILL.md · 1,294 words
Version
v0.1.0
Price
Free · MIT

The Keyword research skill file

cmo-keyword-research/SKILL.md1,294 words · MIT
---
name: cmo-keyword-research
description: Find keywords worth targeting from Search Console, competitors and SERPs, judged by intent, difficulty and fit, then add them as ideas.
---

Turn what a business sells and what people already search into a short, defensible list of keywords to target. Maggie starts from first-party demand in Search Console, expands from seeds, competitors and the live results, filters hard for intent and business fit, and then adds the winners to CMO.so as blog ideas so they get written.

When to use

  • "Find keywords", "what should we rank for", "keyword ideas for X", "competitor keywords".
  • Before planning a quarter of content, a new product page or a new market.
  • Not for: grouping a large list into pages (use cmo-keyword-clustering), quick wins on existing pages only (use cmo-seo-opportunities), or questions people ask AI assistants (use cmo-ai-prompt-research).
Sign in to see, copy and download the whole skillIt's free. Copying also upvotes and saves it, so you'll find it again under Saved.
Preview: the workflow, output, example, quality bar and guardrails unlock when you sign in.

Adapts open work by AgriciDaniel/claude-seo (MIT), irinabuht12-oss/marketing-skills (none).

Everyday usage

How people use Keyword research day to day

Ask in plain words. The agent picks this skill, asks for anything it needs and hands back the result. Words in a highlight are yours to change.

Most common · also on the SEO page

Find keywords worth writing about

Keywords judged by intent, difficulty and fit, from Search Console, competitors and the results pages.

Ask your agentFind 20 keywords my bakery can rank for this year.
  • A shortlist of 5-15 keywords to target now, each with intent, evidence and the page to make or improve
  • A longer opportunity table and a list of terms deliberately rejected
  • Chosen keywords added to CMO.so as blog ideas (after approval)

More things to ask

  • Find keywords for my site
  • What should we rank for?
  • Keyword research for [topic]
  • Which searches are we close to winning?
  • What are competitors ranking for that we aren't?
  • Turn these keywords into blog ideas
How it works

From input to output

  1. 1You give it
    • The website and what it sells, to whom, in which countries and languages
    • Seed topics, products, customer problems or competitor domains
    • Optional: keyword data the user already has (a keyword tool export, Google Ads search terms report)
  2. 2It works through the method
    • Asks what's missing, one question at a time
    • Follows the workflow step by step
    • Checks the result against its quality bar and guardrails
  3. 3You get
    • A shortlist of 5-15 keywords to target now, each with intent, evidence and the page to make or improve
    • A longer opportunity table and a list of terms deliberately rejected
    • Chosen keywords added to CMO.so as blog ideas (after approval)
Why a skill

The skill against the alternatives

Do it yourselfHire helpKeyword research skill
CostYour own timeAgency or freelancer feesFree, MIT licence
Time to a first resultHours, every timeDays to weeks, plus revisionsMinutes, in your agent
ConsistencyDepends on remembering every stepAs long as the retainer lastsSame steps and checks every run
The methodIn your headTheir process, often hiddenWritten down: read it, change it
Who does the workYou, from scratchSomeone learning your businessYour agent, following the skill
FAQ

Questions about the Keyword research skill

What it does, what it needs and how to use it with your agent.

Still not sure?Try it free on your own website and see the first posts before you decide.
Start free
What is the Keyword research skill?

Find keywords worth targeting from Search Console, competitors and SERPs, judged by intent, difficulty and fit, then add them as ideas.

It's one of cmo.so's open SEO skills: a SKILL.md file that tells an AI agent when to use it, what to ask you first, the steps to follow, the checks to pass and what to hand back, so the job is done the same careful way every time.

When should I use it?

Reach for it when you'd otherwise say something like “Find keywords for my site”, “What should we rank for?”, “Keyword research for [topic]”. Your agent reads the skill's description and picks it for requests like these, so you don't need to name it.

If a request is close but not quite right, the skill says so and points to the related skill that fits better, instead of forcing a poor answer.

What do I need to give it?

It works best with the website and what it sells, to whom, in which countries and languages; seed topics, products, customer problems or competitor domains; and optional: keyword data the user already has (a keyword tool export, Google Ads search terms report).

You don't have to prepare everything up front. The skill asks for missing pieces one at a time and says plainly when it's working from an assumption instead of your data.

What do I get back?

You get a shortlist of 5-15 keywords to target now, each with intent, evidence and the page to make or improve; a longer opportunity table and a list of terms deliberately rejected; and chosen keywords added to CMO.so as blog ideas (after approval).

Every result comes from a written method with a quality bar, so numbers name their source, claims are checked and the output is ready to use or share rather than a rough draft.

Is it free?

Yes. The skill is open source under the MIT licence, so you can use it, change it and share it, including for client work.

Seeing, copying and downloading the whole file on cmo.so needs a free sign-in. Copying also upvotes and saves it, so you can find it again under Saved on the skills page.

Which AI agents can use it?

Claude Code installs it from the cmo.so marketplace. Any agent that reads SKILL.md folders, such as Codex or Cursor, can use it once the folder is in its skills directory.

You can also paste the copied skill into ChatGPT, Claude or any assistant at the start of a conversation and ask it to follow the skill.

How do I install it?

In Claude Code, run /plugin marketplace add AI-Marketing-OS-LTD/cmo-so-skills, then /plugin install cmo-so-seo@cmo-so. That installs this skill together with the rest of the SEO group.

For other agents, sign in, press Copy or Download above and put the file in your agent's skills folder as SKILL.md inside a folder named after the skill.

Do I need a cmo.so account to use it?

No. The skill works on its own with whatever your agent can already see and do: your files, the pages you share and the data you paste in.

With cmo.so connected it can go further, using tools such as gsc_queries_get, topics_list, idea_add through the MCP server. Every change is previewed and confirmed before it happens.

Which skills work well with it?

It pairs well with Keyword clustering & topic map; and Blog planner. The agent can hand over from one to the next in the same conversation, for example research first, then the plan, then the writing.

Each of them has its own page with what it needs and what it returns, linked below.

Can I change it to fit my business?

Yes. It's a plain Markdown file, so you can edit the steps, add your own checks and examples, and keep your version in your own repo. The MIT licence allows it.

If your change would help others too, suggest it on the skills page or open a pull request on GitHub, and it may be folded into the library for everyone.

Where does the method come from?

It's written by cmo.so and adapts open work by others, credited on this page: AgriciDaniel/claude-seo (MIT); and irinabuht12-oss/marketing-skills (none).

Only permissively licensed work is adapted; copyleft repos are used for ideas only and repos without a licence aren't used at all.

Is my data sent to cmo.so when the agent uses it?

No. The skill only guides your own agent; your files, documents and data stay wherever your agent and its tools keep them.

cmo.so only sees what you connect to cmo.so. Your votes and saves on this page are stored against your cmo.so sign-in.

Ready when you are!

Rather have Maggie do it for you?

Enter your website. Maggie uses the same playbooks to plan, write and publish your marketing every day.

  • Free plan, no card needed
  • You decide what goes out
  • Cancel any time

Start with your website

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