AI SEO clusters with Clearscope/Frase (L3)

The steps

1. 01

   Identify striking distance keywords

   First, access your Google Search Console (GSC) account and navigate to the 'Search results' report under the 'Performance' tab. Set the date range to the last 3 months. Click the 'Export' button in the top right and select 'Download CSV' or 'Google Sheets'. Once in the sheet, apply a filter to the 'Position' column to isolate queries where your average position is between 5.0 and 20.0. These are your 'Striking Distance' keywords,terms where you already have some authority but aren't yet capturing top-tier traffic. Sort these by 'Impressions' (descending) to identify the highest potential volume. • Owner: Content Marketer or SEO Specialist • Time Estimate: 30 minutes • Tooling: Google Search Console, Google Sheets/Excel • Pitfall: Don't ignore CTR; if a query has high impressions and a position of 6 but 0% CTR, your meta title is likely the issue. • Definition of Done: A curated spreadsheet containing at least 50-100 keywords with positions 5-20 and their corresponding landing pages.

2. 02

   Cluster by intent and topic

   Upload your CSV of GSC keywords into an LLM interface (ChatGPT Plus, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, or a specialized tool like Keyword Insights). Use the following prompt: 'Analyze this list of search queries. Organize them into thematic clusters. For each cluster, identify the primary Pillar keyword and secondary Cluster keywords. Categorize each cluster by search intent: Informational (How/What), Commercial (Comparison/Best), or Transactional (Buy/Pricing).' This ensures you aren't just writing random posts, but building topical authority. • Owner: SEO Content Strategist • Time Estimate: 1 hour • Example Prompt: 'Act as an SEO expert. Group these 100 queries by semantic relevance. Identify the core pillar topic for each group and list the intent.' • Pitfall: LLMs may hallucinate keywords not in your original list; cross-reference the output with your GSC data to ensure accuracy. • Definition of Done: A structured topic map showing 3-5 'Pillar' topics and their associated 'Satellite' content pieces.

3. 03

   Build AI-graded content briefs

   Open Clearscope or Frase and create a 'Report' or 'Document' for your primary pillar keyword. Instead of asking the AI to write a full blog post (which often lacks brand voice), use the 'AI Draft' or 'Outline' feature to generate a deep content brief. In Clearscope, look at the 'Terms' tab to see which entities are missing from your current content. In Frase, use the 'SEO Content Brief' template. Ensure the brief includes a suggested H1, a list of H2/H3 subheadings based on competitor gaps, and a list of mandatory 'latent semantic indexing' (LSI) terms to include. • Owner: Content Manager • Time Estimate: 45 minutes per brief • Tooling: Clearscope (Inventory/Reports) or Frase (Content/Outline) • Pitfall: Relying on generic AI outlines. Always check the 'Competitor' tab in Clearscope to see if the AI missed a unique angle your competitors are using. • Definition of Done: A finalized SEO brief with a target word count, suggested heading structure, and a list of 20-40 must-have keywords.

4. 04

   Write with real-time AI grading

   Hand the brief to a human writer. Instruct them to write the content while keeping the Clearscope or Frase editor open. The goal is to reach a 'Grade A++' or 'Score 80+' by naturally weaving in the suggested terms and answering the 'People Also Ask' questions highlighted by the tool. If the AI suggests a term like 'enterprise scalability,' the writer must explain it in the brand's unique voice rather than letting the AI generate a bland definition. The human focuses on the narrative and 'Information Gain' (adding new value), while the AI serves as the quality assurance grader. • Owner: Content Writer • Time Estimate: 3-5 hours per post • Tooling: Clearscope Content Editor or Frase Editor • Pitfall: 'Keyword stuffing' to hit the grade. If a suggested word doesn't fit the context, leave it out; search engines reward readability over raw density. • Definition of Done: A finished article that meets the target SEO grade and contains at least 2-3 links to related 'Cluster' posts.

5. 05

   Quarterly refresh and re-grade

   SEO is not a 'set and forget' task. Every 90 days, re-run your GSC report specifically for the pages you updated. Check the 'Compare' mode in GSC (Last 3 Months vs. Previous Period) to track ranking improvements. For pages that haven't hit the Top 3 yet, create a new Clearscope/Frase report to see if the 'Content Grade' has dropped due to new competitors entering the space. Re-optimize the content by adding fresh data points, updating the 'Published Date,' and answering new questions the AI identifies in the current SERP. • Owner: RevOps or SEO Lead • Time Estimate: 2 hours per quarter • Tooling: GSC, Clearscope, CMS (WordPress/Webflow) • Pitfall: Forgetting to update the meta-description and 'Last Updated' schema, which tells Google the content is fresh. • Definition of Done: A 'Refresh Log' showing the date of re-optimization and the delta change in average position for the targeted cluster.

Next playbooks

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