--- title: "How to create prompts and topics" description: "Learn what prompts are in Semly, how to create good questions for AI monitoring, and how to organize them into topics." url: https://help.semly.ai/en/articles/18-how-to-create-prompts-and-topics collection: "Project setup" updated: 2026-11-04 language: en alternates: [pl, es, cs] --- # How to create prompts and topics Learn what prompts are in Semly, how to create good questions for AI monitoring, and how to organize them into topics. Prompts are one of the most important elements of visibility analysis in Semly. Based on them, the system checks whether your brand appears in the answers of AI models such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grok, Google AI Overviews or Google AI Mode. Well-prepared prompts help you check whether AI recommends your brand for questions that your potential customers might ask. ![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/ghelparticle/nDysKqbfXxUp6Li2HRXed2MFNGKkLy3HfHjQkhCIgPmzI5ONrAJYonQuwpNgQpHBGbixqKy90p8.png) ## **What is a prompt?** A prompt is a question or instruction entered into an AI model. In Semly, a prompt represents a real user intention, meaning a situation where a potential customer is looking for a product, service, brand, comparison, or recommendation. In classic SEO, a user might type a short phrase: > living room furniture In AI, they’re more likely to ask a fuller question: > I’m looking for a store where I can order modern living room furniture with delivery and assembly. Where’s the best place to look for it? > **Info:** A prompt should feel like a natural question a user would ask AI, not a short SEO phrase. ## **Why are prompts important?** Prompts define in which situations Semly will check the visibility of your brand. Thanks to prompts you can see: - whether AI knows your brand - for which questions the brand appears - when AI recommends the competition instead of you - in which position your brand appears - what sentiment the answer has - which sources AI models use - which questions have the biggest sales potential Well-chosen prompts let you analyze not only the general visibility of the brand but also specific customer needs. > **Success:** The better the prompts reflect real customer questions, the more useful the AI visibility report will be. ## **Where to find prompts in Semly?** To go to prompts: 1. Log in to the Semly panel. 2. Choose the right project. 3. Go to the [**Prompts**](https://platform.semly.ai/prompts) section. 4. Check the list of active prompts. 5. Add a new prompt or go to the details of an existing question. In the [**Prompts**](https://platform.semly.ai/prompts) section you can see among other things: - prompt content - average brand position - visibility - sentiment - assigned topic - activity status - AI models covered by the analysis ![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/ghelparticle/B4Jqnjo58UH9YfZBaeXJ4M59NcyFTLV7OjsAYKXN7xslhi8uQki2YcGcyDLbGyd7aGlJldSZ1YL.png) ## **What should a good prompt look like?** A good prompt should be specific, natural, and similar to a question a user might ask AI. A good prompt usually includes: - user need - context of the situation - product or service category - expected result - sometimes location - sometimes budget - sometimes shopping preferences Example of a weak prompt: > bed with storage Example of a better prompt: > Where to buy a comfy bed with storage for a small bedroom? Example of a weak prompt: > e-commerce platform Example of a better prompt: > Which platform should I choose to run an online store with the option to integrate with wholesalers? > **Success:** A good prompt says what the user needs and in what context the AI should give a recommendation. ## **Prompt and SEO phrase** A prompt doesn’t work the same way as a classic SEO phrase. An SEO phrase is usually short and based on keywords. A prompt is closer to a conversation with AI and can include more context. Example of an SEO phrase: > supplements for athletes Example of a prompt: > Which supplement store for people doing strength training is worth choosing? Example of an SEO phrase: > natural cosmetics Example of a prompt: > Where to buy natural cosmetics for sensitive skin? Example SEO phrase: > furniture store Example prompt: > Recommend a store with functional furniture for a small apartment > **Warning:** Don’t create prompts only as short keywords. Semly best analyzes questions that resemble a real conversation between a user and AI. ## **How to add a new prompt?** To add a new prompt: 1. Go to the **Prompts** section 2. Click **Add a single prompt** or choose the option to add multiple prompts in bulk 3. Type in the question content 4. Save changes After adding a prompt, Semly can start analyzing the AI answers for this question. You can also assign prompts to selected topics. ![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/ghelparticle/KmNi2cLUDlLqRVTTNkPvrsRSe334kZ2IjFUgRgPQUkQDUCVj4NyKNFQ51SEb2IrfkJizHB0A9fp.png) > **Info:** You don’t need to create the perfect list of prompts right away. Start with the most important customer questions and grow the list over time. ## **How to choose your first prompts?** At the beginning, it’s worth adding prompts that match the most important buying or decision-making situations for your customers. Ask yourself: - what could a customer ask AI before buying - for which questions should my brand be recommended - what problems does my offer solve - which competitors might customers compare me with - which product categories are the most important - which services have the highest sales value - which questions show readiness to buy Example for a furniture store: - Where to buy a bed with storage for a small bedroom - Which furniture store offers good value for money - Recommend a store with functional shelves and TV cabinets - Where to buy modern living room furniture with delivery - Which online furniture store is worth choosing Example for a supplement store: - Which supplement store for athletes is worth choosing - Where to buy creatine and a protein supplement online - Recommend a store with good-quality vitamins and supplements - Where to buy supplements for physically active people - Which store offers fast supplement delivery Example for a service company: - Which company should I choose to create an online store - Where can I find a good dermatologist in my area - Recommend an accounting office for a small business - Which agency will help increase sales in e-commerce - Which payment system provider should I choose for an online store ## **How to create prompts for e-commerce?** In e-commerce, prompts should relate to products, categories, use cases, comparisons and shopping situations. You can create prompts around areas like: - product selection - brand comparison - user need - budget - delivery - availability - quality - product use - specific category - problem to solve Examples: > Which online furniture store offers good prices and fast delivery? > Where to buy natural cosmetics for sensitive skin? > Which packaging should I choose for homemade cosmetics? > Which supplement store has a wide range of products for athletes? > Where to buy an elegant waist bag from a Polish brand? > **Info:** E-commerce prompts should show when AI can really influence the user's purchase decision. ## **How to create prompts for services?** In services, prompts often relate to the client's problem, location, urgency, specialization, or trust in the provider. You can create prompts around areas like: - choice of specialist - location - client's problem - delivery time - comparison of providers - experience - price - safety - recommendations - fit for needs Examples: > I urgently need to consult a dermatologist, preferably from my area. Who is worth choosing? > Which company should I choose to handle the accounting for a small company? > Which agency will help me increase sales in my online store? > Where can I find a specialist to implement an online store for B2B? > Which CRM system provider should I choose for a small company? ## **How to create prompts for B2B brands?** In B2B, prompts are often longer and more decision-oriented. A user may ask AI about a tool, a provider, a comparison of solutions, or a recommendation for a specific type of company. Examples: > Which tool should I choose to monitor brand visibility in AI? > Which e-commerce platform will work well for a manufacturer selling B2B? > What solution will help me automate importing products from wholesalers? > Which platform should I choose for selling online in multiple markets? > Which system will help analyze brand visibility in ChatGPT and Gemini? > **Info:** In B2B prompts, it’s worth including the type of company, the business problem, and the expected outcome. ## **What are topics?** Topics let you group prompts into logical sets. With topics, you can more easily analyze your brand visibility in specific areas, e.g. for selected product categories, services, funnel stages, or customer groups. Examples of topics: - Living room furniture - Beds and mattresses - Supplements for athletes - Natural cosmetics - E-commerce platform - Dropshipping - Local services - Comparisons with competitors - Shopping prompts - Educational prompts > **Success:** Topics help you organize the analysis and check in which areas the brand has the highest or lowest visibility. ## **How to add topics?** To add a topic: 1. Go to the [**Prompts**](https://platform.semly.ai/prompts) section. 2. Open topic management. 3. Click **Add topic**. 4. Enter the topic name. 5. Choose a color if the panel lets you tag topics with colors. 6. Save the topic. 7. Assign selected prompts to the topic. ![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/ghelparticle/6GQYri5vvN2KdSTf1l0GSdOdmHLm9aHcAEbbL7zSnF5thmESIRP2cmTCewzFIHBDq1aXUNwRYvF.png) ## **How to name topics well?** The topic name should be short, clear, and easy to understand for the person analyzing the report. Good topic names: - Living room furniture - Premium products - Purchase questions - Brand comparisons - Delivery and availability - Online stores - E-commerce integrations - Sports supplements - Natural cosmetics - Local services Weak topic names: - Miscellaneous - Test - General - Prompts 1 - New - Other > **Warning:** Avoid topics like “Miscellaneous” or “Other”. Names like that don’t help with analyzing results. ## **How to group prompts into topics?** You can group prompts using different criteria. The most common ways to group them: - by product category - by type of service - by customer decision stage - by purchase intent - by market or language - by target group - by competition - by user problem - by campaigns or marketing activities Example for a furniture store: **Topic: Beds and mattresses** - Where to buy a bed with storage for a small bedroom - What kind of bed to choose for a teenager's room - Recommend a comfy double bed with delivery - Where to buy a mattress for side sleeping **Topic: Living room furniture** - Where to buy modern living room furniture - Recommend a store with TV cabinets and dressers - What furniture to choose for a small living room - Where to buy a bookshelf for the living room at a good price ## **How to use topics in analysis?** Topics help you check which areas the brand is visible in and where it has gaps. Thanks to topics you can analyze: - visibility for the whole category - brand position in a specific area - sentiment for a given type of questions - prompts with the biggest potential - areas where the competition is winning - sources supporting specific categories - recommendations related to the selected topic Example: > If a brand has high visibility in the topic of **Living room furniture**, but low in the topic of **Beds and mattresses**, you can more quickly spot where it’s worth expanding content, improving product data, or adding new prompts. ![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/ghelparticle/HLihFCnD3mRiYCSqp84JtyL76gXAs2KNrBwkpEhC1xujHsXA5hHGS5yllq6Gctit8UHABy7NPLb.png) ## **How many prompts should you add at the start?** The more well-chosen prompts you add, the fuller picture of the market you’ll get in Semly. A higher number of questions lets you better check for which customer intents your brand is visible, where the competition shows up, and in which areas you have the biggest gaps. Keep in mind though that it’s not just the number of prompts that matters, but their quality too. The best prompts should reflect real customer questions, different stages of the purchase decision, and the most important categories of products or services. A broader set of relevant prompts gives you better market coverage and helps Semly detect more visibility gaps across categories, intents, competitors, and stages of the customer journey. > **Info:** The more relevant prompts you monitor, the more precisely Semly can show how your brand compares to the competition in AI answers. ## **What to avoid when creating prompts** Avoid prompts that are too short, generic, artificial, or don’t reflect real user behavior. Avoid prompts that consist only of single keywords, such as: - shoes - store - cosmetics - price - products - ranking - company - test - brand - promotion Also avoid prompts that: - are too general - have no context - don’t indicate the user’s need - contain only keywords - are written in the company’s internal language - are about products or services you don’t offer - are unrealistic - are too similar to each other > **Error:** Prompts that are too general can lead to not very useful results and make it harder to assess the real visibility of the brand in AI. ## **How to improve a weak prompt** If a prompt is too general, add some context to it. Weak prompt: > cosmetics store Better prompt: > Where to buy natural cosmetics for sensitive skin? Weak prompt: > ecommerce platform Better prompt: > Which platform should I choose to run an online store with integrations with wholesalers? Weak prompt: > supplements Better prompt: > Which supplement store for people doing strength training is worth choosing? Weak prompt: > accounting Better prompt: > Which accounting office should I choose for a small online business? > **Success:** The simplest way to improve a prompt is to add the user’s need, the category, and the decision context. ## **When should you update prompts?** It’s worth updating prompts when your offer, the market, or the way customers ask about products and services changes. Update prompts when: - **your brand or the indicated competition doesn’t show up in AI’s answers** - you’re adding a new product category - you’re entering a new market - you’re launching a new service - the target group is changing - a new competitor appears - you’re seeing new customer questions - sales seasonality is changing - the report shows gaps in specific topics - the recommendations point to a need to create new content ## **What to do after adding prompts?** After adding prompts, it’s worth moving on to result analysis. Check: - whether the prompts are active - whether topics are assigned - whether the brand appears in the answers - what the brand’s average position is - what the sentiment of the answers is - which competitors appear most often - which sources influence the answers - whether Semly generated recommendations for these prompts ## **Related articles** [ How to complete a brand profile Learn how to correctly fill in brand data in Semly so the system can better analyze your company's visibility in AI answers ](https://help.semly.ai/en/articles/16-how-to-complete-a-brand-profile.md)[ How to add products or a Google Shopping XML file Learn how to add products to Semly using a Google Shopping XML file or a ready-made integration, and why up-to-date product data is important for analyzing brand visibility in AI. ](https://help.semly.ai/en/articles/17-how-to-add-products-or-a-google-shopping-xml-file.md)[ How to add competition Learn how to add competitors in Semly and how to use competition analysis to check brand visibility in AI answers. ](https://help.semly.ai/en/articles/19-how-to-add-competition.md)[ How to read the Visibility Report Find out how to analyze the Visibility Report in Semly and check how your brand appears in AI answers. ](https://help.semly.ai/en/articles/20-how-to-read-the-visibility-report.md)[ Key indicators How to read results and indicators in Semly. A guide to brand visibility analytics in AI answers. ](https://help.semly.ai/en/articles/10-key-indicators.md) ## **Summary** Prompts define for which questions Semly checks your brand’s visibility in AI. The better they reflect real customer needs, the more valuable the analysis results will be. The most important rules: - create prompts in the form of natural questions - add the user’s context and intent - avoid short SEO phrases - group prompts into topics - analyze prompts by visibility, position, and sentiment - update prompts along with changes in the offer - use the results to create content and implement recommendations