researching-keywords-pre-launchlisted

# Researching Keywords Pre-Launch ## Overview Before a site has 90+ days of Google Search Console data, the striking-distance loop in `finding-underserved-keywords` doesn't work — there are no impressions to listen to. Cold-start discovery instead listens to **public demand signals**: search-suggest, the SERP boxes Google ships, communities where your users complain, competitor URLs, and the way prompts land in ChatGPT/Claude/Perplexity. No paid Ahrefs/Semrush seat needed. **Core principle:** real users have already typed the queries you need to rank for — into Google, Reddit, ChatGPT. Harvest that exhaust, cluster by intent, pick the cluster you can plausibly win first. ## When to use Pre-launch or just-launched site (no GSC verification or <90 days of data); considering a new content vertical with no historical signal; founder asks "what should the first 10 posts be?". **Don't use for:** sites with 90+ days of GSC data — hand off to `finding-underserved-keywords`. ## The 5 free signals 1. **Google search-surface (autocomplete + People Also Ask + related searches).** Type your seed plus each letter a–z to enumerate autocomplete; recursively expand PAA; scroll to "related searches". Real Google queries, not estimates [1][2]. 2. **Google Trends.** Compare seed terms; sort by *Rising* breakouts; check geographic delta — flat nationally but spiking in three states is a real signal [3]. 3. **Reddit / Hacker News / Indie Hackers.** Search the subreddits and forums where yo