Commercial Query
A commercial query is a search from someone weighing a purchase: comparing options, reading reviews or looking for the right business before they buy. Keyword tools such as Semrush call this commercial intent and sort keywords into it automatically, next to informational, navigational and transactional searches. SEO writers also call it a commercial investigation query.
Source: Semrush, What Is Keyword Intent? (November 18, 2024), Commercial Keyword Intent, checked October 29, 2026
What Commercial Query means for your business
Google's guide for its search raters sorts searches into kinds like Know, Do, Website and Visit-in-person. Microsoft researchers in 2006 split commercial intent into a research phase and a commit phase, and in our reading, what keyword tools call commercial is close to the first one.
These are the searches where a buyer hasn't picked anyone yet. We'd list the comparing questions people ask about your kind of work and check that a page answers each one in plain words. A made-up example: a pool cleaning company would want a page on whether weekly service or a one-time clean suits a new owner better.
We'd keep those pages fair, even where another option suits the buyer better. And "best" stays out of a heading unless the page backs it up.
If buyers comparing their options never come across your side of it, answering the questions they ask while they're still choosing is where our answer engine work starts.
Last reviewed October 29, 2026. All terms
How AI answers it today
On October 29, 2026, we asked about "commercial investigation query". Google's AI Overview split it into search intent and corporate fraud investigations, citing one agency glossary and investigator firms. ChatGPT gave only the search meaning, with brand-name examples and no sources.
Our run through ChatGPT and Google's AI Overview, October 29, 2026. A sample, not what every buyer sees.
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