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What surfer actually does with SEO titles
I’ll be totally honest — the first time I connected Surfer to ChatGPT, I kind of thought it would just magically suggest perfect titles for me. Like, here’s my blog topic, now give me 10 zinger headlines, done. What actually happens is… more like a negotiation.
Surfer’s Chrome extension adds this little panel right inside ChatGPT (assuming you’re on the paid plan). When you ask ChatGPT to generate a title, it’ll try to follow Surfer’s real-time keyword scoring to see how well your title matches the target keyword. Sometimes, though, and this drove me nuts, it just doesn’t seem to care. You get a title that should score well — it has the keyword, it’s relevant — but the Surfer bar sits there like: “hmm, no. 20%.” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The other thing nobody tells you is that Surfer’s keyword scoring on titles is a bit finicky with syntax. So like, using colons, hyphens, or emojis in the title can totally throw it off. A title like “Generate SEO Titles Like a Pro 🤖” might be catchy, but Surfer treats it like nonsense. You find yourself rewriting the same title five times to squeeze in one more word it likes: “generate seo titles using chatbot integration” turns out better, even though it reads like a robot wrote it.
For example — here’s a dumb-but-real moment from one of my test runs:
– ChatGPT Title Suggestion: Unlock the Power of AI Titles
– Surfer Score: 18%
– Revised Title from Me: Generate SEO Titles Using ChatGPT and Surfer
– Surfer Score: 77%
Straight up, the second title is less punchy. But it ranks. That’s where I got annoyed and then also… kinda realized what Surfer’s trying to do. It’s not judging your creativity. It’s scanning for keyword relevance. And it’s very literal about it.
When I’m tired or in a rush, I usually give Surfer a single keyword to work off. But if I want better synergy, I give it a short phrase or target question. Like instead of just “seo titles,” I feed it: “how to create seo titles with chatgpt.” Then in ChatGPT, I prompt something close to that — “give me blog post titles answering this question…” That combo works 80% of the time. Not perfect, but good enough to beat the forehead-against-keyboard loop 😛
Prompting chatgpt without breaking the surfer score
OK this is where things can unravel quickly. Because ChatGPT is great at writing human-sounding stuff, but Surfer wants exact matches in a narrow format. If you just say “Give me 10 SEO titles,” you’ll get funny and snappy headlines that score like 2%. So — the prompt matters more than expected.
Here’s what works best for me:
> Give me 7 SEO blog post titles focused on [keyword phrase], in a neutral tone. Do NOT use emoji, puns, or clickbait. Keep titles under 65 characters. Prioritize keyword inclusion at the beginning of the sentence.
That’s the whole magic. The part about putting the keyword at the beginning? Game changer. It drastically boosts the Surfer score.
Something like:
– Prompted for: Generate SEO Titles Using ChatGPT and Surfer
– ChatGPT gave: “Generate SEO Titles Using AI Tools” → Score: 81%
– vs. “How to Use ChatGPT and Surfer for Titles” → Score: 43%
Even though the second one is more readable… Surfer doesn’t care.
Also important — avoid adding stuff like dates or branding in the prompt unless you *really* need them. Anything that adds extra words (e.g., “2024” or “for beginner bloggers”) can water down the keyword ratio in the title.
Oh and this was frustrating — sometimes ChatGPT elegantly rewrites your keyword into a synonym. Like instead of “generate SEO titles,” it says “create optimized headlines.” Which sounds great but totally TANKS your Surfer score. So you’ve gotta trap it a bit, tell it: “do not reword the main keyword.”
Fixing when your surfer score is still stuck below 50
Alright, so this is weird but real — sometimes even after tweaking words, placing the keyword in the front, keeping it short… the Surfer bar just won’t budge over 50%. I’ve seen this enough to know it’s not you. It’s Surfer being picky.
Usually I open another tab and do this manually:
1. Copy the exact keyword you’re targeting.
2. Paste it into Google as-is.
3. Look at the top 3–5 results — what words are they using in their titles?
This will usually give you something Surfer *actually likes*. Turns out, Surfer pulls some of its scoring logic from how top results are phrased. So if all top titles use “generate” and I’m trying “create,” that might be the issue.
When I was working on the “Generate SEO Titles Using ChatGPT and Surfer” one, it literally scored higher when I added “Integration” at the end. Not because it’s a better title, but clearly because the top articles also had ‘integration’ in them. So now I basically cheat: I Frankenstein parts from the search result titles and make ChatGPT combine them into something less sad.
Oh, and don’t forget — sometimes two titles score better than one. Weird, I know. But if I can’t get a score over 65%, I’ll just split-test two articles with different but similar titles. The one that gets better initial traction? That one wins.
How surfer glitches mess up smarter workflows
I had this four-step system I was proud of:
1. Feed ChatGPT my rough topic
2. Ask it to generate 5-10 potential SEO-optimized titles
3. Let Surfer live-score them automatically inside the chat
4. Pick the highest-scoring one and go
It was great… until step 3 stopped working.
Midway through a chat session, Surfer just stopped showing scores. Nothing on the screen changed — the Surfer sidebar was still there. It just refused to review new text blocks. I waited five minutes (because sometimes it lags). Then I opened a new tab and refreshed. Still blank.
Eventually I figured out that if you edit a previous message, sometimes Surfer gets confused about which block to score. You have to scroll up and manually click into each title block until it flashes a number again.
Another common glitch: If you paste all 5 title versions into one chat message, Surfer might only score the *first* one. And if you don’t notice, you think the rest are duds. They’re not. Surfer just went home early that day 🙂
Now I keep each title as a separate message or bullet. Even better — paste them plain and hit enter after each one. That structure made Surfer way more reliable.
The surprise upsides of letting surfer hold you back
Okay this might sound Stockholm Syndrome-y, but after a few weeks of banging my head against Surfer scores, I actually started writing *better* titles.
I used to write cute, clever, kinda vague blog titles. Stuff like:
– Why You’re Probably Naming Things Wrong
– This One Zapier Trick Changed My Workflow
They got clicks from loyal folks, but never ranked well. When I let Surfer push me back toward keyword-first titles with *boring but clear structure*, things changed:
– How to Name Files for Workflow Automation
– Automate Client Intake Forms with Zapier Filters
They’re not sexy. But they show up. And once people land there, I’ve got their attention.
Bonus win: Surfer-mandated keywords sometimes expose how vague your topic actually is. Like if I can’t fit the phrase “generate SEO titles using ChatGPT” into the title without it sounding weird, maybe my post topic is drifting too broad. It forces clarity — which I low-key appreciate.
What not to do with chatgpt or surfer together
🤓 PSA: I did several things wrong in my earliest setups. Please learn from them:
1. **Don’t use branded keywords** in your target unless you’re extremely sure people search them. For example, “Notion AI” makes sense; “ZapGPT” probably not.
2. **Avoid stuffing keywords**. ChatGPT will happily jam “generate SEO titles” into every suggestion if you prompt it that way. But Surfer *penalizes repetition* in entire-prompt evaluations. So, use each keyword once per title max.
3. **Never expect Surfer scores to be fixed**. They jump around. Sometimes opening the same exact sentence in a new chat session results in a different score 😵
4. **Don’t trust ChatGPT to guess the keyword** you’re aiming for. You *have* to give it the specific phrase. It won’t assume right.
5. **Don’t interrupt Surfer scoring with tons of edits**. It bugs out. Just copy your titles, paste them into a new chat, and let Surfer score fresh.
At one point, I made a Notion table that tracked ChatGPT title, prompt used, and Surfer score (I was THAT annoyed). Once I got familiar with what Surfer liked, I stopped needing it every single time.
My backup method when prompts fail
So when the chatbot doesn’t give me anything good, or Surfer decided to stop caring that day, I just open Google Trends. I search my topic and see what exact phrases people are actually using right now. Then I bring that phrase back to ChatGPT — not as a title, but in a context prompt:
> The keyword phrase is “generate SEO titles using AI.” I want to write a blog post that teaches beginner bloggers how to do this. Can you suggest some SEO titles that use this phrase early in the sentence? Keep them about 60 characters.
It’s old school, but it works. And then I cross-check with Surfer scores.
Once, the chatbot gave this back:
– Generate SEO Titles Using AI Tools Quickly
– Easy AI Methods to Generate SEO Titles
– Why AI Improves SEO Title Creation
Only the first one scored well (66%), but that’s all I needed.
Now I keep a doc of decent keyword snippets with letter grades next to Surfer performance (“B+ = good enough,” “C- = rewrite later”). It’s weird. But it’s my new brain until these tools stop glitching on me.