Every search query is a job to be done. Someone wants to learn something, find a specific website, compare options, or pull the trigger and buy. SEO still runs on that simple idea, and smart marketers categorize keywords into four intent buckets: informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional.
One label, four jobs
- Informational – “Coffee calories.” The searcher wants an answer, not a product.
- Navigational – “YouTube” or “Semrush blog.” They already know the brand.
- Commercial – “Best cold brew” or “Dunkin cold brew vs Starbucks cold brew.” They’re comparing before buying.
- Transactional – “Buy crypto online.” They’re ready to act now.
The label describes search intent. It tells you what kind of page to build before you write a word. If the page and the intent don’t match, Google won’t rank it well—no matter how polished the content is.
AI Overviews are flooding commercial searches
Semrush analyzed more than 600,000 U.S. desktop keywords across 10 industries and found something that should change your content calendar: the share of commercial-intent results pages with an AI Overview grew 71% between November 2025 and April 2026. Commercial searches—where shoppers compare products, read reviews, and look for deals—are exactly where Google’s AI-generated summaries are expanding fastest.
That shift matters because commercial searchers are close to buying. If Google’s AI answers their comparison question before the blue links, the pages cited in that AI Overview win the attention. Pages that rank but don’t answer the full comparison simply don’t get the click.
Match the page to the intent
For informational keywords, answer the main question near the top and support claims with real experience and trusted sources—Google’s E-E-A-T signals still matter, and clear headings help AI systems cite your content.
For navigational keywords, make your brand impossible to miss: brand name in the H1, clean menus, an updated sitemap, and a verified Google Business Profile.
For commercial keywords, give the shopper what they need to decide. Lead with the differentiator, add third-party proof such as review scores or certifications, and answer follow-up questions in an on-page FAQ. Complete, current product details in Google Merchant Center also feed the Shopping Graph that Google’s AI Mode uses for product comparisons.
For transactional keywords, remove every step between the search and the purchase. Put the form or buy button on the first screen, show price and reviews near it, and use the keyword naturally in the title tag, H1, and URL.
Do this before the next piece of content
- Search your target keyword and note what the top results actually are—guides, brand pages, comparisons, or product pages.
- Read any AI Overview and the People Also Ask questions; they reveal exactly what searchers want beyond the query.
- Label the intent before drafting, and build the matching page type instead of guessing.
Track the result in your rank tracker, and if a keyword slips, compare your page against what the SERP now shows. Intent changes over time; the fastest way to lose visibility is to keep optimizing for yesterday’s search results.
Source: Semrush Blog
