Best ways to find trending topics on Google and Youtube

Best ways to find trending topics on Google and Youtube

Today I Learned
June 26, 2025•4 min read

Q: How do I find out what keywords are trending on youtube or what tools do I use for this?

ChatGPT said:

Alright, Ann — you want to know what’s hot, what’s bubbling up on YouTube so you can ride the wave before it crashes onto everyone else’s beach. Here's exactly how to do that, tools-first, no fluff:

🔧 Top Tools to Find Trending YouTube Keywords:

1. TubeBuddy (Chrome Extension)

  • Why: Real-time keyword insights directly in YouTube.

  • What it does: Shows search volume, competition, related keywords, and trending tags.

  • Power move: Use the “Keyword Explorer” to see rising trends and what people are searching for right now in your niche.

  • 🔗 https://www.tubebuddy.com/

2. VidIQ (Chrome Extension or Web App)

  • Why: VidIQ is like having a spy in the YouTube algorithm’s war room.

  • What it does: Keyword scores (volume vs competition), trending videos, “rising creators,” and AI-powered suggestions.

  • Bonus: Shows what tags your competitors are using and what’s working.

  • 🔗 https://vidiq.com/

3. Google Trends (With YouTube Filter)

  • Why: It’s Google’s own data — and YouTube is Google’s golden child.

  • What it does: Filter by “YouTube Search” to see what’s trending in your country, niche, or even drill down to a search term’s breakout interest.

  • 🔗 https://trends.google.com/trends/
    ➤     Set the filter: Region → “United States” (or wherever), Category → “YouTube Search”

4. Exploding Topics

  • Why: This one’s for early detection of viral trends, including video topics.

  • What it does: Shows trending terms before they blow up, categorized by industry.

  • Great for reverse-engineering topics into videos.

  • 🔗 https://explodingtopics.com/

5. AnswerThePublic

  • Why: Not YouTube-specific, but gives massive keyword maps based on actual user questions.

  • Use these to generate highly clickable video titles and cover long-tail YouTube searches.

  • 🔗 https://answerthepublic.com/

🔥 Bonus Tactic: YouTube’s Own Search Bar

  • Go to YouTube → start typing a term in your niche.

  • Watch those autocomplete suggestions. Those are real-time, highly searched phrases.

  • Add a space before or after a keyword to get more long-tail suggestions.

Example: Type “AI voice agent for” → You’ll see what people are actively looking for.

You said:

sorry not youtube on google

ChatGPT said:

Got it — you're hunting trending keywords on Google, not YouTube. Let’s gear up for what people are searching right now on Google, so you can hijack that traffic like a digital pirate queen with a sharp sales funnel.

🔧 Best Tools to Find Trending Keywords on Google:

1. Google Trends (Your First Stop — Always)

  • What it does: Shows what's spiking right now in search volume. You can explore by:

    • Country or region

    • Time range (past hour, day, week, etc.)

    • Category (business, health, tech, etc.)

  • Why it rocks: Filters by Web Search, Image, News, Google Shopping, and yes — YouTube.

  • Bonus: “Trending Searches” tab = daily and real-time exploding terms.

👉 https://trends.google.com/trends/

2. Exploding Topics

  • Think: Early radar system.

  • What it does: Finds keywords and phrases that are quietly blowing up before the mainstream catches on.

  • Why use it: Goldmine for trendjacking blog content, VSL hooks, or ad copy.

👉 https://explodingtopics.com/

3. Semrush (Freemium)

  • What it does: Keyword Magic Tool → plug in any seed keyword, get thousands of related terms ranked by:

    • Search volume

    • Trend pattern

    • Keyword difficulty

  • Also tracks what’s “trending” across SERPs.

  • Pro Tip: Use their “Trending Topics” and “Content Gap” tools to spy on what your competitors rank for that you don’t yet.

👉 https://www.semrush.com/

4. Ahrefs (Trends + Keywords Explorer)

  • Similar to SEMrush but heavier on backlink/SEO data.

  • Best for: Deep-dive trend tracking for organic and paid keywords.

  • Ahrefs “Content Explorer” = trending articles by engagement, great for identifying topic trends.

👉 https://ahrefs.com/

5. Glasp / Feedly / SparkToro (Less direct, more strategic)

  • Use these to track what influential people in your niche are writing or sharing.

  • If they’re talking about a new keyword or buzz topic, it’s often 2–3 weeks away from blowing up on Google.

🔥 Power Move (Frankie-style combo):

  1. Go to Google Trends

    • Filter to last 7 days

    • Pick a region + category

    • Look for anything in “Breakout” status

  2. Drop that term into Semrush or Ahrefs

    • See if there’s upward search volume

    • Spy competitor content

    • Note the SEO difficulty and CPC (if you plan to run ads)

  3. Run the same term through Exploding Topics

    • See if it’s part of a larger trend cluster you can own

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