For years, keyword tracking was treated as a critical part of SEO strategy. Digital marketing consisted of painstakingly monitoring individual rankings for dozens of keywords, sometimes expanding into the hundreds. The belief was that visibility for those terms equated to success. There were specific keywords that were believed to be high-value that were the ultimate focus (even though many of those were just vanity keywords anyway). Today the landscape has shifted dramatically. As tactics have changed over the years, keyword tracking has as well. At this point, keyword tracking is not only inefficient, it’s often misleading. Let’s break down why.
The Issues with Keyword Tracking for SEO
- The Sheer Volume of Unique Searches
Google processes over 16.4 billion searches per day. Do the math, and that’s nearly 190,000 searches every second. Even more striking, a significant portion of these searches are unique. According to Search Engine Journal (reporting from Google directly) earlier this year, 15% of daily queries have never been seen before.
This means that if you’re trying to track every keyword variation, you’re chasing a moving target. For example, instead of searching “orthopedic surgeon,” users might type:
- “orthopedic surgeon near me taking x insurance”
- “orthopaedic surgeon specializing in hip replacement” [Latin spelling]
- “best doctor for repairing a torn ACL”
- Plus any typos, misspellings, or just changing words to plurals
Each of these is unique, and the variations are endless. Tracking them all is impossible.
- People Don’t Search the Way They Used To
Search behavior has evolved. In the early 2000s, queries were short and blunt. “pizza NYC” or “cheap flights.” Today, thanks to the continued adaptation and usage of AI, users type in natural language queries that resemble full sentences:
- “Authentic Neapolitan pizza near Times Square”
- “Cheapest flight from Newark to Miami in December”
This shift makes keyword tracking less useful because rankings for short, generic terms don’t reflect how people actually search anymore.
- The Rise of AI Search and Long Queries
As mentioned above, AI-driven search tools encourage users to ask longer, more conversational questions. This can be due to Google’s Search Generative Experience which is organically provided in search results, but has really come to prominence through other platforms like ChatGPT or Copilot. When using these platforms, even as AI query tracking is developed further (it’s already available in preliminary forms), query tracking is especially difficult. These queries are even longer and more intricate. Instead of typing “urologist,” someone might ask:
- “I’m looking for a urologist within ten miles of Summit, NJ that participates with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield. Preferably a female doctor, with at least a 4.5 start rating. What options do I have?”
These queries are too specific, long, and unique to track reliably. They don’t fit neatly into keyword lists, and having two identical queries will be like hitting the lottery. Much more general forms of tracking will have to be used as opposed to specific keywords.
- No-Click Searches Are Taking Over
A “no-click search” happens when users get the answer directly on the search results page without visiting a website. This can happen for a variety of reasons. It may be that the user is just looking for contact information that is readily available in the search results, they’re looking for a sports score that comes up automatically, or (as is become much more frequent) the user’s query is addressed via AI and there is no need to check the links in the search results.
According to industry studies, as of 2024 almost 60% of Google searches end without a click (and that number is continually rising). That means even if you rank #1 for a keyword, you may not see traffic because Google is serving the answer itself. Tracking those keywords gives a false sense of success.
Why There is Still Value to Some Keyword Tracking
Does this mean you should abandon keyword tracking entirely? Not quite. While granular tracking is dead, tracking for trendlines can still be useful.
- Benchmarking visibility: Tracking a handful of core keywords (e.g., your brand name, flagship product) helps you see if your site is generally gaining or losing visibility.
- Spotting algorithm shifts: If rankings for a small set of keywords suddenly drop, it may signal a broader SEO issue.
- Trend analysis: Monitoring average position across a keyword set can show whether your content strategy is moving in the right direction.
Think of keyword tracking today as a thermometer, not a compass. It indicates the general temperature, but it won’t tell you where to go.
The Important Things to Focus On
Rather than obsessing over keyword lists, modern SEO should prioritize:
- Content quality: Answer user questions comprehensively, anticipating variations in queries.
- Topic clusters: Build authority around themes (e.g., “running shoes”) rather than individual keywords.
- User intent: Optimize for what people want to achieve, not just the words they type.
- Engagement metrics: Track clicks, conversions, and dwell time—signals that matter more than rankings.
In fact, when you want to start taking SEO/GEO seriously in 2026, it’s worth coming up with a comprehensive plan that is tracking the number of keywords you rank for, traffic, branded searches, and most importantly overall conversions (whatever that means for your business – leads, patients, phone calls, etc.). This may be a more in-depth project, but it’s what will give you a true measure of success moving forward.
Keyword tracking isn’t just dying, it’s already dead in most practical applications. With billions of unique searches, evolving query styles, AI-driven long-form questions, and no-click results, the old model of keyword obsession no longer works. We do not recommend putting effort into tracking “pet” keywords at all at this point.
That said, monitoring keywords and traffic for trendlines still has a place. It’s useful for gauging overall visibility and spotting shifts, but it should never be the focal point of success.
