Why persona prompts work for SEO: SEO auditing is framework-heavy — there are structured ways to approach site analysis. When you tell an AI “be a professional SEO auditor,” it accesses those frameworks (technical audits, keyword gap analysis, backlink evaluation) instead of giving generic advice.
The Prompt List
Quick Win Audit (5-min spot check)
When you first pick up a site — whether you’re a new hire, a consultant on day one, or just doing a favour for a friend — you don’t need a 40-point audit. You need the three things most likely to move the needle this week.
This prompt cuts straight to it. Point the model at a URL or describe the site, and it’ll prioritise the issues that actually affect crawling, indexing, and rankings — not the stuff that fills spreadsheets but never gets fixed.
You are an SEO auditor. I'll share a URL or description. Give me 3-5 high-impact fixes to prioritize immediately. Focus on issues blocking crawl/indexing, major speed problems, and content gaps that directly impact rankings. Skip minor nitpicks — I want the money moves.Use when: You’re new to a site and need quick wins fast.
Technical Deep Audit (full inspection)
When you need the full picture — before a major campaign, ahead of a content push, or as part of a site acquisition — a surface-level check won’t cut it. This prompt sets the model up as a seasoned technical auditor and asks it to work through the entire stack: crawl, structure, performance, mobile, and schema.
The key is asking for severity ratings and concrete fixes inline. That stops the output from being a listicle of vague problems and turns it into something you can hand directly to a developer.
You are an experienced SEO auditor with 10+ years in technical SEO. Conduct a comprehensive audit covering:- Crawlability & indexing issues (robots.txt, canonicals, sitemaps)- Site structure problems- Core Web Vitals blockers (LOI, CLS, LCP)- Mobile-first issues- Schema markup gaps
For each issue: severity (critical/high/medium), why it matters, and a concrete fix.Use when: You’re doing a real teardown. This one’s thorough.
Keyword Gap Auditor
Most sites aren’t losing traffic because of technical problems — they’re losing it because competitors are simply covering more ground. Keyword gap analysis finds where your content map has holes that others are already monetising.
Fill in your site description and a few competitor domains before running this. The more specific you are about your niche, the more actionable the output. Ask for page-level recommendations, not just keyword lists — you want to know which existing page to update or which new page to build.
You are an SEO auditor specializing in keyword research. Compare my site [describe] against 3-5 competitors [list them]. Identify:- Keywords they rank for that I don't (content gaps)- Terms where we're close but not converting traffic- Long-tail opportunities with low competition
Be specific about page-level recommendations — which pages should target what.Use when: You need to know where your content is missing opportunities.
Backlink Health Check
Your backlink profile is both an asset and a liability. Toxic links can suppress your entire domain, while a healthy profile in the right niches is one of the hardest things for competitors to replicate. This prompt covers both sides: cleaning up what’s hurting you and identifying what’s worth chasing.
For best results, export your backlink data from Ahrefs, Semrush, or Search Console and paste the summary into the conversation. The model can then reason about anchor text concentration, link velocity, and outreach targets based on your actual data.
You are an SEO auditor focused on link building. Analyze our backlink profile for:- Toxic links that need disavowing- Anchor text distribution issues- Missing opportunities in our niche- Competitor link gaps we could exploit
Give me a prioritized outreach list based on what's achievable.Use when: You’re prepping for link building or recovering from penalties.
Content Quality Auditor
Content bloat is one of the most common and most ignored SEO problems. Sites accumulate pages over years — old guides, duplicate angles, thin posts that never ranked — and that dead weight pulls down the overall quality signal Google uses to evaluate the domain.
This prompt asks the model to be honest about what should be cut, not just what should be improved. That’s an unusual frame, and it tends to produce more useful output than asking for a standard “content audit.” Paste in your site map or a list of URLs with traffic data for the best results.
You are an SEO auditor and content strategist. Review our content for:- Thin/underdeveloped pages- Cannibalization issues (multiple pages ranking for same terms)- Internal linking opportunities- Content that needs updating vs. deleting
Be honest — tell me what to kill, not just what to improve.Use when: Your content inventory is getting out of control (which it always does).
On-Page Optimization Auditor
On-page SEO is where most people starting out spend all their time — and where experienced practitioners often get sloppy once the basics are locked in. Title tags drift, heading hierarchies get messy, internal links stop being intentional.
This prompt is designed for page-by-page work. Paste the URL or the full page content and let the model run through the full checklist. Crucially, it asks for a rewrite of the title and meta as part of the output, so you leave with something usable rather than just a list of problems.
You are an on-page SEO specialist. Review the following page [URL or paste content] and audit:- Title tag: is it compelling, keyword-targeted, and under 60 characters?- Meta description: does it drive clicks and stay under 155 characters?- H1/H2/H3 structure: is the hierarchy logical and keyword-rich?- Body content: keyword density, LSI terms, and semantic coverage- Image alt text gaps- Internal links: are we linking to relevant pages and using descriptive anchors?
Give me a rewrite of the title tag and meta description as part of your output.Use when: You’re optimizing individual landing pages or blog posts for ranking.
Core Web Vitals Debugger
Google’s Core Web Vitals became a ranking signal in 2021, and they still catch people out — especially LCP on image-heavy pages and CLS on sites that load third-party scripts late. Passing CWV won’t skyrocket your rankings on its own, but failing them is a measurable drag that’s entirely fixable.
Specify your platform when running this prompt. A WordPress site with a poorly configured caching plugin has completely different failure modes from a Next.js app with unoptimised server-side rendering. The fix list you get will only be useful if it’s scoped to your actual stack.
You are a performance SEO engineer. I'm failing Core Web Vitals on [page type / site]. Walk me through the most common causes of:- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) above 2.5s- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) above 0.1- INP (Interaction to Next Paint) above 200ms
For each metric, give me a prioritized list of fixes specific to [platform: WordPress / Shopify / Next.js / etc.]. Skip the theory — tell me what to actually change and where.Use when: You’re failing CWV and need a clear action list, not a lecture.
Schema Markup Auditor
Structured data is one of the few SEO tactics with a directly visible payoff: star ratings, FAQ dropdowns, sitelinks, and recipe cards in the SERP. Yet most sites either have none, have it implemented incorrectly, or are using types that don’t qualify for rich results.
This prompt identifies the gaps and then does the implementation work for you. Tell it your site type and ask it to generate the JSON-LD for the highest-value missing schema — you can paste that straight into your CMS or <head> tag.
You are an SEO specialist in structured data. Audit the schema implementation for [site type: blog / ecommerce / local business / SaaS]. Tell me:- Which schema types I should have but don't (Article, Product, FAQ, BreadcrumbList, Organization, etc.)- Common implementation errors for my site type- Which schema types are most likely to trigger rich results in Google
Then generate the JSON-LD markup for the most valuable missing schema type on my site.Use when: You want rich results (star ratings, FAQs, sitelinks) in SERPs.
Local SEO Auditor
Local SEO operates on different rules than organic search. Google Business Profile optimisation, citation consistency, and review signals matter far more here than domain authority or backlink counts. Yet most local businesses treat their GBP like a set-and-forget directory listing.
Provide as much context as you can: the business name, the target city or service area, the category, and any known weaknesses (missing reviews, inconsistent phone numbers across directories, no city-specific landing pages). The 30-day action plan format keeps the output actionable rather than overwhelming.
You are a local SEO specialist. Audit my local search presence for [business name, city, category]. Cover:- Google Business Profile completeness and optimization gaps- NAP (name, address, phone) consistency issues across citations- Review velocity and response strategy problems- Local keyword targeting on the website (city pages, service area pages)- Local link building opportunities (chambers, directories, local press)
Give me a 30-day action plan ranked by impact.Use when: You run or consult for a business that depends on “near me” searches.
E-commerce SEO Auditor
E-commerce sites have a unique set of SEO failure modes that don’t apply to content sites. Faceted navigation can generate thousands of near-duplicate URLs overnight. Product variants create canonicalisation nightmares. Out-of-stock pages that return 200s quietly bleed crawl budget.
This prompt is built around the problems that specifically tank product-based sites in Google’s product search results. Fill in your niche and platform — Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento — because the specific fixes look very different depending on how your URL parameters and template system work.
You are an e-commerce SEO specialist. Audit an online store in [niche/category] for:- Faceted navigation and parameter issues causing crawl waste- Category page optimization (thin content, missing H1s, no internal links)- Product page duplication (variants, similar descriptions)- Out-of-stock page handling- Review and UGC opportunities for content depth- Structured data for Product and Review schema
Flag anything that commonly tanks e-commerce sites in Google's product search.Use when: You’re running an online store and traffic is plateauing or dropping.
Site Migration Checklist
Site migrations are the single most common cause of sudden, dramatic organic traffic loss. The technical parts — redirects, canonicals, sitemap updates — are well documented. What kills sites is the stuff people forget: the forgotten subfolder, the parameter that used to be ignored but now isn’t, the hreflang that points to the old domain.
Run this prompt before you start planning, not the week before launch. Use it to build the checklist, then share that checklist with whoever is doing the technical implementation. The “what people miss” framing is intentional — it gets the model to focus on edge cases rather than giving you the same redirect advice you’ve read a hundred times.
You are an SEO migration specialist. I'm [moving domains / switching CMS / redesigning the site]. Build me a pre-migration and post-migration checklist covering:- Crawl and export of all current URLs- Redirect mapping priorities (which URLs matter most)- .htaccess or server-level redirect setup- Canonical and hreflang handling- How to monitor for traffic drops post-launch- What to check in Search Console after go-live
Assume I have intermediate SEO knowledge — skip the basics, focus on what people miss.Use when: You’re about to do anything that involves changing URLs or platforms.
Penalty Recovery Auditor
A traffic drop in Google Search Console is one of the most stressful things to investigate, partly because the causes are numerous and the attribution is rarely clear. Was it an algorithm update? A manual action? A technical change on your own site? All three?
This prompt’s value is in the update identification step — asking the model to match your drop date against known Google updates gives you a much faster starting hypothesis than reading through SEOmonitor or Search Engine Land archives on your own. Be specific about the timing and the pattern of the drop (whole site, specific pages, specific query types) to get the most relevant remediation advice.
You are an SEO specialist in Google penalty recovery. My site [describe: traffic drop date, type — manual or algorithmic] has experienced a significant rankings decline. Help me:- Identify whether this aligns with a known Google update (list the major updates and their targeting criteria)- Audit the most common causes for [manual penalty / Helpful Content / Spam / Link spam]- Build a remediation plan with timeline expectations
Be direct about what's salvageable and what isn't.Use when: Traffic fell off a cliff and you need to figure out why.
SERP Competitor Gap Analyzer
“Create better content” is the SEO advice everyone gives and nobody can act on. Better than what, exactly? Better in which dimension? This prompt asks a more useful question: what are the top-ranking pages actually doing, and what would it take to build something that beats them?
Start with a specific keyword or topic cluster, not a broad subject. The more focused the target, the more specific the format, depth, and link profile analysis will be. This is best run alongside your own manual review of the SERP — use the model’s output as a framework, then verify the claims against what you’re actually seeing in rankings.
You are an SEO strategist. I want to dominate the SERP for [target keyword or topic cluster]. Analyze what the top 5 results have in common:- Content format (listicle, guide, tool, comparison)- Average word count and depth- What questions they answer that I'm not- Backlink profile characteristics- SERP features they're capturing (featured snippets, PAA, images)
Then tell me specifically how to build a page that outranks them — not just "create better content."Use when: You’re building a new page to compete for a specific keyword.
Real Example: What’s the Difference?
Without a persona prompt, you might get something like this:
“You should optimize your meta tags and maybe improve your page speed.”
With the persona approach:
“Critical issue: Your sitemap is returning 404s because it’s not being served from the root domain. Fix: Add this to your .htaccess or update your CMS sitemap settings.”
That’s the difference.