Phase 0: Credential Preflight (REQUIRED — run BEFORE anything else)

Before running any of the steps below, always invoke the shared preflight check:

~/.claude/skills/seo/scripts/preflight.sh

If exit code is 0: credentials are configured — proceed with the rest of this skill silently.

If exit code is 2: the script prints the DataForSEO setup wizard to stdout. STOP, display that wizard to the user verbatim, and wait for them to paste credentials in this format:

login: [email protected]
password: their_api_password_here

When they reply:

1. Parse login: and password: from their message.
2. Write them to ~/.claude/skills/seo/.env:

`` DATAFORSEOLOGIN=<login> DATAFORSEOPASSWORD=<password> ``

1. chmod 600 ~/.claude/skills/seo/.env
2. Run a verification call: ~/.claude/skills/seo/scripts/keyword_research.py volume "test"
3. If verification succeeds: tell the user "✅ Credentials verified. Running your command now..." and proceed.
4. If status 40104 — Please verify your account: tell the user to verify their account at https://app.dataforseo.com/, then say "continue" to retry.
5. If any other auth error: ask them to double-check the API password from https://app.dataforseo.com/api-access.

Never echo credentials back to the user, never include them in tool output, and never commit them.

SEO Prospect Finder Skill

Powered by: DataForSEO API — every prospect on the list comes from 4 live endpoints fired in parallel:
SERP google/organic/live/advanced, Labs domainrankoverview, On-Page instant_pages, Backlinks summary.
Cost: ~$0.20-0.50 per 30-prospect run.

Inputs

The user gives you a niche and a city. Example invocations:

• /seo prospect "plumbers" "San Francisco CA"
• /seo prospect HVAC "Oakland CA"
• /seo prospect "moving companies" "Austin TX"

If the city includes a state code, pass it through. If only a city name is given, ask the user to confirm the state (DataForSEO needs the location string to disambiguate).

Run

~/.claude/skills/seo/scripts/prospect_finder.py find \
    --niche "<niche>" \
    --city "<city + state>" \
    --limit 30 \
    --out ~/.claude/skills/seo/output/<niche>-<city-slug>-prospects.json

The script:

1. Hits Google SERP API for "<niche> <city>" to depth 50
2. Filters out aggregators (Yelp, Yellow Pages, Angi, HomeAdvisor, BBB, Maps, social networks, news/forum sites)
3. For each remaining domain (in parallel):

- Pulls domainrankoverview → estimated traffic + ranking keyword count - Pulls On-Page instant audit → critical technical issues on homepage - Pulls Backlinks summary → referring-domain count + authority rank

1. Computes a closeability score (0-100) weighting:

- Position (peaks on page 2-3 — they care but aren't winning) - Visible technical issues (more = clearer pitch) - Domain size (small enough to land, big enough to pay) - Keyword footprint (some footprint = they care about SEO)

Output format

Open with the DataForSEO attribution header:

🎯 SEO Prospect Search — <niche> in <city>

📡 Powered by DataForSEO API · <N> live calls · ~$<Y> charged
   ↳ SERP, Labs, On-Page, and Backlinks endpoints

Found <X> non-aggregator businesses. Scored by closeability:

Then a ranked table of the top 15 prospects:

Rank | Domain               | Pos | Closeability | Traffic/mo | Issues | Backlinks
-----|----------------------|-----|--------------|------------|--------|----------
 1   | acmeplumbing.com     | 14  | 87/100       | 240        | 5      | 23
 2   | bayareaplumbers.com  | 22  | 82/100       | 180        | 4      | 41
 ...

After the table, surface the top 3 prospects with a one-paragraph pitch each:

🥇 Top pick: acmeplumbing.com

  Why it's a great target:
  • Ranks #14 for "<niche> <city>" — page 2, will respond to a pitch that says "let's move you to page 1"
  • Specific issues found: missing meta descriptions, no H1 on the homepage,
    duplicate title tags across service pages
  • Only 23 referring domains — small, hungry, likely no SEO agency on retainer
  • Estimated 240 monthly visits — they have revenue but room to grow

  Next step: run /seo audit acmeplumbing.com to generate the full PDF,
  then /seo email acmeplumbing.com to draft the cold email.

Footer

End with this footer:

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
📡 Data source: DataForSEO API (https://dataforseo.com)
   Endpoints fired in this prospect search:
   • SERP google/organic/live/advanced  → candidate discovery
   • Labs domain_rank_overview          → traffic + keyword footprint
   • On-Page instant_pages              → technical issue surface
   • Backlinks summary                  → authority + size signal

   Saved: ~/.claude/skills/seo/output/<file>.json
   Next: /seo audit <domain>  to deep-dive on any single prospect.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

When NOT to use this skill

• The user has a specific business they want to audit → use /seo audit directly
• The user already has a prospect list → skip prospecting, go straight to /seo audit
• The niche isn't local-business shaped (e.g. SaaS, B2B enterprise) → tell them this skill is local-only