---
title: "People Also Ask"
url: https://marketingsignals.com/glossary/people-also-ask
type: Page
---

# People Also Ask

People Also Ask explained: how Google picks the related questions, why each answer is a featured snippet, and how to write pages that get quoted there.

SEO glossary

## 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

- [Featured snippets](https://marketingsignals.com/glossary/featured-snippets)
- [SERP](https://marketingsignals.com/glossary/serp)
- [Search intent](https://marketingsignals.com/glossary/search-intent)
- [Long-tail keywords](https://marketingsignals.com/glossary/long-tail-keywords)
- [Zero-click search](https://marketingsignals.com/glossary/zero-click-search)

## Further reading

- [How to Write Content for SEO That Converts and Ranks](https://marketingsignals.com/insights/how-to-write-content-for-seo-that-converts-and-ranks)
- [Query Intent Shift: What to Do When Google Changes What Your Keyword Means](https://marketingsignals.com/insights/query-intent-shift-what-to-do-when-google-changes-what-your-keyword-means)

Our [Organic Search](https://marketingsignals.com/service/organic-search) service puts this into practice for brands in the UK and US.

## Sources

- [Visual Elements gallery of Google Search, Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/visual-elements-gallery)
- [Featured snippets and your website, Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/featured-snippets)

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