How I Use AI and Web Search to Find Better Hashtags Fast

My name is Jeffrey Mdala, an AI Engineer & Founder based in Lusaka, Zambia. I run Zambian Online Education Company (ZOEC), where I built eskulu, an AI-powered learning platform for the Zambian ECZ curriculum, and Zedpastpapers, which now serves more than 200,000 users every month. Because I work at the intersection of AI, education, software, and digital growth, I spend a lot of time thinking about how ordinary creators, businesses, and startups in Africa can use AI tools more practically.

One of the simplest but most useful examples is this: stop wasting time manually searching for hashtags for Instagram or TikTok posts. If you already have access to tools like ChatGPT, Grok, Perplexity, or Gemini, you can use them to generate better hashtags much faster. The key is not just using AI casually, but using it with web search turned on.

Why hashtag research takes too much time

Many people still approach hashtags the old way. They open social media, look at what other people are posting, copy a few tags, mix in some generic ones, and hope for the best. That process is slow, repetitive, and often inaccurate.

In Zambia and across Africa, where many entrepreneurs are building with limited time and resources, efficiency matters. If you are running a small business, promoting a service, growing a personal brand, or marketing an education platform like eskulu, every minute counts. You should not be spending unnecessary time guessing which hashtags might work.

That is where AI becomes useful. Instead of manually researching everything yourself, you can let AI do the heavy lifting.

The simple method I recommend

The process is straightforward. You can use ChatGPT, Grok, Perplexity, Gemini, or any AI assistant that supports live web access. What matters most is this: make sure web search is enabled.

When web search is turned on, the AI is not just relying on static training knowledge. It can search the web for current patterns, trends, and context. That makes the hashtag suggestions more relevant than generic outputs.

Here is the basic approach I recommend:

• Open your AI tool of choice
• Turn on web search
• Ask it to search the web for the best hashtags
• Provide your script, caption, topic, or image
• Let it generate hashtag suggestions based on that content

That is it. Simple, fast, and practical.

What to type into the AI tool

If you want strong results, your prompt should be clear. You do not need anything overly technical. In most cases, a direct instruction works well.

For example, you can say:

Search the web for the best hashtags for this Instagram or TikTok post, then generate relevant hashtags based on this script:

After that, paste your script or describe your image.

If your post is image-based, you can upload the image and ask the AI to generate hashtags from what it sees. If your post is a short-form video, you can paste the spoken script, your caption idea, or a summary of the content.

The more context you provide, the better the AI can tailor the hashtags.

Why web search matters so much

This is the part many people miss. If you ask AI for hashtags without web search, it may still give you something useful, but the results can be broad, repetitive, or outdated. Social media trends move quickly. Hashtag relevance can shift depending on platform behavior, niche communities, and current online conversations.

By enabling web search, you give the AI a better chance to pull from live information on the internet. That means your hashtag list is more likely to reflect current usage and discoverability.

As someone who has spent years building digital products in Zambia, I have learned that the best AI workflows are usually not the most complicated ones. They are the ones that combine good prompting with real-world context. That is exactly what web-enabled AI does here.

How this applies to African creators and businesses

I believe African founders, marketers, teachers, and creators should be using AI in practical ways that save time and improve output. We do not need to overcomplicate adoption. Sometimes the biggest wins come from small workflows like this one.

Whether you are promoting a fashion brand in Lusaka, a food business in Nairobi, a tech startup in Lagos, or an education product like eskulu serving learners across Zambia, visibility matters. Social media is one of the cheapest and most accessible growth channels available to us. But to use it well, we need smarter systems.

That is one reason I have remained deeply interested in AI beyond just theory. I started coding in Grade 12, and over the years I have built platforms used by hundreds of thousands of people. Through ZOEC, I have seen how technology can scale impact in very local, very African contexts. I have also worked across engineering, AI, and product development roles, including my time as a Junior AI Engineer at Unicaf University Zambia.

When I won Business With a Purpose at the X Pitchathon by Accessbank & MTN in 2023, it reinforced something I already believed: useful technology wins when it solves real problems. Saving creators and businesses time on something as common as hashtag research may seem small, but small efficiencies compound.

A few practical tips for better hashtag results

If you want better output from AI, do not just ask for “hashtags.” Give the tool enough direction.

• Specify the platform — Instagram and TikTok can behave differently
• Share the exact script or caption — context improves relevance
• Upload the image if possible — visual context helps
• Ask for a mix — broad, niche, and location-relevant hashtags
• Refine the output — ask the AI to make the hashtags more local, more industry-specific, or more creator-focused

For example, if your audience is in Zambia, say so. If your content is for students, small businesses, beauty creators, or tech founders, say that too. AI performs better when you narrow the use case.

AI should reduce friction, not create more of it

One thing I care about deeply is making AI feel accessible and useful, especially in Zambia and across Africa. I have pursued that mission through products like eskulu, which has reached more than 500,000 students with notes, past papers, quizzes, and AI-powered support for Grades 6 to 12.

That same mindset applies here. AI should help you move faster. It should remove friction from repetitive tasks. If you are spending too much time trying to manually discover the “perfect” hashtags, you are probably focusing on the wrong part of the process.

Create the content. Turn on web search. Give the AI your script or image. Let it generate a relevant hashtag set. Then move on to the next important task.

Final thoughts

If you are serious about growing on Instagram or TikTok, you do not need to keep guessing hashtags manually. Use AI tools like ChatGPT, Grok, Perplexity, or Gemini, and make sure web search is enabled. Then ask the tool to search the web for the best hashtags and provide your script or image. It is one of the easiest AI workflows you can start using today.

I am always interested in practical ways AI can help African businesses, creators, and education platforms grow. If you want help with AI integration, prompt engineering, web development, or building AI-powered platforms, feel free to reach out to me at jeffmdala@gmail.com.

And if you care about the future of education in Zambia, explore eskulu and the work we are building through ZOEC to make learning more intelligent, accessible, and local.