Intro
Group awareness-stage informational terms in GSC so they do not get mixed in with comparison, pricing, or transactional demand.
Use this regex to isolate informational intent terms in GSC and measure awareness-stage SEO performance with less noise.
The Regex
How This Regex Works (Explained Simply)
()
Parentheses group terms together so GSC treats them as one unit. That is what lets one regex cover several query variants in a single filter.
|
The pipe means OR. GSC will match any term on either side of the pipe, which is useful for variants, modifiers, or alternative phrases.
.*
Dot-star means any characters can appear here. In GSC it is commonly used when you want to allow extra words before or after a core phrase.
^
The caret anchors the regex to the start of the query. Use it when you want to match terms only if they appear first in GSC.
\b
Backslash-b marks a word boundary. It helps stop short terms from matching inside longer words in GSC queries.
GSC regex is case-insensitive by default, so capital letters do not need separate variants. GSC also uses partial matching by default, so the regex can match part of a longer query unless you anchor it with ^ or $.
What This Regex Does
- Matches common question and learning modifiers that signal informational intent.
- Keeps the segment focused on awareness-stage demand rather than conversion-led queries.
- Supports cleaner funnel reporting, content planning, and CTR benchmarking.
What it does not match
- best seo dashboard software - This is a commercial modifier query rather than a pure informational query.
- seo dashboard pricing - Pricing intent is lower-funnel and not matched by the informational modifiers.
Edge Cases
- This regex only matches modifiers at the beginning of the query because it is anchored with ^.
- Broader informational demand can still appear without these modifiers, so expand the grouped terms if your niche uses different language.
Example Matches Table
| Query | Match | Why |
|---|---|---|
| how to audit branded search | Match | Begins with a question modifier included in the regex. |
| guide to search console regex | Match | Starts with guide, so it fits informational intent. |
| learn technical seo basics | Match | Starts with learn, which is included as an educational modifier. |
| best seo dashboard software | No | This is a commercial modifier query rather than a pure informational query. |
| seo dashboard pricing | No | Pricing intent is lower-funnel and not matched by the informational modifiers. |
How to Use This in Google Search Console
- Open Performance and go to Search results.
- Click Add filter and choose Query.
- Select Custom (regex).
- Paste the regex and click Apply.
When to Use This
- Build awareness-stage reporting alongside commercial and transactional segments.
- Spot informational topics that earn impressions but weak click-through rates.
- Prioritise content refreshes where educational demand is visible but underperforming.
Pro Tips
- Use the query segment with a page filter to see which templates really win informational demand.
- Compare date ranges to find informational topics that are growing before they become commercial opportunities.
- If your sector uses education-heavy modifiers such as examples or checklist, add them as grouped terms.
- Keep this segment distinct from question-only regex so you can compare broader informational demand against explicit question demand.
Variations
Add examples queries
Adds one more educational modifier for broader top-of-funnel coverage.
Educational modifiers only
Useful when you want non-question informational queries without pulling in who, what, where, when, why, and how.
Related Regex Recipes
Regex for Question Keywords
Use this regex to isolate question keywords in GSC and see how well your content captures query-led informational demand.
Regex for Brand Queries
Use this regex to isolate branded demand in GSC when users search for your brand with or without spaces.
CTA
Manual regex checks in GSC are useful, but they do not scale well across properties, date ranges, and recurring reporting. Spicy Metrics turns repeat regex workflows into faster monitoring and clearer action.
See how Spicy Metrics scales this