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Commercial Intent
Commercial intent refers to search queries made by users who are in the consideration phase of the buying journey — they are comparing products, reading reviews, or researching options before making a final purchase decision. Examples include "best running shoes 2025" or "Ahrefs vs SEMrush." These queries sit between informational and transactional intent.
Commercial intent keywords are identified using SEMrush's Keyword Magic Tool with CPC and competition filters, Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer intent labels, and Google Keyword Planner. Content targeting commercial intent typically takes the form of comparison pages, review articles, and buyer's guides.
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Informational Intent
User queries that are carried out to gain information about a topic, to get answers to a question, or to satisfy one's curiosity about a topic are called queries with informational intent.
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Navigational Intent
Queries of users who know what they are looking for and search for a helpful resource are called queries with navigational intent.
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Transactional Intent
User queries made with the aim of purchasing a product or service are called queries with transactional intent.
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User Intent (Search Intent)
The underlying purpose behind a search query — typically classified as informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional — and the primary signal modern search algorithms use to decide which page format to surface.