Search intent and user behaviour

Google lists understanding the meaning of the query as the first step in ranking results. Before it judges any page, it works out what the searcher is actually trying to do. That goal is called search intent.

Two ways to classify intent

The practitioner model

Most SEO tools and courses use four categories. The first three come from a 2002 research paper by Andrei Broder. The fourth was added later by the industry.

Intent	The searcher wants to	Example
Informational	Learn something	how does a heat pump work
Navigational	Reach a specific site	kleo.lt
Commercial investigation	Compare options before buying	best robot vacuum 2026
Transactional	Do something now, usually buy	buy dyson v15

Google's rater guidelines

Google's Search Quality Rater Guidelines, which teach human raters how to judge results, describe intent differently:

• Know: find information or explore a topic. Know Simple is a special case with a short, correct answer, such as a height or a date.
• Do: accomplish a goal or activity, such as buying, downloading or signing up.
• Website: reach a specific website or page.
• Visit-in-person: find a business or place to go to, such as "pharmacy near me".

Neither model is "correct". Use whichever helps you think. The rater model is useful because it separates Visit-in-person, which is the core of local SEO, and Know Simple, which is what AI Overviews and direct answers tend to cover.

Let the results page tell you

You do not have to guess. Search the query and look at what ranks.

• Mostly articles and guides? Informational.
• Comparisons and reviews? Commercial investigation.
• Product or category pages from shops? Transactional.
• A map with businesses? Visit-in-person, so local SEO matters.
• One site dominating? Navigational.

Search the query, then match the type of page, its format (list, guide, tool, video) and the angle (for beginners, for 2026, cheapest). This simple habit prevents one of the most common SEO mistakes: building the wrong kind of page.

Mixed and changing intent

Many queries have more than one meaning. "Jaguar" could be the car or the animal. Google often shows a mix of results for such queries. The rater guidelines also note that the dominant interpretation can change over time. Their example is "iphone", which first meant the original model and now means the latest one.

One page, one main intent

A page should usually serve one main intent well. An article explaining how to choose a heat pump and a product page selling one are different pages. They should link to each other, but trying to merge them weakens both.

This idea returns in the keyword research module, when you map keywords to pages.