Journey Finder

• Journey Finder is a tool that provides a Consumer Decision Journey (CDJ) Map meticulously analyzed by AI.

• The CDJ Map illustrates the entire process of a consumer recognizing their needs, finding a product or service to satisfy them, and making a purchase.

• You can gain insights into what consumers are curious about, what alternatives they compare, and which brands they encounter at each stage of the CDJ.

  

On the Journey Finder main screen, enter up to 10 category keywords or brand keywords you want to analyze. (e.g. smartphone, Galaxy, iPhone)

When a project is created, the AI automatically classifies its category based on the seed keywords entered by the user and their corresponding search results. Based on this category value, irrelevant keywords are excluded from the analysis in the subsequent process.

Clicking 'Create Project' will generate the project and deduct 40 Lima. For more details, see Lima, ListeningMind's Unified Credit.

Once you confirm in the creation dialog, the analysis starts, and it continues even if you leave the page. The project first appears at the top of the project list as 'Waiting'. Once the analysis begins, you can track the progress of the six steps below and the time each step takes.

1. Keyword Expansion: Fetches keywords related to the seed keywords and additionally collects keywords that start from the category's key customer segments and purchase situations (CEPs).

2. Relevance Filtering: Excludes keywords unrelated to the category from the analysis.

3. Attribute Extraction: Splits each keyword into a target keyword, an intent keyword and a site.

4. Brand Classification: Identifies brand/product names and creates brand groups.

5. CDJ Classification: Assigns each keyword to one of the five journey stages.

6. Topic Clustering: Builds topics of up to 4 depths for each stage.

Keywords with no search results (SERP) and overly long keywords are excluded during collection.

At the very top of the results screen, you can check the project summary.

• Seed Keywords: The seed keywords used for the analysis.

• Total Keywords: The total number of keywords for the final analysis after filtering.

• Total Search Volume: The total sum of the monthly average search volume for all collected keywords.

• Total Topics: The total number of unique topics generated by analyzing keyword intent.

• Total Brands/Products: The total number of unique brand and product names identified.

Below the summary are four tabs. The keyword table at the bottom is shown on every tab.

A bubble graph is provided that visualizes keywords, segmented by each CDJ stage, at the topic level. Use the [By volume] and [Keywords] buttons at the top left to switch what bubble size is based on. Each stage card shows its topic count, keyword count, total search volume and brand/product count at the bottom, and the stage's share of total search volume appears next to the stage name.

Click a bubble to filter the keyword table below by that stage and topic; the selected values appear in the filter chips (e.g. CDJ Stage: 5. Own & Service, Topic: how to use). Click a stage name to open [Stage details]. The 'Others' topic is shown separately as a dashed gray bubble.

Click [Learn about Customer Journey Map] at the top right for an explanation of the customer journey map.

In the [Initial Exploration] stage, consumers search for solutions to solve their current problems or needs. It is a stage where they explore what products are in the relevant market and what brands exist.

They do not yet designate specific brands and are in the stage of first becoming aware of brands or products in that market through general keywords (non-brand keywords) that include product categories, purpose of use, or topics of interest.

Keyword Examples: how to stop dog hair shedding, studio apartment ventilation, wildfire smoke indoor air

At this stage, consumers often haven't decided what product they need. Someone searching 'how to stop dog hair shedding' doesn't yet know whether to buy an air purifier, a vacuum or a grooming tool. The situation or trigger that leads a consumer to think of a specific category is called a CEP (Category Entry Point), and CEPs can be discovered in the Initial Exploration stage.

If a brand is strongly associated with a CEP, it is naturally included in the consumer's consideration set when that situation arises, increasing the probability of leading to a purchase.

CEP Keyword Expansion

Journey Finder collects not only search terms directly linked to the seed keywords, but also keywords that start from the situations and concerns that lead consumers to a category. This lets you see in the Initial Exploration stage why consumers come to look for the category.

1. Defines the category's key customer segments and needs.

2. Generates CEP situations for each segment from seven angles (7W), such as purchase motive, timing, place and emotion.

3. Collects real search keywords with similar meaning to each CEP.

CEP keywords that show why customers enter a category are kept in the analysis even if their search volume is too low to be counted. These keywords appear with a search volume of 0 in the keyword table.

The [Browsing] stage is a phase where consumers deepen their search to find more detailed information about a specific product or brand. Consumers explore by combining brand keywords with the product features, attributes, or specs they are curious about, narrowing down to the brands they are interested in and conducting comparative analysis.

Keyword Examples: LG French door refrigerator capacity, Xiaomi EV battery

In this stage, companies must actively intervene in the consumer's information-seeking activities to effectively deliver accurate and persuasive information.

The [Experience] stage is where consumers check reviews or feedback from other consumers who have already used a specific product, or opinions from experts in that product field, to reference in their decision-making.

While the previous Browsing stage focuses on rational persuasion through objective information, the Experience stage is an important step where objectivity is actually reinforced by understanding the product's value through third parties—showing how other consumers or experts evaluate it.

Keyword Examples: LG Objet refrigerator review, Xiaomi phone Reddit

By actively exposing positive user experiences and reviews using various media channels (customer reviews, social media, product review platforms, online communities), you can promote the consumer's purchase decision-making.

In the [Confirmation] stage, consumers intensively contemplate where, under what conditions, and at what timing to buy the product they are considering for purchase, in order to get the best deal.

Keyword Examples: S23 unlocked lowest price, iPhone 14 unlocked hot deal

Preparing content that responds to keywords in this stage, which clearly contain purchase intent, is particularly important for increasing sales. Buy Pages and promotion pages are representative examples.

In the [Own & Service] stage, consumers perform various searches to resolve diverse questions or issues experienced while using the product right after purchase, and to strengthen their sense of community with others who are using the same product.

Keyword Examples: Dyson Airwrap repair, Harley-Davidson owners group

You can strengthen relationships with existing customers and induce repurchases and recommendations through post-purchase support services for continuous relationship maintenance, loyalty programs, special promotions, and customized offers.

Journey Finder organizes the keywords of each CDJ stage into a hierarchy of up to four levels (Topic 1–4). Intent keywords with similar meaning are grouped under one parent topic. Bubbles on the CDJ Map are based on the top-level topic (Topic 1).

• Topic 1: Representative topics built from the intent keywords that appear most often in each stage. Between 3 and 50 are created per stage, depending on its keyword volume.

• Topic 2–4: When a parent topic can be split further by meaning, it is broken down into subtopics.

Example: In the Initial Exploration stage of a hiking boots project, the 'where to buy' topic is split into subtopics such as 'offline › hiking boots › price & deals'.

Click a stage name on the CDJ Map to open the [Stage details] window, where you can explore that stage's topic structure in detail.

• Topic tree (left): Expand Topic 1–4 to see the search volume or keyword count of each topic. Supports topic search, [Expand all], and sorting by [By volume] or [Keywords].

• Topic summary (top right): Shows the selected topic's total search volume and share of the whole journey, keyword count, number of subtopics and main intent.

• Topic distribution: Shows each subtopic's search volume, share and keyword count, sorted by search volume. Click a row to go one depth down.

• Keyword list & composition: Shows the keywords in the selected topic and its brand/product composition.

Check several topics in the tree and click [Apply filter to keyword table] to see only that stage and those topics in the keyword table below. Checking a parent topic also selects its subtopics.

Splits the analyzed keywords by three criteria and shows their search volume rankings as bar charts. The total search volume for each criterion appears at the top right of its panel.

• Brand / Product: Which brands and products are searched most (e.g. Decathlon, Salomon, Merrell)

• Target Keyword: What people search for (e.g. hiking boots, shoes, trail runners)

• Intent Keyword: Why people search (e.g. best, store, vs, outlet)

Keywords with multiple target or intent values are counted under each value. For example, the intent keyword 'best, 2026' is counted under both 'best' and '2026'.

Analyzes how much search share specific websites (your own or competitors') have at each stage of the customer journey. Visibility is the share of keywords in a stage (or topic) for which the domain ranks within the top 10 of Google's organic search results.

• Select a CDJ stage (1–5) at the top. When you change the stage, the domain list and figures are recalculated for that stage.

• When you open the tab, the 10 domains that rank most often in Google Top 10 for the selected stage are added automatically (Top domains in this stage).

• The Top domains chips show each domain's rank within the stage and its number of ranked keywords.

• Click the star (★) next to a domain to set it as the base domain. This is usually your own domain.

1. Click [Edit] to turn the 10 domain slots into input fields. You can compare up to 10 domains.

2. Remove a domain with [×]. Click an empty slot (Add Domain) to open the stage's list of top domains. Domains you've already chosen are left out of the list, and typing narrows it down (e.g. typing 'exam' → example10.com).

3. Click [Search] to apply, or [Cancel] to go back to the previous list.

• Domain share bar: Each domain's portion of the total Top 10 ranked keywords across the selected domains. Click a bar or domain name to see that domain's share, stage visibility, ranked keyword count (e.g. 144 / 314) and rank within the stage.

• Visibility by stage: Ranks the 10 applied domains from #1 to #10 by visibility for each stage. The selected stage card is highlighted with a border.

• In the keyword table below, keywords in the selected stage for which the base domain ranks are marked with a dot in the domain's color.

Click a stage card to open a details window that compares domains by topic. You can switch stages at the top.

Compare by topic: Compares each domain's Top 10 rate (%) as a heatmap, centered on the base domain. The Top 10 rate is the share of a topic's keywords for which the domain ranks in the Top 10, based on keyword count rather than search volume. Cell color is relative to the highest value within the same topic. For each topic, it shows the base domain's rank and its gap to #1 (%p). Use [›] next to a topic or [Expand all] to see subtopics.

1:1 gap analysis: Pick two domains and compare their gaps topic by topic.

• Summary: stage visibility, topics leading (ties excluded), and topic overlap (both, one only, neither)

• Visibility by topic compared as mirrored bars (grouped by parent topic; expand subtopics with [›])

• Topics only the competitor ranks for: candidates for content expansion

• Topics only the base domain ranks for: strengths to defend

• Topics neither domain ranks for: first-mover opportunities

Compares search share between brands by journey stage and topic. While domain comparison looks at how visible a site is in search results, brand comparison looks at which brands consumers search for, and how much.

The same brand often appears in keywords under different names, such as 'Salomon', 'Salomon XT-6' and 'Salomon Quest 4D GTX'. Journey Finder groups these brand/product names into a single brand group for comparison.

• Depending on how the data is distributed, it automatically groups by brand (e.g. Salomon) or by product, and provides the top three groups as compared brands.

• Check the groups under Compared brands at the top, remove one with [×], or add more with [+ Add brand].

• Search share: The brand's share of the total search volume of the compared brands

• Brand search volume and number of brands/products: the latter is the number of names included in the group

• Covered topics: The number of topics, out of all topics, in which the brand is searched (e.g. 19 / 52)

• Strongest stage and number of #1 topics

For each stage from Browsing to Own & Service, it shows a brand share bar and a heatmap of keyword counts by topic × brand. Darker cells mean higher values. Initial Exploration is shown as 'No brand searches', since it is non-brand demand where no brand is named.

Click a cell to filter the keyword table below by that stage, topic and brand; a 'Brand group' column is also added to the table.

Click [▾] on a compared brand chip to edit that group.

1. Rename the group with the pencil icon.

2. In the [Selected] and [Excluded] tabs, click a brand/product name to move it to the other tab. You can decide based on each name's search volume and frequency.

3. Click [Apply] to save; shares are recalculated.

In [+ Add brand], enter a new brand group name, search for and check the brands/products to include, then click [Add].

• You can include any number of brands/products. For example, you can combine 'Gore-Tex' and 'The North Face' into one group for comparison.

• The top 30 by search volume are listed first; searching looks through all brands/products.

• Under each name, you can see which group it currently belongs to (e.g. Mapped to Salomon, Others).

• You can create the group name first and pick brands/products later from the brand chips.

Click [Comparison details] at the top right to open a window that compares brands by topic. You can choose a stage from Browsing to Own & Service.

1:1 gap analysis: Pick two brands to compare.

• Summary: brand search volume, topics leading (ties excluded), and topic overlap

• Search share by topic compared as mirrored bars (topics searched for only one brand get a 'Gap' badge)

• Topics only the competitor has: candidates for content and ad expansion

• Topics only the base brand has: strengths to defend

• Topics neither brand has: first-mover opportunities

Compare by topic: Compares search share (%) by topic as a heatmap, centered on the base brand.

Search share is the share of a topic's search volume taken by each brand's keywords. Because the search volume of keywords without a brand is included in the denominator, the compared brands never add up to more than 100%. Cell color is relative to the highest value within the same topic.

• The topic's search volume is shown separately in the 'Volume' column.

• For each topic, it shows the base brand's rank and its gap to #1 (%p).

• Topics with no searches for the base brand get a 'Gap' badge.

Tip: If the base brand ranks low or has a 'Gap' badge in a topic with high search volume, that's an area to strengthen first.

At the bottom of the results screen, you can review all keywords and [Download] them. Use the eight filters at the top (Include word, CDJ Stage, Topic, Brand / Non-Brand, Brand / Product, Target Keyword, Intent Keyword, Site) to see only the keywords you need. In the Topic filter, click [›] next to a parent topic to expand and choose subtopics.

1. Keyword: The keyword being analyzed.

2. Volume: The monthly average search volume for the last 3 months (for KR data, Google/Naver combined). CEP keywords whose search volume isn't counted are shown as 0.

3. CDJ Stage: The CDJ (Consumer Decision Journey) stage classified by AI.

4. Topic 1–4: Topics that group keywords with similar search intent within each CDJ stage. Topic 1 is the top level; '-' means there is no subtopic.

5. Brand / Non-Brand: A classification value based on whether a specific brand is included in the analyzed keyword.

6. Brand / Product: The value extracted (brand or product name) if the keyword is judged to be a brand keyword.

7. Target Keyword, Intent Keyword, Site: The values obtained by splitting the analyzed keyword into units of meaning.

   1. Target Keyword: The word or phrase that is the core topic of the search or the object of concern and desire.

   2. Intent Keyword: The word that clarifies the context, purpose, and intent for searching the target keyword (Information Seeking, Problem Solving, Purchase Intent, Indirect Experience Check, Comparative).

   3. Site: The name of a platform or community included in the keyword. It is extracted separately so that site names aren't misclassified as targets or intents.

When a keyword contains multiple targets or intents, all of them are extracted and separated by commas (e.g. target keyword 'trail runners, hiking boots', intent keyword 'best, 2026').

You can improve the accuracy of the analysis by removing unnecessary keywords included in the AI analysis results or by correcting classifications. Click [Data Edit] at the top right of the results screen to open the editing screen. Choose the stage to edit from the stage tabs at the top (Initial Exploration to Own & Service), and click [Save edits] when you're done. [Save edits] is enabled only when something has changed.

The view shown when you open the editing screen, used to organize keywords by topic.

• In the topic tree on the left, check the keyword count of each topic and use the trash icon to exclude all keywords in a topic at once.

• On the topic cards on the right, rename a topic with the pencil icon and review its subtopics and keywords. You can also exclude individual keywords with the trash icon.

Used to correct classification values keyword by keyword. You can use the same filters as the keyword table. In each row, choose the CDJ stage and Brand / Non-Brand from a list, and assign the topic by choosing a path from that stage's topic tree. Edit Brand / Product, Target Keyword and Intent Keyword by typing directly. Use the trash icon to the left of a keyword to exclude it.

For large-scale changes, use [Manual Edit] at the top right of the editing screen.

1. Download the automatically classified data.

2. Edit the values in the data editing area.

   1. Only Target Keyword, Intent Keyword, Brand / Non-Brand, Brand / Product, CDJ Stage and Topic can be edited.

   2. To exclude irrelevant keywords, delete the entire row containing that keyword.

3. Upload the file after editing and saving are complete.

❗️️Modifying data other than the designated editing items (e.g. Volume, Site) may cause an error.