Amazon SEO: How Keyword Research Differs from Google

If you approach Amazon keyword research the same way you do Google SEO, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. What works for ranking blog posts and web pages won’t necessarily help your products climb Amazon’s search results.

While Amazon is technically a search engine, it operates on an entirely different logic. Google is built to answer questions; Amazon is built to sell products. That means the way you find, select, and prioritize keywords on Amazon must align with its shopping-first ecosystem, not the research-focused model of Google.

Curious to know the details? Let’s get right to them.

Search intent differences

The key SEO characteristic that sets the Amazon search engine apart from Google is the audience’s search intent. Ever heard of the four types of search intents? Namely, the informational, navigational, investigational, and transactional ones?

It turns out, Google and Amazon sit on opposite sides of this list:

• Google serves a mix of different search intents, but its main focus is on the informational user intent, i.e., people searching for information, trying to understand something, find answers to their questions, etc.

• To Amazon, however, people come with transactional intent in mind, i.e., ready to take action, or simply put, to buy goods.  

This requires a radically different SEO mindset in finding the best-performing keywords. Forget about the browsing mindset on Google and other mega search engines. Think with a buying mindset, which is what Amazon SEO optimization is all about, as it's a giant commercial platform.

Keyword types

When researching keywords on Amazon, always follow the primary user intent. As we’ve already identified the transactional intent as the cornerstone of Amazon SEO, it should guide your keyword research efforts.

However, there is more to keyword types than just the transactional vs informational duo. Within transactional intent, keywords break down further into short- and long-tail variations, often centered on specific products or brands.

The next step is simple: group what shoppers actually type. Keep the focus on the most relevant keywords that you can win now. Amazon SEO is about capturing the momentum.

Here’s a quick, plain-English way to sort terms:

• Head terms: Broad, high volume, lower intent.

• Long-tails: Specific phrases closer to purchase.

• Brand + model: Exact-match buyers ready to act.

• Attributes: Size, color, material, pack count.

• Use cases: “for travel,” “for seniors,” “for kids.”

• Problem/benefit: “back pain relief,” “noise cancelling.”

• Seasonal/occasion: “Black Friday,” “Mother’s Day,” “summer.”

Don’t chase everything at once. Pick only those clusters where your listing can make a difference and satisfy the current intent better than your rivals. 

If you want to stay on top of Amazon's rankings, revisit your keywords weekly, get rid of the poor performers, and promote the winners. That’s how you keep your relevant keywords working for you and for the benefit of your product.

Competition Analysis

Finding your competitors and analyzing their keyword strategies is the most effective algorithm to provide deeper insights into your own keyword analysis. The chances are high that your competitors have already found the best-performing keywords and are actively harvesting their full potential. Why not capitalize on their achievements while refining the details to your maximum benefit?

Follow these seven steps: 

1. Build your competitor set

Search your main seed terms in Amazon’s search engine and note the top 10–15 comparable listings (same use-case, price band, materials, audience). Record basics: Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN), title, rating, price tag, reviews, category/sub-category, etc.

2. Reverse-ASIN to harvest keywords

For each ASIN, run a reverse-ASIN in your preferred tool to pull the keywords they rank for (organic + paid if available).

3. Mine the rival’s listing for synonyms you’ll use

Firstly, scan titles, bullets, and images for recurring nouns/adjectives. Then pull language from Reviews & Q&A to capture the phrasing that customers use.

4. Validate with Amazon’s own signals

Start typing a word into Amazon’s search bar and pay attention to the suggestions that drop down. Those are phrases real shoppers often use. Also, after you hit search, scroll down to see “related searches” at the bottom of the page — Amazon shows you other terms people commonly type.

5. Clean and de-dupe

First, normalize spelling (US/UK), singular/plural, and remove branded/trademarked terms you can’t target. Also, tag every term with Topical Relevance (must-have / nice-to-have).

6. Prioritize with a simple score

Give each keyword a 1–5 score for:

• Relevance (product fit);

• Volume (traffic potential);

• Achievability (your offer vs. review counts/ratings of page-1);

• Profit potential (margin after fees).

For example: Priority Score = 0.4·Relevance + 0.25·Volume + 0.2·Achievability + 0.15·Profit

7. Find gaps vs. rivals

Finally, intersect competitor keyword sets to see table-stakes terms you must cover.

For better results, carefully analyze their metrics and compare them with yours. This will make surfacing gaps a lot easier, e.g., finding terms where multiple rivals rank, but you don’t. These terms will be your prime targets for quick wins.

The difference in ranking algorithms

Amazon and Google reward different things. If you treat them the same, you’ll miss easy wins.

Think of Google search vs Amazon search as research vs shopping. Your strategy should reflect that simple and obvious split from the start.

A9 algorithm for Amazon vs Google’s PageRank & AI systems

Amazon’s A9 is built to surface listings that sell right now. In comparison, Google’s systems (PageRank + AI) favor trusted and useful pages.

Here is what A9 tends to favor:

• Strong sales velocity.

• High click-through and conversion rate.

• Competitive price and steady stock.

• Prime shipping and fast delivery.

• Relevant titles, bullets, backend terms.

• Quality images and A+ content.

• Solid star ratings and recent reviews.

And this is what you should do in practice to optimize for Amazon’s A9 algorithm:

1. Lead with exact product identifiers in the title.

2. Match price to page-1 peers.

3. Improve photos and comparison charts.

4. Earn fresh reviews and user-generated content (UGC) with legit requests.

5. Keep inventory healthy to avoid rank dips.

Direct conversion impact vs backlinks and content authority

On Amazon, conversions drive rank; on Google, reputation and depth matter more. For Google SEO optimization, think authority, coverage, and helpful content.

Therefore, Google’s top ranking drivers include:

• Topical depth and helpful coverage.

• Internal linking and crawlability.

• Page experience and speed.

• Structured data where relevant.

• Quality, natural backlinks.

• Brand searches and engagement signals.

Your practical steps for Google should include:

1. Build pages that fully answer a topic.

2. Use clean structure and internal links.

3. Improve Core Web Vitals.

4. Add schema for rich results.

5. Earn editorial links from real sites.

In 2025, Google continues to highlight the importance of backlinks in SEO as a major ranking factor. Backlinks help to enhance authority and drive traffic, as well as increase the ranking power of one’s pages.

In contrast, Amazon doesn’t rely on backlinks as much as Google does. Instead, it values sales performance signals such as conversion rate, sales velocity, pricing, and customer reviews. The latter are particularly important for the theme of our article, as they enable you to naturally integrate higher-performing keywords into product titles and your responses to customer comments.

Role of product listings vs web pages

While for Google’s keyword optimization, you can use plenty of mediums like blogs, landing pages, and metadata, with Amazon, the situation is different.

There is simply not enough content (compared to Google) to “play” with your keywords, and it’s really easy to overstuff what’s available. But what is available, really?

Amazon copy consists of listings and their titles, bullet points, product descriptions, and backend keywords that quietly shape visibility. It is this limited space that you need to optimize with keywords; hence, every word must count.

Use this checklist to place keywords with purpose on your Amazon pages:

• Title: Exact product name + one defining attribute.

• Bullets: Ideally used for the key specs, benefits, and compatibility.

• Description: Think about various usage scenarios, care tips, and safety notes.

• Images/A+: Include highly relevant and quality photos with descriptive alt texts.

• Backend search terms: Plurals, synonyms, and typos.

• Attributes: Ensure all sizes, colors, and counts are mapped cleanly.

Every element should earn its spot. The aim is simple: use relevant keywords to match how people shop, while keeping the page easy to scan for Amazon SEO.

Re-order bullets if you notice confusion in Q&A or returns. Move fringe terms to backend fields, and let photos, charts, and comparison tables do the heavy lifting where words would feel crammed.

What about tools and data sources that can ease your keyword research work? It turns out, Google and Amazon are very different in this domain.

• Keyword tools & data sources (Google): Start wide with Search Console, Ahrefs, SEMrush, and MOZ. Consider utilizing Keyword Planner, and third-party tools to gauge search volume, intent, and SERP competition. Web pages let you build topic clusters before narrowing down.

• Keyword tools & data sources (Amazon): Go narrow with Brand Analytics, Search Query Performance, reverse-ASIN reports, and Sponsored Products Search Term Reports for natural and PPC keyword research. These reflect what converts inside the marketplace right now.