Search Intent

Search Intent is the underlying goal a user has when they enter a query into a search engine or an AI system.

Traditional search intent

With regular search like google or bing we usaly speak about 4 main intents

1. Informational

The user wants to learn something, find an answer to a question, or acquire new knowledge. They are not looking to buy something yet. (e.g. "How to tie a tie" or "Symptoms of the flu"

2. Navigational

The user knows exactly which website or page they want to visit and is using the search engine to get there rather than typing the URL (Ee.g. "Facebook login," "Amazon customer service," or "NYT homepage")

3. Commercial (Commercial Investigation)

The user is interested in a product or service and is comparing options. They are in the research phase—close to buying, but still deciding which one is best. (e.g. "Running shoes," "Mailchimp vs. ConvertKit," or "Top rated coffee makers 2024")

4. Transactional

The user is ready to buy or perform an action right now. They know what they want and are looking for the place to purchase or sign up. (e.g. "Buy iPhone 15 Pro Max," "Netflix subscription price," or "Pizza delivery near me")

The new intents

But with the arrival of AI Answer Engines we also see new intents popping up that goes even further.

5. Asking

The user is seeking information or advice to be better informed or make better decisions, whether for work, school, or personal life (e.g. "What should I look for when choosing a health plan?")

6. Doing

The user requests that the AI perform a specific task and produce a concrete output, or perform a particular task that can be plugged into a production process (e.g., writing code, rewriting an email to be more formal, or extracting data into a CSV format)

7. Expressing

The user is simply expressing views or feelings and is neither asking for information nor requesting the AI to perform an action

Why It Matters

Figuring out what the users real intent is the first step in creating highly relevant content. If a user wants to buy (transactional), giving them a history lesson (informational) will lead to a bounce. AI models are excellent at discerning intent and will only cite content that matches it. "Expressing" as an intent might not be the one to optimize your running shoe brand for, but users of AI search engines search differently. If you wnat to know more about this you should read How people search with AI outlining how search trends are shifting

How We Use It at Soprano

Soprano was started based on the need for understanding how search intent affects AI search answers. We were stuck performing the same searches over and over again to understand changes. That is why we created our own service to regularly perform search queries to AI engines, structure the answer, and get the sentiment. This way, the path to improving our visibility became quite clear.