{"id":9431,"date":"2023-05-11T13:14:29","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T13:14:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/11\/how-to-steal-your-competitors-featured-snippets-with-chatgpt-prompts-included\/"},"modified":"2023-05-11T13:14:29","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T13:14:29","slug":"how-to-steal-your-competitors-featured-snippets-with-chatgpt-prompts-included","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/11\/how-to-steal-your-competitors-featured-snippets-with-chatgpt-prompts-included\/","title":{"rendered":"How to steal your competitors\u2019 featured snippets with ChatGPT (prompts included)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Are you struggling to rank for featured snippets and missing out on valuable traffic? <\/p>\n<p>I used to spend countless hours trying to optimize my content, making educated guesses on how to win those elusive featured snippets. The process was time-consuming and very hit-or-miss.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Now, I can harness <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/what-is-chatgpt-and-why-seos-should-care-392165\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ChatGPT<\/a> \u2013 including its understanding of SEO and exceptional writing skills \u2013 to generate near-perfect optimized snippets, saving me time and boosting my traffic.<\/p>\n<p>Here, I\u2019ll share my seven-step process for using ChatGPT to optimize for the paragraph-style featured snippet.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While this process doesn\u2019t work 100% of the time, I\u2019ve had a much higher success rate compared to when I was doing this manually.<\/p>\n<p>Before we get started, if you\u2019re completely new to featured snippets, I highly recommend reading Chris Long\u2019s article, <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/google-featured-snippets-optimization-guidelines-389951\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to get Google featured snippets: 9 optimization guidelines<\/a>, which will give you good foundational knowledge.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_81 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/11\/how-to-steal-your-competitors-featured-snippets-with-chatgpt-prompts-included\/#Step_1_Find_a_featured_snippet_opportunity\" >Step 1: Find a featured snippet opportunity<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/11\/how-to-steal-your-competitors-featured-snippets-with-chatgpt-prompts-included\/#Using_Ahrefs\" >Using Ahrefs<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/11\/how-to-steal-your-competitors-featured-snippets-with-chatgpt-prompts-included\/#Using_Semrush\" >Using Semrush<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/11\/how-to-steal-your-competitors-featured-snippets-with-chatgpt-prompts-included\/#Step_2_Identify_existing_featured_snippet-worthy_content\" >Step 2: Identify existing featured snippet-worthy content<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/11\/how-to-steal-your-competitors-featured-snippets-with-chatgpt-prompts-included\/#Step_3_Prime_ChatGPTs_understanding_of_optimizing_for_featured_snippets\" >Step 3: Prime ChatGPT\u2019s understanding of optimizing for featured snippets<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/11\/how-to-steal-your-competitors-featured-snippets-with-chatgpt-prompts-included\/#Step_4_Craft_a_featured_snippet_with_ChatGPT\" >Step 4: Craft a featured snippet with ChatGPT<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/11\/how-to-steal-your-competitors-featured-snippets-with-chatgpt-prompts-included\/#Alternative\" >Alternative<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/11\/how-to-steal-your-competitors-featured-snippets-with-chatgpt-prompts-included\/#Step_5_Have_ChatGPT_evaluate_your_new_featured_snippet\" >Step 5: Have ChatGPT evaluate your new featured snippet<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/11\/how-to-steal-your-competitors-featured-snippets-with-chatgpt-prompts-included\/#Step_6_Publish_your_featured_snippet_in_the_best_spot\" >Step 6: Publish your featured snippet in the best spot<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/11\/how-to-steal-your-competitors-featured-snippets-with-chatgpt-prompts-included\/#Step_7_Wait_for_results_rinse_and_repeat\" >Step 7: Wait for results, rinse and repeat<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/11\/how-to-steal-your-competitors-featured-snippets-with-chatgpt-prompts-included\/#Final_tips\" >Final tips<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_1_Find_a_featured_snippet_opportunity\"><\/span>Step 1: Find a featured snippet opportunity<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Find a keyword you\u2019re currently ranking within the top 5 positions in Google where there\u2019s a featured snippet and you don\u2019t rank for it.<\/p>\n<p>The easiest way to do that is with your rank tracking tool. Otherwise, you\u2019ll have to manually find these. Here\u2019s how to do it with two popular tools:<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Using_Ahrefs\"><\/span>Using Ahrefs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Go to Site Explorer. Enter your domain and filter keywords that trigger featured snippets where your website is ranking in positions 2-5:<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<\/div>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Using_Semrush\"><\/span>Using Semrush<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Go to Organic Research. Enter your domain and filter keywords that trigger featured snippets where your website is ranking in positions 2-5:<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<\/div>\n<p>For the biggest impact, find a keyword that has the highest volume and highest ranking. <\/p>\n<p>The higher your rank, the more likely you\u2019ll get the featured snippet.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_2_Identify_existing_featured_snippet-worthy_content\"><\/span>Step 2: Identify existing featured snippet-worthy content<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Now that you have a keyword you can potentially rank in the featured snippet position, you need to see if there\u2019s any current content on your page that could rank for it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Do a search on Google for your keyword and ensure that the featured snippet shows up. Check mobile and desktop. <\/p>\n<p>Once you find it, then read the current featured snippet so you have a good understanding of what it says.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<\/div>\n<p>Next, open up your article and do a search for the keyword. Your goal is to identify an existing sentence or paragraph that could be a featured snippet candidate. <\/p>\n<p>In the example I\u2019ll be showing you, I\u2019m looking for a definition of the keyword.<\/p>\n<p>If you find something, this is what you\u2019ll work on optimizing. If you don\u2019t, then you\u2019ll first need to have ChatGPT write one for you. We\u2019ll get to that step soon.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_3_Prime_ChatGPTs_understanding_of_optimizing_for_featured_snippets\"><\/span>Step 3: Prime ChatGPT\u2019s understanding of optimizing for featured snippets<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Fire up ChatGPT and select the GPT-4 model if it\u2019s available to you. I highly recommend you work with this one.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll want to prime ChatGPT with how to optimize for featured snippets so that it has this context in your chat to help optimize for yours.<\/p>\n<p>Paste in this prompt:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>How do I optimize a paragraph to rank for the featured snippet in Google for a query?<\/em>\u201c<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_4_Craft_a_featured_snippet_with_ChatGPT\"><\/span>Step 4: Craft a featured snippet with ChatGPT<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Now, let\u2019s get ChatGPT to improve or write your featured snippet.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Prompt<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cI want to rank my article in Google for the featured snippet for the search query: [insert keyword]<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Currently, Google shows a paragraph from my competitor\u2019s website in the featured snippet position for the search query. Here it is:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>[insert your competitor\u2019s featured snippet]<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Below is my paragraph that I want to rank in the featured snippet position. Rewrite utilizing feature snippet optimization advice so that it\u2019s better than my competitor\u2019s and Google is more likely to rank mine: [insert your current paragraph]<\/em>\u201c<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Alternative\"><\/span>Alternative<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>If you don\u2019t have a current paragraph targeting the featured snippet for the query, then paste this into the prompt:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Write a featured snippet for me to include in my article so that it will rank for this position instead of the other website. Use the guidelines above about how to optimize for the featured snippet position in Google.<\/em>\u201c<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- START INLINE FORM --><\/p>\n<div class=\"nl-inline-form border py-2 px-1 my-2\">\n<div class=\"row align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-3 col-xl-4 pe-md-0 pb-2 pb-lg-0\">\n<p class=\"inline-form-text text-center mb-0\">Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-7 col-xl-6  pe-lg-0\">\n<div class=\"form-nl-inline\">\n<div class=\"row g-0\">\n<div class=\"form-group col-12 col-lg-8 mb-0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-4 col-xl-4 mb-0\">\n<div class=\"d-none\">\n<p>Processing\u2026Please wait.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"btn btn-dark inlineButton w-100 rounded-0 font-weight-bold\">SUBSCRIBE<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-2 col-xl-2 ps-1\">\n<p class=\"text-center mb-0\"><a class=\"nl-terms\" href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/termsofuse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">See terms.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END INLINE FORM --><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_5_Have_ChatGPT_evaluate_your_new_featured_snippet\"><\/span>Step 5: Have ChatGPT evaluate your new featured snippet<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>You can&#8217;t always trust that ChatGPT will output the best possible featured snippet on the first try. For this step, you&#8217;ll want to have ChatGPT compare your new featured snippet against the current ranking one to see which one it considers better.<\/p>\n<p>Start a brand new chat and paste in this prompt again:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>How do I optimize a paragraph to rank for the featured snippet in Google for a query?<\/em>&#8220;<\/p>\n<p>Once it answers, paste in this prompt:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>Which paragraph is more likely to rank in the featured snippet position in Google for the search query: [insert your keyword]<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Paragraph A:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>[paste in your competitor&#8217;s current featured snippet showing in Google]<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Paragraph B:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>[paste in the featured snippet paragraph ChatGPT generated for your]<\/em>&#8220;<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<\/div>\n<p>It should say paragraph B. If it doesn&#8217;t, then start a new chat and repeat step 4 above, then come back to this section and try again until it selects your paragraph.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tip<\/strong>: If you want another opinion on whether your featured snippet paragraph is better than your competitors, perform this step in another chatbot like <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/google-launches-bard-its-answer-to-chatgpt-to-trusted-testers-here-is-what-it-looks-like-392729\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Bard<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_6_Publish_your_featured_snippet_in_the_best_spot\"><\/span>Step 6: Publish your featured snippet in the best spot<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Now that you have an optimized featured snippet, the last step is to publish it in the best spot within your article.<\/p>\n<p>To identify the best spot, go look at your competitor&#8217;s article and see where their paragraph is for the featured snippet. Is it positioned higher up on the page? In the middle? At the bottom?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>At least put yours in a position to match theirs while making sure it flows with the content before and after it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If you want to increase your chances of getting the featured snippet, put yours higher up in your article than your competitor.<\/p>\n<p>You&#8217;ll want to put your featured snippet in its own paragraph right below its own heading, such as an H2 or H3. The heading can be one of two styles: a statement or a question.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Which one you use really depends on the query, the search intent and what your competitor does. I tend to use more questions than statements. You&#8217;ll want to test this for yourself.<\/p>\n<p>In our example, I&#8217;d structure it like this:<\/p>\n<p><strong>H2<\/strong>: What is dollar cost averaging?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Paragraph<\/strong>: Dollar-cost averaging is an investment technique designed to minimize the impact of market fluctuations by consistently allocating a fixed amount of money towards purchasing stocks, ETFs, or mutual funds over regular intervals. This approach ensures shares are acquired at various price points, reducing the risk of buying at a market peak and promoting long-term financial growth.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_7_Wait_for_results_rinse_and_repeat\"><\/span>Step 7: Wait for results, rinse and repeat<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Depending on your site&#8217;s authority, you&#8217;ll likely have to wait 1 to 14 days to see if you&#8217;ve won the featured snippet.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It doesn&#8217;t hurt to manually paste your article&#8217;s URL into the top of Google Search Console and click request indexing. <\/p>\n<p>But if you&#8217;re optimizing featured snippets at scale, this won&#8217;t be very effective. You&#8217;ll need patience and wait for Google to crawl your article again.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Final_tips\"><\/span>Final tips<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you&#8217;re not having any success after a couple of tries, here are a few things you can try testing:<\/p>\n<p>Move your featured snippet content to the top of your page and put it in a blockquote. Make it stand out to users and Googlebot.<\/p>\n<p>Paste your featured snippet content into the Hemingway Editor and make any improvements it recommends. Grammarly is another great tool.<\/p>\n<p>If your featured snippet title was a question, try making it a statement ending with a colon.<\/p>\n<p>Remove the featured snippet title and place the featured snippet content right below your H1.<\/p>\n<p>Give ChatGPT your and your competitor&#8217;s featured snippet content and its surrounding text. Then ask it to evaluate the text for winning the featured snippet and rewrite yours. This additional context of the surrounding text may help it produce better content for you.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/steal-featured-snippets-chatgpt-416299\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to steal your competitors\u2019 featured snippets with ChatGPT (prompts included)<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Search Engine Land<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are you struggling to rank for featured snippets and missing out on valuable traffic? I used to spend countless hours trying to optimize my content, making educated guesses on how to win those elusive featured snippets. The process was time-consuming and very hit-or-miss.\u00a0 Now, I can harness ChatGPT \u2013 including its understanding of SEO and exceptional writing skills \u2013 to generate near-perfect optimized snippets, saving me time and boosting my traffic. Here, I\u2019ll share my seven-step process for using ChatGPT to optimize for the paragraph-style featured [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"h5ap_radio_sources":[],"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-seo-blogs"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":false,"author_link":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/author\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9431\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}