Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

I am stymied, fellow authors. What role do the 7 keywords we are asked to provide for KDP publications actually play? Is general better ("cozy mystery") or highly specific ("found family narrative")? Has anyone any wisdom to offer me?

Keywords used to be important back in the early-'00s to expand the capabilities of search algorithms. Those early algorithms had limitations and needed user prompts (keywords) to help categorize items. Today, search engines can use AI, which is more sophisticated and can figure out where KDP wants to place books. Put in all 7 keywords, and for the most part, their AI bot will ignore them and do its own thing. So, maybe it's best just to make your keywords generic and not to waste time trying to make them too specific. Mind you, this is my opinion based on my personal experiences with KDP. But overall, I think KDP is good.