People Also Ask, or PAA, is Google's recommendation of adjacent questions. Each question expands inline to reveal an answer pulled from a ranking page.
Behaviour
Clicking a PAA question expands its answer and typically loads more PAA questions dynamically, so the box grows the longer a user interacts with it. The URLs that supply answers usually rank on page one for the underlying question query.
Example
A search for "sourdough starter" often includes PAA questions such as "why is my sourdough starter not rising" and "how long can a sourdough starter last in the fridge". Winning these boxes surfaces your brand on the parent SERP without requiring you to rank number one.
How SEM Optimiser reports it
Every PAA question that appears in a tracked SERP is stored as a suggested keyword so you can decide whether to create a page targeting it.
Related terms
- SERP Feature
A SERP feature is any non-standard element on a search results page beyond the classic ten blue links, such as a featured snippet, People Also Ask box, or local pack.
- Featured Snippet
A featured snippet is a boxed answer displayed at the top of a Google SERP that quotes text or a list from a ranking page.
- Keyword Intent
Keyword intent is the classification of a search query by what the user is trying to accomplish, typically informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional.
- Content Cluster
A content cluster is a group of interlinked pages that cover a broad topic together, with a central pillar page and multiple supporting pages targeting related sub-topics.