Short version: "Amazon search terms" means three different things. The Search Terms field is a hidden box in your listing (249 bytes). The Brand Analytics Search Terms report ranks what the whole market searches. The Ads search term report lists the queries that resulted in at least one click on your ads. Use the reports to find terms, then the field and your visible copy to act on them.
You search for "amazon search terms" and get three answers that do not agree. One guide says 249 bytes. Another says a ranked list of top searches. A third says a report in your Ads console. All three are right. They describe different tools, and mixing them up leads to wasted bytes, wasted Ads spend, or a report read for the wrong reason.
The three meanings at a glance
| What it is | Where it lives | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Search Terms field | Your listing (Seller Central) | Input. Hidden words Amazon indexes for your product. |
| Brand Analytics Search Terms | Brand Analytics (Brand Registry) | Market demand. What shoppers search and which three products get the clicks. |
| Ads search term report | Amazon Ads console | Your results. Which queries got clicks on your ads and what they cost. |
1. The Search Terms field in your listing
Sellers also call this field backend keywords. Shoppers never see it, but Amazon uses it to index your product. Amazon staff state the limit as 249 bytes in a Seller Forums post, and warn that going over can cause Amazon to ignore the attribute. Bytes, not characters: plain English letters cost 1 byte, accented and non-Latin characters cost 2 to 4.
Put in it only words your visible title, bullets and description do not already contain: synonyms, abbreviations, misspellings, use-case words. Single spaces, no commas. Check yours with our free Search Terms byte counter. The full rules and a fill-in template are in our Amazon backend keywords guide. This article does not repeat them.
2. The Brand Analytics Search Terms report
This report is market data. For each search term it shows a search frequency rank (1 is the most searched) and the top three products shoppers clicked after that search. It does not show your own sales. Brand Analytics is available to brands enrolled in Brand Registry, so sellers without a registered brand do not get it.
Two limits matter when you read it:
- Rank shows order, not volume. Rank 500 versus rank 600 does not tell you how many searches separate them.
- It shows who wins the click, not why. The next step is to open the top three listings and compare them to yours.
For your own products, the sibling dashboard is Search Query Performance. We cover it in the Search Query Performance guide.
3. The Amazon Ads search term report
This report lists the shopper search terms that resulted in at least one click on your Sponsored Products or Sponsored Brands ads, with impressions, clicks, spend and sales for each. The query often differs from the keyword you bid on: bid on "water bottle" and you may get clicks from "water bottle for hiking kids".
It is the most direct evidence of what converts for you, and you pay for each click that produces it. Two actions come out of it:
- Converting queries become exact-match keywords. Their words become candidates for your listing copy or Search Terms field.
- Queries with spend and no sales become negative keywords. See the PPC audit checklist for the review order.
Which one to use for what
Question
- What should I put in the hidden field?
- What does the market search for?
- Who wins the click for a term?
- What converted in my ads?
- Which queries waste my budget?
Use
- Gaps found in the other two, minus your visible copy
- Brand Analytics Search Terms
- Brand Analytics Search Terms
- Ads search term report
- Ads search term report
Worked example: one term through all three
Step 1, Ads report. Your ads for "insulated water bottle" show a query "water bottle with straw lid" with 40 clicks and 6 orders. It converts.
Step 2, Brand Analytics. You look up "water bottle with straw lid". It has a search frequency rank and a top-three set. Two of the three listings say "straw lid" in the title.
Step 3, your listing. Your title and bullets never say "straw lid". Add it to a bullet, because shoppers read visible copy and the hidden field is invisible to them. Put leftover variants, such as sippy spout, in the Search Terms field.
The Ads report finds the term. Brand Analytics confirms the market wants it. The hidden field is the last place it goes, not the first.
Common mistakes
- Reading Brand Analytics as your own performance. It is market data.
- Pasting Ads queries into the field wholesale. Repeats of title words waste bytes.
- Counting characters. The field counts bytes.
- Treating a rank as a volume. It is an order.
See which keywords your listing is missing
OptimalCentral is the operating system for your Amazon business. The Keywords Audit compares your listing against measured search data and shows the gaps. Ossy audits, you act. The 14-day free trial includes Ossy.
Start free trial →Next steps: how to research keywords before you fill any of these, and the backend keywords template.
Frequently asked questions
What are search terms on Amazon?
Three things share the name: the hidden Search Terms (generic keywords) field in your listing, the Brand Analytics Search Terms report that ranks what shoppers search, and the Search Term report in Amazon Ads that lists the queries that resulted in at least one click on your ads. They live in different places and answer different questions.
What is the character limit for Amazon search terms?
Bytes, not characters. An Amazon staff post in Seller Forums gives 249 bytes and warns that going over can cause Amazon to ignore the attribute. Plain English letters are 1 byte each; accented and non-Latin characters take 2 to 4.
What is the Brand Analytics Search Terms report?
It ranks search terms by search frequency and shows the three products shoppers clicked most for each term. Brand Analytics is available to brands enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry. It is market-wide data, not your own account's performance.
What is the Amazon Ads search term report?
It lists the queries shoppers typed that resulted in at least one click on your ads, with impressions, clicks, spend and sales per query. Use it to add converting queries as keywords and block wasteful ones as negative keywords.