Search Term Review
Turn your search term report into a simple keep/pause/negative decision list
What This Prompt Does
The search term report is the single most useful view in Google Ads — and also the one most people avoid because it's tedious. This prompt reviews each term, decides whether to keep it, pause it, or make it a negative, and flags winners that deserve their own exact-match ad group.
When to Use It
- •Weekly or bi-weekly optimization cadence for active accounts
- •Investigating why spend is climbing faster than conversions
- •Auditing a freshly-inherited account
- •Looking for high-performing terms that deserve promotion to exact match
The Prompt Template
Act as a Google Ads optimization specialist. Your goal is to review actual search terms and identify what should be kept, paused, or added as a negative keyword. Context: - Business type: [BUSINESS TYPE] - Search term report: [PASTE SEARCH TERMS] - Conversion goal: [GOAL] Task: For each search term, identify: 1. whether it should be kept 2. whether it should be added as a negative keyword 3. whether it should be moved into its own ad group or exact match keyword 4. why Process: 1. Review each search term. 2. Estimate whether it reflects good, weak, or irrelevant intent. 3. Identify waste. 4. Identify winners worth isolating. 5. Give a simple explanation. Constraints: - Use plain English. - Keep explanations short. - Focus on commercial value. - Do not overcomplicate the decisions. - Favor recommendations that reduce wasted spend and improve conversion quality, not just click volume. Output format: Return a table with these columns: - Search Term - Decision - Action - Why
How the Prompt Is Structured
Three Decisions Per Term
Every term ends up with one of three verdicts: keep as-is, pause/negative, or graduate to its own exact-match keyword. This closed set of actions makes the output directly implementable.
"Identify Winners Worth Isolating"
The Process section specifically asks for winners — not just losers. Converting search terms that outperform their parent keyword deserve their own ad group so you can tailor copy and bidding to them.
Commercial Value Over Relevance
The constraint "focus on commercial value" reminds the model that "relevant" ≠ "revenue." A relevant term with weak buying intent still wastes money.
Decision + Action Split
Keeping "Decision" and "Action" as separate columns separates the verdict from the implementation ("add as campaign negative," "promote to exact match in its own ad group"). Clear verdicts make review meetings shorter.
Example Output
| Search Term | Decision | Action | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| emergency plumber near me | keep & promote | Add as exact match in its own ad group. | Strong local urgent intent, converts at 2× average. |
| how to fix a leaky faucet | negative | Add "how to" as campaign-level phrase negative. | DIY intent — not a paying customer. |
| plumbing apprenticeship bozeman | negative | Add "apprenticeship" as campaign negative. | Job seeker, wrong audience entirely. |
| plumber bozeman mt | keep | Leave under current phrase-match parent. | Reasonable intent, acceptable conversion rate. |
Tips for Better Results
Include Performance Columns
Pasting just the terms is fine, but including clicks, cost, and conversions next to each term makes the AI's recommendations far sharper.
Review Weekly, Not Monthly
A small weekly review prevents runaway waste. Monthly reviews often find damage that's already been done.
Don't Over-Prune
A single click on an odd term isn't evidence of waste. Wait until a term appears a few times (or burns real budget) before acting.
Track Graduated Winners
When you promote a term to its own ad group, add a note with the date. Watch whether the isolation improves or hurts performance for the parent.
Your Weekly 30-Minute Optimization
We run structured search term reviews on paid accounts — every week, without fail — and the savings compound.