Branded Keywords

What is it?

A branded keyword is a search that includes your brand name, such as "techmagnate seo services". A non-branded keyword is any other search.

In the Branded Keywords tab of the Category Builder, you save one pattern that tells Prism which searches are branded. The panel is called Branded keyword pattern: One regex per project — matched against the search query text (case-insensitive) to split GSC clicks/impressions into branded vs. non-branded on the SEO Root Cause Analysis tab.

Why use it?

Branded searches come from people who already know you. Non-branded searches show new demand. Splitting them tells you whether growth comes from your brand or from wider SEO work.

The pattern powers:

• The Branded vs. Non-branded cards, the Branded intent, the Ranking Distribution dropdown and the type filters in Keywords Breakdown.
• The All queries / Branded / Non-branded switch and B / NB numbers in SEO Root Cause Analysis.
• The branded split and the Driven by pill in URL Deep Dive.

Before you start

Connect Search Console. Make a list of your brand name and its common spellings and misspellings.

How to use it

1. Open the Category Builder

   In Advanced Analytics, click Settings.

2. Open the tab

   Click Branded Keywords.

3. Type your pattern

   Join each spelling with the pipe symbol, as in the example placeholder e.g. techmagnate|tech magnate|techmagnet.

4. Save

   Click Save. It shows Saving…, then Saved. Save stays greyed out until you change the pattern.

5. Check the result

   Open Keywords Breakdown and look at Branded vs. Non-branded.

Understanding the screen

Pattern box

• A regex is a short text pattern. The pipe symbol means "or".
• The pattern is matched against the search query text and is not case-sensitive.
• A broken pattern shows Invalid regular expression, and you cannot save it.
• When no pattern is saved, you see No pattern configured yet — until you save one, SEO Root Cause Analysis can't tell branded and non-branded queries apart.

How this is used

The How this is used panel on screen explains three things:

• Every Search Console query on the SEO Root Cause Analysis tab is tested against this pattern to mark it branded or non-branded.
• The pattern applies only to Search Console data (clicks, impressions, position). GA4 does not report the search query for a session.
• Use the pipe symbol to cover common variants and misspellings, for example brandname|brand name|brnadname.

What happens to GA4 numbers

GA4 has no search query data. So in SEO Root Cause Analysis, branded sessions and conversions are estimated: each URL's branded share of clicks is applied to that URL's sessions. Impressions and clicks are measured directly.

Example

For example, your brand is "Acme Shoes". People also search "acmeshoes" and "acme shoe". Save this pattern:

acme shoes|acmeshoes|acme shoe

Now "acme shoes delivery" and "Acmeshoes sale" are branded. "running shoes for men" is non-branded.

Tips

• Keep the pattern simple: words joined by the pipe symbol.
• Include common misspellings of your brand.
• Don't add general words that non-brand searches also use.
• Avoid advanced regex features such as lookbehind. Keywords Breakdown and SEO Root Cause Analysis cannot use them, and their branded splits switch off.

Common issues