People Also Ask (PAA)
People Also Ask is a Google search feature that shows a group of questions related to the original query, which Google's documentation calls a related questions group. Each question expands to reveal a short answer taken from a web page, shown as a featured snippet with a link to its source.
How does People Also Ask work?
Google chooses the questions automatically. Its Visual Elements gallery describes the group as a cluster of questions related to what the user first searched for, and says site owners can't control what shows up there.
When a user expands a question, Google shows a featured snippet. The same rules therefore apply as for any featured snippet: the page has to be indexed and allowed to show a snippet, and Google's systems decide whether it makes a good answer to that question. A page with the nosnippet rule can't appear.
Can you optimise for People Also Ask?
There is no markup that places a page in the box. What helps is the work that earns featured snippets in general: use the question, or something close to it, as a subheading, answer it directly in two or three sentences, then add the detail below. Each question is treated as a query in its own right, so a page can be quoted for a question even when it ranks lower for the original search.
Using People Also Ask for research
The questions show how searchers phrase follow-ups around a topic, which makes them a cheap source of subheadings, FAQ content and ideas for new pages. Recording them over time also shows when Google's reading of a query changes, for example when questions about price replace questions about what something is.
Example
Someone searches for 'heat pump installation'. The People Also Ask box lists questions such as how long installation takes and whether a heat pump works with existing radiators. An installer that answers each one in two sentences, under a matching subheading on its guide page, gives Google a ready-made answer for every question in the box.
Related terms
Further reading
- How to Write Content for SEO That Converts and Ranks
- Query Intent Shift: What to Do When Google Changes What Your Keyword Means
Our Organic Search service puts this into practice for brands in the UK and US.
