How to Distinguish your Brand: The Strategic Role of Search
Photo by ChatGPT
One of the core portions of our brand strategy work with small business clients is walking them through a number of exercises to help them distinguish their brand. We want to help our clients stand out from their competitors, and one of the critical ways to get there is by doing market research, particularly around keyword and topic search results. It’s the best way to stay in-the-know and discover what is resonating in your market, how your competitors are showing up, and where there are gaps you can fill. Armed with this knowledge, you can take inspiration from your competitors while ensuring that your brand positioning is fresh, original, and relevant.
Think like your Ideal Client
To begin your search results research, it’s important that you think like your ideal client. Remember: if you don’t show up when they are looking for your product or service, they’ll find– and choose– someone else. So, you need to step into your client’s shoes and imagine them sitting down to their favorite search engine, or opening ChatGPT, ready to type in a search or ask a question:
What do they want to accomplish?
What are their challenges and goals?
What questions do they have?
What words and phrases might they use?
Where are they located?
It’s Not Just About SEO and geo—It’s About Messaging
Keep in mind that researching keywords, topics and prompts isn’t just about SEO (search engine optimization). It's also about GEO (generative engine optimization): making sure your brand shows up when someone asks ChatGPT or another AI tool a question instead of typing it into Google. Either way, this research helps you clearly describe your services and hone in on your messaging. You can't stand out from your competitors until you know what they're saying and how they're saying it, on a results page or inside an AI chat.
How to Begin Your Search Results Research
We recommend doing a few broad category searches and then refining them to get more specific. We also suggest including a few searches that are in longer question form. Particularly as a small business, you will have a better chance of showing up in searches of long-tail keywords, which are more detailed and include more qualifiers of a primary category.
As an example, a broad category search could be “pet grooming services in Coeur d’Alene,” and a more specific search could be “mobile grooming services for Australian shepherds in Coeur d’Alene.” A longer question form search could be, “What is typically included in pet grooming services in Coeur d'Alene?” Ask that same question to ChatGPT or Gemini, too. People phrase questions to AI tools almost exactly like this, so it's a preview of how your brand shows up in that world.
What to Look For in Search Results
Try to vary your searches quite a bit so you get a broad sense of the different results. Then notice what's appearing in Google's AI Overview (any competitors mentioned?), who's showing up on page 1 results, what language is being used, and what kind of content is ranking (Yelp results, blog articles, directory listings, etc.). Run a few of the same questions through ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity, too. They pull from different sources and phrase things differently than Google, which often surfaces competitors or gaps a standard search misses.
Also make note of the variations in searches– either in the alternate search ideas that come up in the search bar itself or in the ‘related searches’ section of the SERP (search engine results page). We recommend doing at least 5-10 searches, conducting searches along various lines of business and current distinctives, and keeping track of all that you learn.
A recent client launching a new small consulting business went through this exercise, and learned a really important lesson about ‘niching down’ in their market. They had originally thought they were competing in a very broad category. Once they did this research, they realized that the competitors showing up in these search results were large, national companies focused on selling to Fortune 500 clients. As we built out their brand strategy, the idea of ‘niching down’ continued to come up, helping them refine their target audience and their positioning to ensure they attracted the right clients and weren’t competing with these national players.
Running these searches through multiple search engines and AI tools, across devices, and in incognito browser windows will unearth lots of great insights. Another client recently discovered one of their competitors was relying on educational seminars as a key part of their marketing strategy, and found inspiration for some blog articles that could fill the whitespace in their market niche.
Use the Data to Build Your Brand Strategy
One of the tools we use with our clients at the conclusion of this portion of our brand strategy work together is a keyword summary table. It helps us build out a robust set of long-tail keyword combinations, using various descriptors and qualifiers of their primary categories. This resource, in addition to all of the search results research and other analysis work, feeds into a final brand positioning summary, and ultimately a complete brand strategy, giving a blueprint for communication about their brand everywhere.
Wondering if your brand messaging is clear enough to stand out in search? Start with our free Brand Refresh Scorecard — a 10-minute self-assessment covering messaging, visuals, and audience alignment.
Or if you’d like help crystallizing your brand strategy, reach out! We’re here to help.
