Related Keywords: What They Are and How to Find and Use Them

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Thibault Besson-Magdelain

Founder of Sorank, 7+ years of experience in SEO, GEO enthusiast.

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In short

related keywords are the terms and phrases connected to your main keyword: variants and synonyms, longer long-tail versions, the questions people ask and the subtopics that a complete answer must cover. You find them for free in Google's autocomplete, "People also ask" and related searches, and in the Search Console queries of your existing pages. Use the ones that share the same intent inside one page (headings, sections, FAQ), and give a separate page to those with a different intent.

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Search engines no longer match pages to queries word for word. Google explains on its How Search Works page that its synonym system, which took over five years to develop, significantly improves results in over 30% of searches across languages. Working with related keywords is how you write for that reality: you cover a topic the way people search for it, instead of repeating a single phrase. This guide explains the types of related keywords, how they differ from synonyms and so-called LSI keywords, seven ways to find them and how to use them without over-optimizing.

Related keywords are search terms that belong to the same topic as a main (or seed) keyword. For the main keyword "content calendar", related keywords include "editorial calendar" (a near-synonym), "content calendar template" (a variant with a format), "how to create a content calendar" (a question) and "publishing frequency" (a subtopic). Together they describe what a searcher expects to find on a page about content calendars.

They serve two purposes. Some are secondary keywords you want the page to rank for as well. Others are context terms that show search engines and readers that the page covers the topic completely, even if nobody searches for them on their own.

Type	Example (main keyword: content calendar)	Role	Where to use it
Synonyms and close variants	editorial calendar, content schedule	Match the different words people use	Introduction, one H2, body text
Long-tail variants	content calendar for small business	Capture more specific searches	A section or an example
Questions	how to create a content calendar, how often should you post	Answer the follow-up needs	H2 or H3 phrased as a question, FAQ
Subtopics and entities	publishing frequency, content pillars, Google Sheets	Prove the topic is covered in depth	Sections, tables, lists
Format modifiers	template, example, free, tool	Signal what the searcher wants to get	Title, a downloadable or a dedicated block
Different-intent neighbors	social media content calendar, content calendar software	Share words but expect another page	A separate page, linked internally

Long-tail keywords deserve a special mention: each one has little volume, but together they often bring more visits than the main term, and they are usually easier to rank for. Our guide to low competition keywords shows how to spot the ones worth targeting.

A synonym means the same thing ("editorial calendar" for "content calendar"). A related keyword can be a synonym, but most are not: "publishing frequency" is not a synonym of "content calendar", yet it belongs to the topic.

LSI keywords is a name many SEO tools still use for related keywords. It comes from latent semantic indexing, an information retrieval technique developed in the late 1980s, described in Wikipedia's article on latent semantic analysis. Google has never said it uses it, and its John Mueller stated publicly in 2019 that there is no such thing as LSI keywords. The useful idea behind the label is real (cover the vocabulary of the topic); the name is a myth. Talk about related keywords, semantic keywords or topic coverage instead.

Relevance: Google's How Search Works page states that the most basic relevance signal is when content contains the same keywords as the query, especially in headings or body text, and that its systems also look for other relevant content beyond the keyword (for "dogs": pictures, videos, a list of breeds).
More queries per page: a page that ranks for its main keyword usually ranks for dozens or hundreds of related queries. Covering them on purpose increases that number.
Less keyword stuffing: varying the vocabulary avoids repeating the main phrase. Google's SEO Starter Guide notes that excessively repeating the same words, even in variations, is tiring for users and that keyword stuffing is against Google's spam policies.
Better answers: related questions show what readers need next, so the page answers it before they go back to the results.

The same Starter Guide uses a good example: some users search for "charcuterie", others for "cheese board". It advises anticipating these differences, while reassuring that Google's language matching systems understand how a page relates to many queries, so you do not need every variation.

1. Google autocomplete

Type the main keyword in Google and note the suggestions, then add a letter (a, b, c...) or a question word (how, why, best) after it. Suggestions reflect real searches.

2. "People also ask"

The expandable questions in the results are ready-made H2s and FAQ entries. Opening one loads more, which gives you the chain of questions around the topic.

At the bottom of the results page, Google lists related searches. Our article on People also search for explains how to read this block.

4. Google Search Console

For an existing page, open the Performance report, filter by the page and read the Queries tab. Queries with impressions but a low position are related keywords Google already associates with the page: adding a section that answers them is often the fastest gain.

5. The pages that rank

Open the top 3 to 5 results for your main keyword and list their H2s, the terms they define and the questions they answer. What they all cover is the minimum; what none covers is your opportunity.

6. Keyword research tools

Tools add search volume and difficulty to the list. Our free keyword research tool generates related keyword ideas from a seed term, and our guide to keyword research covers the full method.

7. AI assistants, then validation

Asking ChatGPT or Gemini to list the subtopics and questions around a keyword is quick, but they have no search data. Check each suggestion in autocomplete or a keyword tool before using it.

Decide: same page or separate page?

Search both terms. If the first results are largely the same pages, the intent is shared: cover the related keyword inside your main page. If the results differ, the intent is different: give it its own page and link the two. Grouping keywords by shared results is the principle of keyword clustering, which a free keyword clustering tool can automate. Two pages targeting the same intent create keyword cannibalization.

Place them where they help the reader

Place	Which related keywords	Rule of thumb
Title and H1	Main keyword plus one secondary term at most	Readable first, under about 60 characters for the title
H2 and H3	Questions and major subtopics	One question per heading, answered right below
Body text	Synonyms, variants, entities	Use them where they fit naturally, never in lists of keywords
Tables and lists	Subtopics, comparisons, steps	One row or item per concept
FAQ	Remaining questions	Short, self-contained answers
Internal link anchors	Related keywords that have their own page	Vary anchors, one link per target

Write for the topic, then check

Write the page from the reader's questions first. Then compare it with your list: a missing question deserves a section, a missing synonym can go in a sentence, and a keyword you cannot place naturally probably belongs on another page.

AI answers rely on the same idea at a larger scale. When Google introduced AI Mode on the Google blog on May 20, 2025, it explained that AI Mode uses a "query fan-out" technique: it breaks a question into subtopics and issues many searches at once. Each sub-search is, in effect, a related keyword. A page that answers the main question and its related questions clearly has more chances to be retrieved for several of those sub-searches. Our glossary entry on query fan-out details the mechanism.

This rewards pages with one clear answer per section, explicit definitions and comparison tables, which are easy for an AI assistant to quote. Sorank's AI query fan-out feature shows the sub-queries behind a topic, so that your articles cover them.

Related keywords turn a page about one phrase into a page about a topic. Group the terms that share an intent in one page, give a separate page to the others, and place each one where it answers a real question. If you would rather not build these lists by hand, Sorank's automated keyword research analyzes your site, finds the main and related keywords and plans the articles that cover them, with a 3-day free trial.

Frequently asked questions

How many related keywords should I use in one article?

There is no target number. Cover the questions and subtopics that the top results and People also ask show for your main keyword, which usually means a handful of secondary terms used as headings and a broader vocabulary in the text. If you have to force a term into a sentence, leave it out or give it another page.

Are related keywords the same as long-tail keywords?

Not exactly. Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific searches, and many of them are related to a main keyword, but related keywords also include short synonyms, subtopics and entities. A long-tail keyword with the same intent belongs in your main page; one with a different intent deserves its own page.

Can I find related keywords for free?

Yes. Google autocomplete, People also ask, the related searches at the bottom of the results and the Queries tab of Google Search Console are free and based on real searches. Free keyword tools add estimated volumes. Paid tools mostly add scale, difficulty scores and competitor data.

Related Keywords: What They Are, How to Find Them and How to Use Them in Your Content

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