What is People Also Ask?
People Also Ask (PAA) is a box in Google's results that lists questions related to your search. Each question expands when clicked to show a short answer taken from a web page, along with a link to that page. Opening one question often adds more questions to the list, so the box can keep growing as you explore it.
For site owners, each question is a small featured-snippet-style slot that can send clicks. It is also a free source of research: PAA shows you the questions people ask around a topic in the words they use.
How it works
Google picks the questions and the answers automatically. The answer under each question is a passage from a page Google considers relevant, shown as a paragraph, a list, a table, or sometimes a video, much like a featured snippet. There is no markup that requests a PAA placement.
Questions vary by query, location, and device, and they change over time. The same page can appear for several PAA questions if it answers each of them clearly.
FAQ markup is not the route in. Since 2023 Google shows FAQ rich results only for a small set of well-known government and health sites, and FAQPage markup never controlled PAA.
Example
A search for "cold brew ratio" may show questions like:
- How much coffee do I use for 1 liter of cold brew?
- Is cold brew stronger than regular coffee?
- How long should cold brew steep?
A cold brew guide with a heading "How long should cold brew steep?" followed by a direct first sentence, "Steep cold brew for 12 to 18 hours in the fridge", gives Google a passage it can lift as is.
Writing for PAA
- Collect the questions. Search your main topics and note the PAA questions, expanding a few to see more. Search Console's query report shows question-style searches you already appear for.
- Answer in the first sentence. Put the direct answer right after the question-style heading, then add detail. See search intent.
- Use the question as a heading where it fits naturally.
- Keep lists and tables clean with real HTML, so Google can extract them.
- Cover follow-ups on the same page when they belong to the same topic, instead of a thin page per question.
This format also suits AI answers. Clear question-and-answer passages are what AI Overviews and other AI systems tend to quote.
Common questions
Does People Also Ask send traffic?
It can, though many searchers read the answer without clicking. It tends to matter most for how-to and explanatory queries where the short answer leads to a longer read.
Can FAQ schema get my page into People Also Ask?
No. PAA answers are chosen from page content, not from FAQPage markup. FAQ rich results are also limited to a small set of authoritative government and health sites.
Why does the People Also Ask box keep growing?
Google loads more related questions as you open existing ones, based on what else people search for around the topic.