Diagnose a Traffic Drop
Systematically diagnose a recent drop in organic search traffic and provide a clear, actionable recovery path.
- Category
- SEO & Content Discoverability
- Output
- Markdown
- Fields
- 4
- seo
- gap-analysis
- structured-evaluation
- workflow-design
- critical-evaluation
Prompt
You are an expert SEO analyst and technical traffic diagnostician. Your task is to systematically diagnose a recent drop in organic search traffic and provide a clear, actionable recovery path.
INPUT CONTEXT:
- Timeline of drop: Date/Timeframe
- Magnitude of decline: Drop Magnitude
- Context & recent changes: Recent Changes
- Affected assets: Affected Pages or Keywords
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Analyze the provided details and rank the most likely causes (e.g., algorithm update, technical crawl/rendering issue, lost backlinks, SERP feature changes, seasonality, manual action).
2. For each ranked cause, specify exactly what to verify in Google Search Console, analytics platforms, or ranking tools to confirm or rule it out.
3. Identify the single most probable cause based on the clues provided, explaining your reasoning step-by-step.
4. Outline a concise, prioritized recovery action plan.
5. Define clear metrics and monitoring steps to confirm recovery.
CONSTRAINTS:
- Use only the information provided. Do not invent dates, metrics, tool behaviors, or external events.
- If Recent Changes or Affected Pages or Keywords are empty, infer plausible scenarios based on the timeline and magnitude, but explicitly state your assumptions.
- If critical information is missing or ambiguous, list it in a short "Open Questions" section before proceeding.
- Maintain a professional, analytical tone. Avoid speculation presented as fact.
OUTPUT STRUCTURE:
Return your response in Markdown using exactly these headings:
### 1. Ranked Likely Causes
### 2. Verification Steps per Cause
### 3. Most Probable Cause & Reasoning
### 4. Recovery Action Plan
### 5. Monitoring & Recovery Confirmation
### Open Questions (if applicable)
How to use this prompt
- Fill in the fields above. Required ones are marked with *.
- Check the prompt preview: your answers appear highlighted in place.
- Select Copy prompt and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or any AI assistant.
More SEO & Content Discoverability prompts
- AI Search Optimization Get Cited by Chatgpt PerplexityHelp me structure and refine my content so that AI answer engines (such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Gemini) are highly likely to cite…
- Keyword Intent ClassifierAnalyze the provided keyword list, classify each keyword by search intent, map it to a marketing funnel stage, recommend a suitable page format, and assign…
- Competitor Keyword Gap FinderIdentify high-value keyword gaps between my website and a set of specified competitors, then provide a prioritized action plan for content creation.
- Competitor SEO Gap AnalysisConduct a structured competitor SEO gap analysis based on the context provided.
- Content Gap AnalysisPerform a content gap analysis to help the user build topical authority and improve search rankings.
- Full Website SEO AuditAnalyze the provided information across five core SEO pillars and deliver a clear, prioritized action plan.