Key Takeaways
- Marketplace SEO is sales-driven. Amazon, Walmart and TikTok Shop show the products that shoppers click and buy, so relevance gets you into the results and sales history keeps you there.
- Listings decide relevance. The title, bullets, images and backend search terms tell the marketplace which searches you belong in. Put the shopper's own words in all of them.
- Ads and organic rank feed each other. Paid sales add to the sales history that organic rank uses, so plan them together and measure both.
- AI shopping assistants reward clear answers. Listings that state who the product is for, what it does and what it does not do are easier for a shopping assistant to repeat accurately.
- Your own website needs its own SEO. Marketplace rank does not carry over to Google or to AI answers, so brands that want both treat them as two jobs.
Amazon SEO is the work of getting your products to show up near the top when a shopper searches inside a marketplace. It is not the same as Google SEO, because the marketplace is the one selling the product and it judges you on whether shoppers buy.
We have worked on Amazon since 2011 and Marknology was founded in 2014. We have worked with 300+ brands and managed more than $2 billion in sales. This guide is how we explain marketplace search to a brand owner, in plain terms.
How does search work on Amazon?
Amazon's search shows the products it expects the shopper to buy. It first checks which products are relevant to the words typed, then orders them by how well they have sold and converted for that search.
That means two separate jobs. First, be eligible: your listing has to contain the terms a shopper uses. Second, be chosen: shoppers have to click and buy at a rate that beats the products around you.
Price, stock, delivery speed and reviews all feed that second job. A product that goes out of stock loses ground that takes time to win back. Our recommendation is to treat inventory as part of SEO, not a separate department.
What are the main ranking factors on Amazon?
The factors that matter most are relevance, sales history, conversion rate, price, availability and reviews. Amazon does not publish a full list or the weights, so anyone quoting exact percentages is guessing.
- Relevance: the words in your title, bullets, description and backend search terms.
- Sales velocity: how often shoppers buy after searching a term.
- Conversion: the share of clicks that turn into orders, which your main image, price and reviews drive.
- Availability and delivery: in stock, fast to arrive, and able to win the Buy Box.
- Reviews and ratings: a mix of quantity, average rating and recent feedback.
We use these as a checklist for what to inspect on a listing, not as a formula. When a listing underperforms, we look at conversion first because it is the factor you can fix fastest.
How do you do keyword research for a marketplace?
Start with what shoppers actually type, then check which of those terms your product can realistically win. Amazon's own Brand Analytics reports (for brands enrolled in Brand Registry) show search terms and how often shoppers click and buy.
Third-party tools fill in the rest. Helium 10 and SmartScout both estimate search volume, show which keywords competitors rank for and track your rank over time. They estimate, and they sometimes disagree, so we compare two sources before committing a listing to a term.
Sort terms into three groups: the few that describe the product exactly, the many that describe the use or problem, and the branded terms. Exact terms go in the title and bullets. Use-case terms fit in bullets and the description. Synonyms and misspellings go in the backend search terms without repeating anything already used.
Walmart works the same way at a smaller scale, and Helium 10 has Walmart keyword data too. Do the research separately for each marketplace, because shoppers use different words on different sites.
How should you write a listing that ranks and converts?
Write the title for a shopper on a phone first, then for the algorithm. Amazon's July 2026 title guidelines cap titles at 75 characters including spaces in most categories. The first words have to carry the product type and the main benefit.
Bullets should lead with the benefit and then give the proof. Images do the selling work: a clear main image on a white background, then images that show size, use and what is in the box. Our Amazon listing optimization work starts with exactly this audit.
A+ Content is the part many brands waste. A good A+ page continues the sale the images started: the shopper's problem, your answer, proof and then the objections. A page that talks about the brand's history does not help a shopper decide.
A quick test: remove the brand name from the A+ page and ask whether a stranger still understands why to buy. If not, rewrite it.
Not sure where your listings lose shoppers?
The Growth Diagnostic is how we look at a brand's listings, ads and account health before recommending anything. Ask for a Growth Diagnostic and we will walk through yours.
How do reviews affect marketplace SEO?
Reviews affect SEO mainly through conversion. A product with a strong rating and recent reviews gets more of its clicks turned into orders, and orders are what the marketplace ranks on.
Reviews also teach you what shoppers care about. The words in your reviews and the questions on your listing show what to put in the next version of the title and bullets. We read them as research, not just as a score.
Do not buy reviews, trade product for good ratings or write them yourself. Marketplaces enforce this, and in the United States the FTC rule on fake reviews applies as well. Ask real buyers through the compliant routes each marketplace provides.
How do ads and organic ranking work together?
Ads put your product in front of shoppers for chosen terms, and the sales they produce count as sales. That makes ads a way to build the sales history organic rank depends on, as well as a way to buy traffic.
It works in the other direction too. A listing with weak conversion makes every ad dollar less efficient, so fixing the listing lowers the cost of the traffic you buy. Our Amazon PPC and advertising work and listing work are planned together for that reason.
Track organic rank on your main terms alongside ad spend. If ad sales rise and organic rank on the same terms does not move, something on the listing is holding conversion back.
How is SEO different on Walmart and TikTok Shop?
Walmart is search-driven like Amazon, so listing quality, price and availability decide much of the result. TikTok Shop is discovery-driven, so video, creators and live selling put the product in front of people who were not searching.
That difference shapes the plan. On Amazon you capture shoppers who already want the product. On TikTok Shop you create the want. When a brand runs both, TikTok activity can lift branded searches on Amazon, which is why we watch branded search volume and rank on launch weeks.
Each marketplace needs its own listings, its own keywords and its own content. We cover this under multi-marketplace work. Copying an Amazon listing onto another site usually underperforms.
What are Rufus and AI search, and do they change marketplace SEO?
Rufus is Amazon's AI shopping assistant, which answers shoppers' questions in conversation instead of waiting for a keyword search. It does not replace the ranking basics above, but it raises the value of listings that answer questions clearly.
We cannot tune for Rufus the way we can tune a title, and no one outside Amazon can say exactly how it picks products. What we can do is write listings that state who the product is for, what it does, what it is made of and what it does not do. Those facts help a shopper and help an assistant that summarises your page.
The same idea applies off Amazon. Generative engine optimization, or GEO, is the work of getting your brand named and cited in answers from tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews. It is about your website and the sources around it, not your Amazon listings.
What tools and firms can help with marketplace and AI search?
Different jobs need different tools, and no single one covers a brand's full search picture. Here is how we think about the groups.
- Marketplace research tools: Helium 10 and SmartScout cover keyword and competitor research for Amazon, and Helium 10 also covers Walmart and TikTok Shop data.
- Amazon's own reports: Brand Analytics and search query performance data show how shoppers find and buy your products, for brands with Brand Registry.
- Website SEO and GEO software: Sorank is a subscription platform for SEO and GEO. Its site says it writes and publishes articles, finds keywords, sources backlinks, tracks whether AI assistants mention a brand, and runs technical audits. It connects to Shopify, WordPress and similar systems. It is built for a brand's own website, and its site does not describe Amazon listing work.
- Marketplace agencies: a firm that runs listings, ads and account health for you across Amazon, Walmart and TikTok Shop. This is what Marknology does, and it is worth comparing a few before you pick one.
- Website and content agencies: a firm that handles your own site's SEO, content and technical fixes.
Look at what each option measures. A tool that reports Google rankings tells you little about Amazon search, and a marketplace agency will not fix your website's technical SEO. Decide which surface you want to grow first. For ongoing brand work on Amazon, see our Amazon brand management page.
Where should a brand owner start?
Start with conversion on your top five products, then fix the listing words, then plan ads around what you learn. Do not start with a new tool or a new marketplace.
- Check that your top products are always in stock and win the Buy Box.
- Rewrite the title and first bullets around the exact term shoppers use.
- Replace weak images and rebuild A+ Content around shopper objections.
- Run ads on the terms you want to rank for and watch organic rank beside them.
- Extend to Walmart or TikTok Shop once the Amazon basics are steady.
Our recommendation is to change one thing at a time on a top product and measure for a few weeks. That tells you what worked. Changing everything at once does not.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Amazon SEO?
Amazon SEO is optimizing your product listings so they appear higher when shoppers search on Amazon. It covers the title, bullets, images, backend search terms, price, reviews and stock, because Amazon ranks products it expects to sell.
Is Amazon SEO different from Google SEO?
Yes. Google ranks pages by relevance and authority. Amazon ranks products by relevance plus how well they sell, so sales history and conversion matter far more on Amazon.
Do Amazon ads help organic ranking?
They can. Sales from ads add to a product's sales history, and that history informs organic position. Ads do not fix a weak listing, and weak conversion makes ads cost more.
How long does it take to improve rank on a marketplace?
It depends on the category, the competition and the starting point, so we do not promise a timeline. Make one change at a time, measure over several weeks, and keep what the data supports.
Do I need separate SEO for Walmart and TikTok Shop?
Yes. Each has its own search behavior and shoppers use different words, so research and write for each. TikTok Shop also depends heavily on video and creator content.
How do I show up in Rufus or AI answers?
Write listings that clearly say who the product is for and what it does, and keep your facts consistent across Amazon, your website and other sources. For ChatGPT and similar tools, your own website and outside mentions matter more than your Amazon listing.
Can a software tool do my SEO for me?
Software can speed up research, drafting and tracking. A person still has to check that the claims are true and the listing fits the product. Tools for website SEO and tools for marketplace listings are separate categories.