Zero Volume Keywords Aren't Zero Opportunity

TL;DR: “Zero Volume” doesn’t always mean no one is searching for the term. Don’t get too attached to the number any tool gives you, MetaMonster included (gasp!) Use volume as one signal, focus on what real people naturally type, and let Google Search Console show you the real results once you’re live.

Jade Pruett is the founder of HelloSEO, an SEO agency specializing in SEO/AEO for therapy practices. She is also the newest cofounder of MetaMonster.

You’re doing keyword research in MetaMonster, you find a phrase that fits your client perfectly, and then you realize… it has zero search volume. Is it a bug? Should you skip it and move on to a keyword with more volume? Or did you just stumble upon one of those little SEO nuances everyone loves so much?

Probably the latter. “Zero” almost never means zero. It usually means the tool can’t see the searches, which is a different thing entirely. So before you skip the next keyword, here’s what’s actually going on, when these keywords are worth it, and how to prove they’re pulling real searches (and results for your clients!)

What is a zero volume keyword?

A zero volume keyword is any phrase a tool reports as having little to no monthly search volume. MetaMonster pulls this data from DataForSEO. DataForSEO, Ahrefs, Semrush, and Google Keyword Planner all pull data from Google Keywords Planner, Google Trends, and Google Search Console. But they parse through that data in different ways and often combine different third party sources. That’s why you will have different search volumes and keyword difficulty levels for the same search terms in each SEO tool.

Here’s the part nobody tells you when you’re starting out: search volume is an estimate. These tools sample search data and round it off. Keywords that fall below their measurement threshold sometimes get dumped into the “zero” bucket, even when real humans are typing it into Google every day. That’s why our warning says these keywords can still get up to 200 monthly searches, and why we tell you to treat the data as directional, not definitive.

Local search makes this even messier, which matters a lot if you’re working with local businesses. Take “therapy Columbia SC.” When someone’s actually local to an area, they don’t usually search the tidy way we structure keywords for research. They type “therapist near me,” or just “anxiety therapist,” because Google already knows where they are.

So the clean, geo-targeted phrase you want to rank for can show as zero volume while the city is full of people searching for exactly that service. The intent is there. The tool just can’t connect the messy real-world searches to your singular ideal keyword. And AEO is only complicating this even more, but that’s a tangent for another day.

Why does MetaMonster recommend zero volume keywords sometimes?

Because relevance beats volume. We’d rather hand you a keyword that matches what your client actually offers than a high-volume term that drags in the wrong audience.

Zero volume keywords tend to be specific, and specific is good. Someone searching a precise phrase usually knows exactly what they want, which means they convert better than someone poking around a broad term. They’re also less competitive. Most people see “zero” and run, so the field is wide open and you can rank number one without much of a fight.

So when MetaMonster surfaces one of these, read it as the tool telling you this phrase fits the intent and the niche, even if the volume estimate can’t prove it (yet.)

When are zero volume keywords a good idea to use?

Reach for a zero volume keyword when it describes your offer perfectly, when the intent is strong, and when the obvious high-volume terms are too crowded to crack (or don’t exist). A precise phrase with booking intent and no competition is worth ten generic ones you’ll never rank for.

Here is a story of my first success with a zero volume keyword: I was optimizing a website for a marketing agency that worked with women-owned businesses. There was absolutely no volume for “marketing agency for women-owned businesses.” None. But it described the agency so well that I thought, why not? Let’s optimize for it anyway on the off chance anyone searches it. It was too perfect to ignore.

Once the target keyword was in place (meta title, description, H1), I started tracking the keyword in Google Search Console. As it turns out, hundreds of people were searching that phrase every single month. The “zero” was completely wrong. Even better, because everyone else had assumed nobody was searching it, the keyword was easy to rank number one for. It sent my client her exact audience and turned into multiple new leads a month for her business. The keyword nobody wanted became one of her best.

I’ll be honest with you though. Optimizing a page for a keyword that says zero is scary. It feels like you’re betting on nothing. And getting buy-in is hard, whether you’re trying to convince a small business owner or even yourself. That hesitation is normal, but it can be worth the risk.

How can I track them on the backend to validate volume?

Google Search Console (GSC) is your truth-teller here. Tools estimate. GSC reports what actually happened (with some other nuances we can talk about later.) Once your page is live and starting to rank, it shows you the real queries people typed to find you, even the ones every keyword tool called zero. You can discover the real search volume for your target keyword by tracking its impressions in search console.

So you optimize the page for your zero volume keyword and give it a few weeks to get indexed and start ranking.

Then open GSC > Performance > Queries.

Scan for your search term and others that align with it.

Watch three things:

Impressions tell you how many people searched for that query while you were indexed for it.

Clicks give you a sampling of how many clicks you got for that keyword.

Average Position tells you where you’re ranking.

Rising impressions mean people are searching for your zero volume keyword, full stop. The “zero” wasn’t accurate, and now you’ve got proof!

This is what closes the loop. You don’t have to keep betting blind. You take one informed leap, then let GSC confirm whether the searches are real before you double down.

The zero-volume reality check

Search volume keeps getting murkier. The tools share less data than they used to, and people are searching in more places than ever. AEO, AI overviews, and LLM-based search are pulling a chunk of searches into surfaces that no volume tool tracks at all. Someone asking ChatGPT for a therapist in their city is a real searcher with real intent, and they show up as exactly zero in your keyword research.

“Zero Volume” often doesn’t mean no one is searching for the term. Don’t get too attached to the number any tool gives you, MetaMonster included (gasp!) Use volume as one signal among several. Anchor your decisions in what a real person would actually type when they need what your client offers, then let Google Search Console tell you the truth once the page is live. The keyword everyone ignored might be the one that brings in your best clients.