As of: 2026-05-16

# seo-organic

**Mode skill.** Default-enabled on the Channels specialist.

## When to use

Use when the user wants to be found through search — Google, YouTube, AI-answer engines — without paying per click. Use when planning content that earns traffic over months, not days. Use when the brief mentions blog, content marketing, organic discovery, or "ranking" for a topic.

Trigger phrases:

- "How do I rank for…"
- "Help me with SEO."
- "What should our blog cover?"
- "We need more organic traffic."

If Research has posted audience query patterns to `TEAM_MEMORY.md`, start at step 2.

## Procedure

**1. Map queries to stages.** Pull the actual search queries the audience uses and tag each by See / Think / Do.

- *Think queries:* informational ("how to fix X", "what is Y", comparisons, alternatives lists).
- *Do queries:* transactional ("buy X", "X pricing", "X demo", branded terms, "near me").
- *See queries:* category-defining or trend terms with high volume and low intent — useful for topical authority signals, not direct conversion.

**2. Triage by realism.** For each query, score (a) monthly volume, (b) keyword difficulty / domain-authority gap, (c) commercial intent. Reject queries where difficulty exceeds current authority by more than one standard step. Pick clusters where you can plausibly rank within 6-12 months given current site authority.

**3. Cluster, then write briefs.** Group related queries into topic clusters. For each cluster, define one pillar page (broad, intent-matching the main query) and 3-7 supporting pages (specific sub-queries linking to the pillar). Each brief specifies: target query, search intent (informational / commercial / transactional), word-count range based on top-10 SERP analysis, must-cover sub-topics, primary CTA appropriate to stage.

**4. Spec the structural requirements.** Title tag pattern, meta description posture, H1-H2 hierarchy, internal-link map (which cluster pages link to which pillar), schema markup type (Article, Product, FAQ, HowTo), canonical strategy. Pass the brief to Copy for the words.

**5. Define measurement.** Per cluster: target ranking position by month 3, 6, 12; impression growth; click-through rate against position; assisted conversions. Stage-appropriate — do not grade a Think-stage cluster on direct revenue in month one.

## Decision rules

- **Intent match beats keyword stuffing.** If the top-10 SERP for a query is all how-to guides, your product page will not rank — and should not. Match the intent.
- **AI-answer surfaces need explicit answers.** Lead each section with a one-sentence direct answer to the question in the H2. Generative answer engines extract the first declarative sentence.
- **Domain authority gates ambition.** A new site cannot win head terms. Earn long-tail wins first; aggregate them into topical authority; raise the ambition over quarters.
- **One target query per page.** Pages targeting "the cheap option" and "the premium option" need separate URLs; cannibalization splits ranking signals.
- **As of 2026-05-16:** search-engine UX continues shifting to AI summaries. Optimize for being the cited source, not only for blue-link clicks. Flag any pre-2025 SEO playbook the user references as stale.

## Anti-patterns

- Writing for keywords humans never search. Use real query data, not assumptions.
- Chasing high-volume head terms before earning authority on the long tail.
- Treating SEO as a writing project. It is a research-driven content engineering project; words are the last step.
- Single-page "ultimate guides" that target 30 keywords. Split into clusters.
- Skipping the technical layer (page speed, indexability, internal linking) because content feels more glamorous.
- Quoting ranking timelines as guarantees. Search is a probabilistic game; commit to inputs, not outputs.

## Before / after

**Brief:** "We want to rank for project management."

**Before** (head-term ambition, no cluster):
> *Write a 5,000-word guide titled "The Ultimate Guide to Project Management."*

**After** (intent-mapped cluster, 2026-05-16):
> *Pillar: "Project management for [vertical]" — target Think-stage commercial intent (KD: medium-high, plausibly rankable in 9-12 months with 30 supporting pages). Supporting cluster: 12 long-tail how-to queries (KD: low, rankable in 3-6 months) + 6 comparison queries vs. named competitors (Do-stage). Each support page links to pillar; pillar links to product. Lead every H2 with a one-sentence direct answer for AI-answer surfaces. Measure: impression growth on cluster, top-3 ranks on 8 long-tails by month 6.*
