What is People also ask
People Also Ask (PAA) is a Google search results feature that lists questions related to your query.
Each question expands to show a short answer taken from a web page, along with a link to that page. If you're wondering what is People Also Ask, it's the box of questions you've probably seen partway down a results page. When you open one question, more questions load below it.
People also ask defined
People Also Ask is a block of related questions that Google expects searchers to want answered next. Each question appears as a collapsed row. Open it and you'll see an answer from one source page, with that page's title and URL underneath. Some answers are paragraphs; others use a list or table. Google builds the questions from real search behavior, so the wording follows how people talk about a topic.
Why PAA matters for visibility
PAA gives a page a second way onto the results page. A source can appear in the box even when its regular listing ranks lower, so a well-written answer can get you seen above competitor pages that outrank you. The questions also show what your audience wants to know, in their own words. Look at which questions appear for your main queries, then check whether your pages answer them.
How the PAA box works
Google shows the box for queries that have clear related questions, and the list grows as you use it. The box can appear near the top of the page or further down, and the questions can change from day to day for the same search.
What triggers the box
Question-style searches trigger PAA most often, though Google also shows it for broad topic searches. Google picks questions that searchers type after or near the original query. Then it looks for a page that answers each one directly. The lack of a clean, short answer reduces the question's chance of appearing. Differences in location and device explain why two people get different boxes for the same search.
What happens when you open a question
Clicking a question shows its answer and adds new questions to the bottom of the list. Those new questions relate to the one you opened. So the box keeps growing in the direction your curiosity takes you. Each answer links to its source, and that link is where the visibility turns into a visit.
PAA in AI search results
The skill that earns a PAA spot also helps you show up in AI answers. Google's AI Overviews and assistants such as ChatGPT pull short, direct passages that answer a specific question. When a page puts a plain answer right under a question heading, both kinds of system can find it and quote it. Check whether your key answers make sense when someone reads them without the rest of the page.
Earn a PAA feature
To earn a PAA spot, answer each question cleanly in the place Google looks first.
- 011Search your main topics and write down the PAA questions that appear.
- 022Use a question, in the searcher's own wording, as a subheading on the relevant page.
- 033Answer it in two or three sentences directly under that heading.
- 044Add detail after the short answer through steps or examples.
- 055Recheck the box every few weeks, because the questions shift.
A short PAA example
Take a search such as "how to descale a kettle." The box shows "Can I descale a kettle with vinegar?" and "How often should you descale a kettle?" Opening the vinegar question reveals a 2-sentence answer from a cleaning blog, with its link. That blog earned the spot because it put that exact question in a heading and answered it in the first line.
Related SEO terms
PAA sits next to a few SEO terms that readers often mix up with it.
Your next step is to search your own main topic and open the PAA box. Write down which questions your pages already answer and which ones they skip. For a site owner, the useful answer to what is People Also Ask is a free list of the questions your readers ask next.
Look up more AI search and SEO terms in our glossary.