What are negative keywords?

What are negative keywords?

Negative keywords* in WriteText.ai are terms you exclude from automated keyword analysis. They ensure that certain keywords are not included in your keyword optimization pipeline or keyword pool when WriteText.ai automatically finds and suggests target keywords.

They do not prevent the AI from using these words in your generated content. If your prompt or special instructions tell the AI to use a term that is on your negative keyword list, the AI will still include it in the output.

*Adding and managing negative keywords is a Pro feature.

Why use negative keywords in keyword analysis?

Negative keywords are especially useful if you:

• Use full automation or bulk keyword analysis and don’t have time to review keywords for every page.
• Want to automatically avoid low-value or irrelevant terms in your keyword targeting.
• Need to exclude competitor names, discount-related terms, or brand-inconsistent language from your SEO focus.

Example: 
If your negative keywords list includes ‘contains “sale”’, then even if the system finds a relevant keyword like “handbag sale,” it will be excluded from your keyword analysis results. 
 
However, if you have a custom prompt that says “Talk about our limited edition sale for the holidays”, the AI will still generate that content — because negative keywords do not filter the generation process.

Default negative keywords

WriteText.ai comes with a preloaded list of default negative keywords that help filter out low-value or irrelevant terms from automated keyword analysis.

This list includes:

• Popular ecommerce marketplaces that might be competitors (e.g., Amazon, eBay). For example, if someone searches for “handbag amazon”, you likely don’t want to optimize for that keyword.
• Common terms you would usually avoid in product descriptions, such as free, cheap, or sale.

By default, these negative keywords use the Contain match type, meaning any keyword that contains them will be excluded from analysis.

You can fully manage these defaults:

• Edit or remove them entirely.
• Change the match type from Contain to Exact match for more precise filtering.
• Associate them per webshop — for example, if you have a site exclusively for sale items, you can remove sale from the negative keyword list for that webshop only.
• Override them in Special Instructions or Custom Prompts if you want these terms to appear in generated content for specific products or campaigns. 

Interaction with custom keyword pipelines

If you are creating a custom keyword pipeline and try to manually add a keyword that matches one of your negative keywords, you’ll receive an error message indicating that the keyword is already in your negative keyword list. 

To proceed, you must first remove it from your negative keywords before adding it to the pipeline.

How to manage negative keywords

1. Open keyword management

From the left sidebar menu of your platform.writetext.ai account, click Keyword management.

2. Access negative keywords

In the Negative keywords panel, click Open negative keywords.

3. Add or import

On the Negative Keywords page:

• Click Add negative keywords to manually add new terms.
• Click Import to upload them in bulk via CSV.

4. Filter & search

At the top of the Negative keywords page, you’ll find filter options that help you narrow down the list:

• Webshop – Filter keywords for a specific linked store.
• Type – Filter by match type (Contain or Exact match).
• Language – Filter keywords assigned to a specific language.
• Search – Search for a specific keyword within your list.

These filters make it easier to locate, review, and manage negative keywords—especially if you have multiple webshops, languages, or a long keyword list.  

5. Add a new negative keyword

When adding manually:

1. Select the Webshop(s) where the negative keyword will be used.
2. Select the Language(s).
3. Choose the match type:
   1. a. Contain – Excludes any keyword containing the term.
      b. Exact match – Excludes only the exact word or phrase.
4. Enter one keyword per line.
5. Click Add negative keywords.

6. Automatic application

Once saved, your negative keywords are automatically applied to all future automated keyword analysis for the selected webshop(s).

Best practices

• Use Contain for broad filtering and Exact match for precision.
• Regularly review your list to avoid excluding valuable keywords.
• Combine negative keyword filtering with manual keyword checks for best results.
• Remember: these exclusions affect keyword analysis only — not the content AI writes.
• If you need a keyword in your pipeline that’s currently excluded, remove it from your negative keywords first.