People Also Ask (PAA) is a search feature that shows a list of questions related to the query. Clicking a question expands it to show a short answer, usually drawn from a web page with a link to it, and often loads more questions below. For content teams, PAA is both a place a page can appear and a free source of research about what searchers are trying to work out.
How it works
Google generates the questions automatically from related searches. Answers are typically passages from web pages, similar to featured snippets, though some answers may be AI-generated or come from other formats such as videos. The questions shown change with the query, location and time, and expanding one question can add more.
Using PAA for research
- Search your target query and note the questions shown, then expand a few to see what follows.
- Group the questions by theme. Repeated themes show what the main page must cover.
- Use questions that need depth as candidate cluster pages.
- Answer quick questions in a short FAQ or a dedicated section of the main page.
- Check how the questions change between informational and commercial versions of a query.
Getting your page into PAA
As with featured snippets, there is no markup that places a page in PAA. Pages that appear usually rank reasonably well for the question and contain a concise, direct answer under a heading that matches it. FAQ structured data does not cause a page to appear in PAA; Google has also limited FAQ rich results to a small set of authoritative government and health sites, so FAQ markup should not be expected to produce a visible feature for SaaS sites.
Example
Turning PAA questions into a page plan
A made-up e-signature product, Signbrook, searches “e-signature legally binding” and sees questions such as “Are electronic signatures legal in all countries?”, “What makes an e-signature invalid?” and “Is a typed name a legal signature?”.
Signbrook adds a section answering each question directly in its legality guide, and plans a separate page for country-by-country rules, since that question clearly needs more than a paragraph.
Common mistakes
Copying the questions without answering them well
A wall of headings that mirror PAA, each followed by a vague line, does not make a page helpful. Answer each one properly or leave it out.
Relying on FAQ markup
FAQ structured data is not a route into PAA, and its rich result is now restricted to a small set of sites.
Questions
Usually less than a regular top result, because many searchers read the expanded answer without clicking. Their larger value is often in research and in showing your brand as a source.
Several SEO tools collect PAA questions for lists of keywords. Results vary by tool and by when the data was captured, so treat them as a sample rather than a complete list.
