Let’s Talk About “Construal Level Theory” in the Context of SEO/GEO: A Hamsterdam Marketing Lesson

By Ethan Lazuk

Welcome to another edition of Hamsterdam Marketing! 🐹

This is a project where we examine marketing topics to learn about their fundamental concepts and apply them to the context of SEO/GEO.

This time, we’ll be looking at construal level theory.

Construal level theory has to do with how the psychological distance between consumers and their decisions influences how they evaluate marketing messages.

If we can understand construal level theory as SEO/GEO professionals, this may help us create content that better matches the way people search, converse with AI assistants, and make purchasing decisions.

Let’s review the basics first, then get into SEO/GEO strategy …

What Is Construal Level Theory?

Construal level theory explains how psychological distance influences the way people think about topics, such as their purchasing decisions. For example, people think more abstractly about topics that feel distant and more concretely about topics that feel close.

In the context of a buying decision, high-level construal (more abstract) might be something like, “I need to understand my brand’s AI visibility,” whereas low-level construal (more concrete) may be something like, “How much does it cost to monitor 250 prompts across 10 categories in Profound?”

Factors involved in psychological distance can be time, geography, social relationships, or the perceived likelihood of an event happening.

Bear in mind, there’s a distinction between psychological distance and construal level. The former is how far removed something feels from a person’s immediate experience, while the latter is how abstractly or concretely that person mentally represents it.

For further reading on this topic, check out “Construal Level Theory in Advertising Research: A Systematic Review and Directions for Future Research” from the Journal of Business Research. It examines abstract versus concrete advertising messages at different stages of consumer decision-making.

One example from Construal Level Theory in Advertising Research was about paid search advertising and consumer intent. The authors summarize a study that found that for informational searches, consumers used abstract keywords, such as “best” or “how,” and were more likely to click on ads using abstract messaging. On the other hand, for transactional searches, they found consumers searched with concrete keywords, such as “buy,” and were more likely to click on ads using concrete messaging.

The SEO/GEO Connection of Construal Level Theory

There are at least four interesting ways that we can connect construal level theory to SEO/GEO strategies. The first aligns with the example from the previous section about search intent:

1. Search intent may reflect psychological distance.

The types of queries or prompts a person types into a search bar or AI assistant may reflect their construal level based on how abstract or concrete the wording/concepts are. For instance, someone exploring a future purchase may use more abstract queries about benefits or possibilities, whereas someone who’s ready to buy may use more concrete terminology about costs, availability, or implementation.

2. AI conversations could reveal shifts in construal level.

When conversing with an AI assistant, a user might begin with broad, high-level construal questions of an abstract nature, such as whether a product is worthwhile for them, then they may progressively ask lower-level construal questions that get increasingly more concrete and detailed, such as including specifications or purchasing options. Monitoring these evolutions in prompting through a construal level theory lens could help us better understand search intent.

3. Content might benefit from matching construal levels.

If we can associate a search intent with a construal level, we can better adjust the wording and information of our content to suit that audience. For example, more strategic and benefit-oriented content could serve psychologically distant decisions (more abstract), whereas practical examples, pricing, and technical details could serve more immediate decisions (more concrete).

4. AI-generated answers may alter a user’s psychological distance.

By nature of their multi-turn conversations, interactions with AI assistants could convert more abstract concepts, such as distant purchasing decisions, into more concrete goals by introducing criteria such as recommendations, comparisons, and action plans. That dynamic may influence the referral traffic we see at different stages of the buyer’s journey, where low-level construal leads to more referral traffic because high-level construal questions happen within the AI assistant environment (of course, there are always exceptions, such as abstract questions leading to clicks on articles).

Practical Takeaways

Here are actionable takeaways for SEO/GEO strategies based on construal level theory:

• Analyze search queries by level of abstraction and psychological distance: Go beyond informational and transactional intent and examine whether queries and prompts focus on broad goals and benefits (abstract) or specific features and actions (concrete).
• Create content for both abstract and concrete thinking: Address the broader value of your product or service alongside its practical applications.
• Experiment with abstract versus concrete messaging: Try testing benefit-oriented headlines against specific, feature-oriented alternatives in landing pages and meta descriptions.
• Consider psychological distance when developing customer personas: Go beyond demographics and purchasing intent and consider how temporal, social, geographic, or hypothetical distance might influence how audiences evaluate your offerings.
• Explore whether AI search reduces psychological distance: Test how AI assistants respond to abstract questions and whether follow-up conversations introduce more concrete recommendations.
• Connect abstract and concrete content through internal linking: Build topical clusters that help users transition from conceptual explanations to practical resources.

Final takeaway

Consider the construal level of your audience, based on the intent of their prompt or query, when creating content. And just because lower-level construal is likely associated with higher referral traffic, don’t assume it’s inherently better for SEO/GEO. While a detailed pricing table may be useful for a visitor that’s comparing solutions, someone who is just exploring a broader problem may be looking for a more conceptual explanation. Consider your users on an abstract-to-concrete question spectrum.

In short, to optimize your content based on construal level theory, consider whether its level of abstraction matches how your audience is thinking about the subject at that moment.

See you next time!

I hope you’ve found this discussion around construal level theory helpful for your SEO/GEO strategy.

Stay tuned for a new Hamsterdam Marketing lesson soon.

And if you want a hand with your SEO/GEO strategy, get in touch with me. I’m an independent consultant based in New York City.

Until next time, enjoy the vibes:

Thanks for reading. Happy optimizing!