Ahrefs data dive: "prompt search volume" doesn't exist, stop paying for it
dejanseo · x · 2026-08-26
Tim Soulo of Ahrefs examined clickstream samples of what users actually type into ChatGPT and found multi-sentence paragraphs spanning multiple topics, dictated rambles with assignments, and follow-up questions meaningless without prior context. Layered with personalization, the real inputs AI chatbots receive are a mess. His conclusion: deriving any meaningful "search volumes" from that data is no better than guessing, and paying for it wastes money. The real question is what data actually matters for tracking AI visibility — discussed with Dan Petrovic of DEJAN AI on the Ahrefs Podcast.
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