Google's 'More Questions' box vs SEO. How do you get there? Optimising website content for PAA: pillar-cluster strategy and analysing user questions

The PAA section appears in the search results for approximately 79 % of Polish queries and allows users to develop further questions through interaction. Google dynamically updates not only the set of questions, but also the domains from which the answers come. PAA appears most often on the first page, usually in positions 2-3, less often at the bottom (8-10) or multiple times after interaction. The answers in the PAA take the form of a paragraph, a list, a table or a graphic-enhanced snippet, and increasingly also an AI Overview. Google counts the entire section as one item when reporting position in Search Console - each question in the PAA has the same position as the whole box. The CTR for links in PAAs is low (less than 1%), which limits the value of direct traffic, but makes PAAs an excellent source of topics and ideas for a pillar- and cluster-based content marketing strategy. Optimising for PAAs uses the same principles as featured snippets: a question as a headline, a concise answer below it (2-3 sentences or a list), well-described graphics and alt text. Tools such as Semstorm enable automatic PAA monitoring and question collection for content projects.

What is the 'People Also Ask' section?

Relevance for users and SEO

• Users can quickly explore an issue without leaving the SERPs, staying within the context of the search engine.
• Marketers and content creators gain insights into users' real-world questions, allowing them to create responsive content and improve visibility.

The 'People Also Ask' section is not just another SERP element - it is a key component that:

• Use users directly, shortening the path from question to answer.
• Offers marketers real insight into user intent and language, enabling them to create even more precise and engaging content.

Boks "więcej pytań" w Google SERP

Definition and purpose

The 'People Also Ask' (PAA) section, often translated as 'More Questions' in Polish, is an interactive module in Google search results that displays additional questions related to the user's query and short answers. Clicking on the arrow next to the question unfolds the answer with a link to the source.

Relevance to users

Immediate access to related issues

Users receive a list of additional questions without having to modify their query or leave the search results - when clicked, they develop the answer in the same SERP window, saving time and effort .

Improved content navigation

PAA allows for a quick overview of topics related to the original enquiry, which helps:

• Discover new aspects of a topic (e.g. when planning purchases or expanding expertise).
• Avoid having to manually type in further phrases.

Reduction of so-called "pogo-sticking"

With inline responses, the user is less likely to leave the SERP and browse to the next results page, which:

• Reduces the frustration of unexpected results.
• Allows deeper exploration from a single page - developing further questions generates new, more detailed threads.

Personalised and translated content

Google dynamically adapts the language and form of PAA questions to the user's settings:

• Shows questions in the language of the query and, when local sources are missing, automatically translates content from English-language versions.
• Allows access to unique results from forums, social media or foreign sites, which broadens the perspective.

Relevance for marketers and SEO

Source of actual user queries

PAA is a ready-made list of phrases that Internet users are actually interested in. By analysing the questions, SEOWhousers can:

• Identify niche, long-tail phrases with high informational intent .
• Observe trends - by developing new questions, Google often reveals topics that become popular in a given period.

Optimisation for featured snippet and PAA formats

The rules for optimising content under PAA coincide with those for featured snippets:

1. A headline (H2/H3) representing a question in a form identical or very similar to that in the PAA box.
2. A concise answer (2-3 sentences or bulleted list), placed directly below the headline.
3. A table or graphic (with optimised alt-text and descriptive file name) when the question format requires it .

Increased visibility and indirect traffic

Although the CTR from a PAA is usually low (<1 %), appearing in the section:

• Certifies a site's authority in a particular field.
• Increases the chances of a featured snippet and.
• Prepares the ground for responses generated by AI (AI Overviews), as these are often based on questions from PAA .

Strategia filar-klaster oparta o PAA

Building content architecture:

• Pillars - comprehensive article covering a broad topic.
• Clusters - dedicated sub-pages responding to specific questions from the PAA (with back-linking).
  Such linking reinforces signals of expertise and authority, which Google rewards with higher ranking .

Monitoring and testing

Tools like AlsoAsked, Surfer SEO or Semstorm:

• Automatically collect queries, show their variation over time and their sources.
• They allow filtering of translated results and hide already used phrases - which improves cyclical refreshing and optimisation of content.

Summary
The "People Also Ask" section is a powerful support for both users and content creators. For internet users, it means faster, more convenient access to answers and contextualised navigation. For marketers, it's a treasure trove of viable questions to answer to build authority and strategise visibility in SERPs - today in terms of PAAs, tomorrow in terms of the increasingly popular AI Overviews.

Scope and incidence of PAA

In Poland, as many as 79 % of queries call up the PAA section (Semstorm), while globally according to Sensor PAAs appear in around 58 % of search results . Other studies even indicate an incidence of over 78 % on desktop and 77 % on mobile (Nozzle.io) . Most often, the PAA box is ranked second or third in the SERPs (50 % and 16 % of cases), less often appearing below the sixth position result (24 % on positions 4-6 and 9 % on 7-10) . Moreover, on mobile devices PAAs appear up to three times more often than on desktop in some countries, and in Poland they dominate the first page of results.

Scale of occurrence

• According to an analysis by Semstorm, in Poland as many as 79 % of queries generate the 'People Also Ask' section .
• Global data from Sensor shows that PAAs appear in 58.24 % of all search queries .
• Semrush data from August 2024, on the other hand, shows that PAAs appear in 51.85 % globally, demonstrating their growing popularity .
• A Nozzle.io study based on more than 1.2 million SERPs showed that on desktop PAAs occur 78% of the time, while on mobile they occur 77% of the time .
• In Singapore's mobile and US results, PAAs appear up to twice or three times more often on mobile than on desktop.

Position in the results

• Positions 2-3 dominate: according to Nozzle.io, PAAs rank second in 50% of cases and third in 16% of cases on desktop .
• Less common below: in positions 4-6 the PAA box appears in 24 % of results and in positions 7-10 in 9 % of cases .
• Minimally at position one: it is practically impossible to find PAA at the top - statistics show 0.0048 % of occurrences at position one .
• On mobile: in the US, PAAs appear three times more often on mobile than on desktop, which translates into even higher visibility in mobile results.
• Sometimes repeatedly: after an interaction (clicking on a question), the section can reappear in various places in the SERPs - both at the bottom and in the middle of the results, creating additional touchpoints with the page

Response formats in PAA

Traditional formats

Paragraf

• A short, concise 'featured snippet' style statement providing a direct answer to a question.
• Appears most often with queries such as 'what is...', 'how does...' when the user expects a definition or concise explanation .

Lista

• The bulleted (unordered) or numbered (ordered) format is useful when the answer requires a listing of elements or steps.
• Used for instructions ("how to do..."), lists ("best tools..."), typologies ("types of...") .

Tabela

• Used less frequently, but essential when data is best presented in a clear overview, e.g. comparison of parameters, numerical values or relationships between elements .

Paragraph + graphics

• Paragraph supplemented with graphics usually from the same domain as the text, which distinguishes this format from 'item zero' (where graphics may come from other sources).
• Graphics support the understanding and visualisation of content, e.g. diagrams, charts, graphs .

New: AI Overviews at PAA

• AI-generated summaries ('Overviews from AI') - synthesise content from multiple sites to present key information in one coherent block .
• Availability in the Polish market - AI Overviews within PAA are only available to logged-in users in Poland (in both Polish and English versions).
• Role and limitations - they are designed to make it easier and quicker to get answers, but due to the method of generation they may contain inaccuracies or simplifications. Google recommends verifying information through links to original sources .
• User benefits - quick insight into a topic without having to visit multiple pages, facilitated overview of diverse perspectives and viewpoints .

PAA reporting in Google Search Console

In Google Search Console (GSC), the entire 'People Also Ask' (PAA) box is treated as a single positional element, meaning that all questions in the expanded box receive the same position in the GSC report, regardless of which question was clicked or pulled down . In practice, when a PAA appears, for example, at position 2 in the results, each question inside that box will be assigned to position 2 in the 'Average position' metrics in the report . In contrast, in the 'Web' (Search Results) report, PAA is not a separately distinguishable 'search type' or 'search appearance' - all data from PAA is mixed with data from natural results, featured snippets, FAQs, etc., making it difficult to accurately isolate traffic and CTR coming solely from PAA .

One item for the whole box

Google Search Console assigns each expanded question in the PAA section the same position in which the entire box appears in the SERP. For example, if the PAA displays in the second position of the results, all links contained in the expansion are assigned position 2 in the 'Position' report . This works regardless of the number of expansions - even when a user clicks on several different questions, each link is treated as one item in the same position . Similarly, when the PAA is lower, e.g. in position 12, each question will be assigned to that position in the GSC . This way of reporting is due to the general GSC principle that carousels and drop-down sections (including PAAs) occupy a single position, and that all items contained in them share the same number .

Analytical challenges

In the "Web" report (default for "Search results"), GSC does not distinguish a separate category for PAA in the "Search Appearance" filter, which results in PAA data being integrated together with classic results, rich snippets (e.g. FAQs) and other formats . Thus, the user cannot filter out metrics (clicks, impressions, CTR) exclusively for PAA, which makes it difficult to measure the effectiveness of PAA-optimised content Furthermore, in the "Impressions" metric, GSC only counts them when the PAA is unlinked, while in the "Clicks" metric, GSC counts them only after a link to a page has been clicked, which differs from standard links in organic results The lack of ability to segment PAAs means that in order to assess the actual contribution of PAAs to traffic, you have to export the data and manually try to distinguish them by queries and pages, which is labour-intensive and not very precise .

If it is crucial to track PAA effectiveness, additional tools (e.g. server logs, GTM/GA4 scripts) are often used to capture URL fragment identifiers (#:~:text=) or to analyse query patterns directly related to PAA content . However, the lack of native support in GSC for PAA segmentation remains a significant limitation when optimising and reporting on SEO efforts targeting this section.

CTR with PAA

The clickthrough rate of elements in the PAA box is significantly lower than for classic organic results.

• Estimated 3 % interaction
  According to a SEMrush study cited by Backlinko, on average only 3 % of users interact with the PAA box (question expansion) - although for transactional queries this figure can rise to as much as 13.6 % .
• Actual CTR of links < 1 %
  When measuring the CTR from the time the answer is rolled out until the link itself is clicked, many analyses show values below 1 %. The reason for this is that users often find the information they need without having to go to an external page .
• Box position vs. CTR
  As PAA most often appears on the first page of results (especially in the top positions), its impact on the CTR of competing queries is limited. For example, the second position in classic results has an average CTR of 15%, while the second 'query' in the PAA box manages to get less than 1% of clicks .
• Variables depending on industry and intent
  The CTR from PAA strongly depends on the industry and user intent. For technical or defining queries (e.g. "what is...") the CTR can be even lower than for comparison or shopping queries .

Substantive value

Low click-through rates do not invalidate the practical use of PAA as an SEO tool:

• Source of topics and headlines
  PAA reveals the real questions users are asking, which allows the article to be expanded with H2/H3 sections responding to specific themes. This makes the content more relevant to search intent .
• Topic clustering
  PAA analysis makes it possible to build so-called topic clusters - groups of related articles around a main 'pillar page'. Each question from the box can become a stand-alone entry that supports the SEO of the entire cluster .
• Content structure optimisation
  Using PAA prompts to pose questions as headings (e.g. in FAQ format) improves readability, as well as increasing the chance of generating featured snippets and further increasing visibility.
• Monitoring and updating
  PAA is a dynamic resource - questions change, requiring regular review and updating of content. This keeps articles up to date and responsive to new information trends .
• Increasing authority
  Answering frequently asked questions builds the image of a subject matter expert, which indirectly affects user trust and behavioural indicators (time on page, bounce rate).

Although the direct CTR from PAA is low, the strategic use of questions from this box enriches the content, improves its structure and increases the chance of higher rankings and featured snippets - resulting in better visibility and traffic in the long term.

Optimising for PAA uses the same principles as featured snippets, including the use of headings that are exact questions in H2/H3 form and concise answers in 2-3 sentences . Additionally, it is crucial to take care of alt attributes and descriptive image file names, as well as an appropriate internal linking strategy (cluster-pillar), which strengthens visibility and facilitates content indexation .

Principles common to featured snippets

• Headline - the PAA question should be used almost in its original wording as an H2 or H3, making it easier for Google to catch the phrase match .
• Concise answer - a formula of 2-3 sentences directly developing the question or a short bulleted/numbered list - this is a proven way to get zero position in snippets and to meet PAA requirements.
• Table - when the answer is best presented in a summary (e.g. a comparison of features or parameters), use a clear table in line with Google's guidelines for featured snippets .
• Graphics - in the paragraph+graphic format, the image must have a substantive alt and file description (title/description), and the surrounding text should support and explain the content of the graphic

Additional recommendations

• Optimise alt text - the description in the alt must be short but informative, contain the key phrase in the context of the content and avoid artificially stuffing keywords (keyword stuffing)
• Descriptivefile names - name image files in the format descriptive-keyphrase.jpg, using hyphens instead of spaces, which improves URL readability and image indexation .
• Internal pillar-cluster link ing - create groups of thematically related content in which the pillar page (pillar) links to article-clusters corresponding to the PAA questions; such linking strengthens authority and transfers SEO value between subpages .
• Links to PAA sections - add anchor links leading directly to sections of the page corresponding to PAA questions; Google can use such links to generate expansions in the "People Also Ask" box.

Implementing these principles increases the chance of appearing in the PAA, improves the readability of content for users and supports long-term visibility in search results.

Wykorzystanie PAA w content marketingu

In the pillar-cluster strategy, the key is a comprehensive article-pillar that covers the main topic, and smaller post-clusters corresponding to the questions in the PAA section, interlinked by links, which reinforces the authority of the whole site . In planning and researching topics, on the other hand, the PAA provides a ready-made list of actual user questions, also allowing the discovery of 'low hanging fruit' in different languages and using dedicated tools such as AlsoAsked or Exploding Topics

Strategia filar–klaster

Filar

A pillar page is a broad, comprehensive article that explains a broad topic or issue in depth, forming the 'heart' of a thematic cluster . It usually takes the form of a guide or compendium of knowledge, focusing on key aspects and sub-topics, while linking to more detailed cluster entries .

Clusters

Clusters are dedicated, smaller articles or posts, each answering a specific question from the PAA or exploring a narrow topic related to the topic of the pillar . For example, for the pillar 'How to take care of urban gardening', clusters could be created for 'How to water balcony plants' or 'Which plants to choose for a small garden' .

Linking

Strong internal linking pillar→clusters→pillar conveys authority (so-called link juice) between pages and signals to Google the semantic structure of the content, which increases the chances of appearing in PAA and other featured results .

Planning and researching themes

PAA as a ready-made list of questions

The PAA section is a complete, dynamic list of questions asked by users, which can be exported or manually copied as a starting point for a content plan . In this way, you know what issues are of real interest to your target group and can create content that is perfectly tailored to their needs

Multilingual „low hanging fruits”

The analysis of questions in PAA in different language versions (e.g. Polish and English) makes it possible to discover niche phrases with low competition ("low hanging fruit"), which can generate fast SEO results . These phrases often have a lower level of difficulty and may be easier to rank high for with moderate effort .

Tools to support research

• AlsoAsked - visualises links between questions in the PAA, helping you to understand the logic of topic links and discover additional sub-topics .
• Exploding Topics - identifies phrases and questions that are growing in popularity, enabling you to get ahead of trends in content planning
• LowFruits / OMNIUS - low-hanging fruit keyword search tools allow you to quickly pick out low-competition phrases, which is particularly useful for supplementing clusters with opportunistic topics .

PAA monitoring and analysis tools

Semstorm

• Campaign monitoring - weekly keyword check for PAA, collection of questions by quarter.
• 'Topics' report- list of questions, mark own domain (green), information if result is translated (yellow).
• Filters - display only translated, hide developed questions, domain dominance analysis.
• Exploring page analyses - checking any domain on which questions appear.

Other tools

Google Search Console - although it does not highlight PAAs, it allows you to track views and clicks.

Semrush, Ahrefs - provide general statistics on the incidence of PAA globally.

Summary and recommendations

1. PAAs are a key source of insights for user questions - it is worth analysing them regularly.
2. Direct traffic from PAAs is limited (low CTR), but it is worth optimising answers as this increases the chances of featured snippets and AI Overviews.
3. A pillar-cluster strategy based on PAA questions strengthens the authority of the site and makes content planning easier.
4. Tools such as Semstorm automate the collection of questions, monitor positions and facilitate content marketing strategy.

Applying the above practices will not only allow you to better understand how Google selects and presents the 'People Also Ask' section, but more importantly to use it effectively to build valuable and relevant content.

How does ICEberg CMS 5 support SEO optimisation for PAAs?

• Optimised page structure. ICEberg CMS 5 automatically generates an optimised page structure and embeds the relevant schema markup (FAQ, QAPage, Article), making it easier for search engines to identify question-answer blocks and increasing the chance of display in the PAA section.
• Editor. With the built-in editor, you can easily create dedicated FAQ or Q&A blocks using semantic HTML markup of elements such as

  ,

  ,

  and

  , further enhancing the readability of question-answer structures for Google

• A module of friendly URLs and meta tags allows for the mass assignment of descriptive addresses (slugs) and meta descriptions containing questions in a PAA-like form, improving consistency with the user's search query.
• ICEberg CMS 5 integrates with AI tools to automatically suggest and generate concise answers (2-3 sentences) based on analysis of existing content - the rapid creation of such snippets under H2/H3 headings significantly speeds up work on PAA-optimised content.
• Multilingualism and multi-domain. With support for multilingualism and multiple domains, you can publish translated Q&A blocks with a single click, allowing you to catch the "low hanging fruit" in different language versions and maintain consistent optimisation under PAA in every market.
• The internal link builder in ICEberg CMS 5 automatically suggests links between pillar pages and clusters (topic clusters), making it easy to build a pillar-cluster structure and transfer SEO power between entries corresponding to PAA questions.
• The system also allows the planning and scheduling of question-answer block refreshes, which helps to keep content 'fresh' - a factor that Google takes into account when dynamically generating PAAs.
• ICEberg CMS 5's responsive templates ensure that PAA sections display correctly on any device, which is important especially on mobile, where PAAs appear up to three times more often than on desktop.
• In addition, support for accessibility standards (WCAG) ensures that the prepared Q&A blocks are also readable by people using screen readers - this improves the user experience and signals Google's attention to quality, which indirectly influences better positions in the results.

In this way, ICEberg CMS 5 becomes a comprehensive tool for creating, managing and optimising content aimed at the "People Also Ask" section, allowing SEO and content teams to focus on content quality and leave the technical aspects required by Google to the system.