Commercial Intent

Queries from users actively researching a purchase — comparing options, reading reviews, or evaluating vendors.

Commercial intent (also called 'commercial investigation' intent) describes queries where the searcher is actively researching a product or service category before making a purchase. They haven't decided to buy yet, but they are in the consideration phase. Examples: 'best CRM software for small teams', 'HubSpot vs Salesforce', 'top link building agencies'.

Commercial intent keywords are among the most valuable in B2B SEO. Visitors arriving via these queries have an active problem and are evaluating solutions — they are real pipeline opportunities. These keywords typically have higher keyword difficulty because they attract more competition from vendors and review sites like G2 and Capterra.

AI Overviews appear much less frequently for commercial intent queries than for informational ones. Google appears to recognize that users evaluating purchases want detailed, comparative information — not a brief AI-generated summary. This makes commercial keywords a more reliable source of organic traffic even as informational keywords see CTR erosion.

Content targeting commercial intent should be authoritative, detailed, and genuinely comparative — not just promotional. Pages that rank for 'best [category]' queries typically feature real comparisons, use cases, and trade-off analysis that earns user trust.