Question-based search: what it is, how it works, what tools to use
How can you perform an effective keyword research today ? For years, the mainstay on which any SEO strategy was structured was finding a broad keyword or a group of related keywords, but this approach is becoming increasingly blurred. The change did not happen suddenly, but rather was a natural evolution of SEO, which gradually shifted the focus from word search to the analysis of a far more multifaceted element: the questions asked by users, an expression of their search intent. Today, we speak of search by questions, because it is the specific needs expressed by people, through direct questions, that represent the real core of any optimization strategy: and this does not only concern Google, because even AI platforms such as SearchGPT or Google Gemini tools already process and return answers that arise from a detailed analysis of questions and search intent. Optimizing for these new forms of search therefore becomes an inescapable necessity for anyone who wants to be part of the future of digital marketing, and SEOZoom provides the specific tools to find all the questions that users have in mind and search for on Google when they need to solve a real problem.
What is question-based search
Question-based search is at the heart of modern SEO and is the result of evolving user expectations and the ability of search engines to interpret complex queries and meet real information needs.
At its base, question-based search focuses on identifying and analyzing the questions that users actually ask search engines. When a user performs a search on Google or already on AI-based platforms such as SearchGPT , he no longer just types in a word or a series of keywords, but formulates a specific question, expressing a well-defined need. He might search for “how to optimize my site for SEO in 2024” or “what are the benefits of using an SEO tool,” questions that contain yes key terms, but more importantly a well-structured intent. Question-based research allows us to correctly pick up and interpret these needs, seeing beyond the single keyword to understand how and why users are looking for exactly that kind of information: this paves the way for the production of targeted, useful and high-performing content in terms of visibility in Google results and the near future dominated by AI.
It is clear that there is a quantum leap from the old and now obsolete keyword research: until a few years ago, SEO specialists focused on identifying high-volume keywords , around which they built content that often mechanically chased specific metrics such as keyword density or keyword inclusion in every element of the page. This strategy proved to be limited, because it only emphasized words and left the users’ true intent in the background.
Now is the definitive time to shift the focus from the word to the actual question the user is asking, so as to:
- Intercept users’ information needs more precisely, answering questions that go beyond the simple keyword entered.
- Design content that is detailed, comprehensive and in tune with the conversational queries that are increasingly being used on Google and in artificial intelligence platforms.
- Positioning ourselves in the most visible areas of SERPs, such as the People Also Ask boxes, which now house most of the responses and are offered to users as options of immediate relevance and credibility.
From keyword concept to search intent, a natural evolution
The shift from an exclusive focus on keywords to search intent-centered analysis has been one of the most significant turning points in the last decade for SEO. Google realized that users are not simply looking for words, but for answers. This change, the maturation of which has been slow and gradual, began with the introduction of updates such as Hummingbird in 2013, whose main goal was to understand queries more semantically, looking at context rather than single keyword. Later, with the RankBrain algorithm Google further refined its understanding ofsearch intent and complex queries, moving closer to a more holistic and intelligent view of user behavior.
Fast forward to today where, as Ivano Di Biasi has repeatedly demonstrated with his insights, the keyword is rapidly losing centrality in SEO processes, as it no longer represents the solution to fully interpret and satisfy the needs of web surfers. We have seen this clearly: whereas in the past carrying out keyword research simply meant focusing on terms with a certain search volume in order to structure content around these words, today we have to think in terms of user need. The focus should not be on what words we are trying to rank for, but rather on what the person on the other side of the screen really wants to know.
This shift towardsearch intent goes hand in hand with the extinction of old-fashioned SEO and implies a complete overhaul of the approach to content. Query search, which explores the real needs behind queries, is a direct consequence of this evolution. Queries are not just phrases to be analyzed lexically: they are a reflection of the information need, which is significantly more complex and layered than the single keyword. In fact, each question is often composed of a series of intents, sometimes implicit or so specific as to be micro-intents, that we need to intercept, understand and satisfy.
Think, for example, of a query such as “how to improve the visibility of my website?”: it is no longer enough to work to rank for the keyword “improve site visibility.” Google clearly indicates that the ideal answer must take into account the user’s search journey : from concerns about SEO to technical tools to practical strategies. We must now respond with content that guides the user through their journey and provides detailed solutions to their query, demonstrating that they understand the search journey.
In this context, tools dedicated to question-based research, such as SEOZoom’s Question Explorer , prove indispensable because they allow us to discover not only what words users use, but what questions they actually formulate. Google, today, processes these questions and uses them to identify those who can answer them comprehensively, disinteresting those who merely point to the volume of decontextualized keywords. The current scenario clearly tells us that understanding the intent-and not just the word-is the real focus of modern keyword research.
People Also Ask, FAQs and the importance of questions in SERPs.
In this light, it is also confirmed that the People Also Ask box has become a turning point for SEO practitioners . Google has turned this tool into the linchpin of its ability to interpret users’ queries, not only answering their immediate needs, but also suggesting additional questions that, in many cases, the user has not even asked yet.
This feature has profoundly changed the way of doing keyword research and readingsearch intent, so much so that queries are now considered the main unit on which to base an optimization strategy.
The mechanism that activates the People Also Ask box is simple, but extremely effective. Starting with a main query entered in the search bar, Google proposes a series of related questions that enrich the user’s search cycle. Each question, in turn, opens up further possible insights, taking the user down an increasingly specific path in which each answer is a potential door to new content. This means that positioning ourselves in the PAA box not only provides immediate visibility in one of the first zones of user interaction with the SERP, but also causes our answers to be proposed in a dynamic and incremental space, amplifying the possibilities of visits to our site.
But it’s not just about visibility. Users are increasingly guided by frequently asked questions (FAQs) to get to the information they need, which is why PAAs and FAQs play a dual role: they improve both the user experience, which gets quick and relevant answers, and our SEO ranking. Providing comprehensive, accurate answers received “on the fly” during an interaction with the PAA box is also valuable for Google, which rewards with higher visibility those who can understand and anticipate users’ information needs.
SEOZoom’s tools for doing query-based research.
This is where SEOZoom, which has been able to integrate PAA behavior analysis into its tools, comes in.
With the Question Explorer, for example, we have an advanced tool that not only returns traditional keywords , but also allows us to identify questions shown directly in Google SERPs. Each question provides access to a range of crucial information: not only the overall search volume, but also details about the keywords that trigger it and the entire cluster of queries that can be explored in depth. With this data, our strategy is no longer limited to generic keyword analysis, but becomes a specific and precise search of user queries, those that really drive and segment the various search modes on the web.
The integration of these tools within SEOZoom has changed the paradigm of content strategy, leading us to think no longer about the single query, but about the set of questions that a given query can trigger. The more precisely we position ourselves on these queries, the greater our ability to acquire traffic from particularly coveted positions, such as those at the top of the SERPs, where the People Also Ask box represents one of the first touchpoints the user explores to continue his search.
Closing this circle, we see how FAQs are no longer just a structural or informational element of our pages, but a central element of a modern SEO strategy that looks not only at ranking, but also at immediate interaction with real user needs . Using SEOZoom and features like the Question Explorer, we are able to accurately identify these needs, making our presence not only more visible, but relevant and appreciated by Google’s intelligences that reward the concrete usefulness of the answers provided.
Question Explorer, a completely new way of doing keyword research
Let’s talk in detail about the function developed by Ivano Di Biasi and Giuseppe Liguori, which searches the questions that are shown in Google SERPs and reveals all the keywords that Google’s algorithms consider relevant and useful to satisfy the user’s search need.
Basically, SEOZoom knows exactly when and in which queries Google shows queries, and has already collected a database of more than 75 million queries for the Italian version of the search engine alone.
Each question refers to a specific need, and the keywords that make up the cluster of queries in which Google displays them represent the search journey that users make on the search engine to succeed in meeting their needs. Different (though seemingly similar) queries generate different answers and pertain to different intents, therefore requiring different answers and content in turn: thanks to Question Explorer, we can find out exactly what our users are looking for when they need to solve a real problem, and this is a decisive step in structuring specific and useful content that has a better chance of ranking.
We have often repeated that today it is no longer enough to simply know whether the intent of a keyword is Informational, Transactional, Commercial or Navigational, because this is just a static snapshot of a moving reality: what is needed to build effective content is to know what we have to offer users with needs and to do it in the right way, trying to understand what Google has learned from the many queries that are made to it every day. And this is exactly what SEOZoom’s new feature does , which manages to drill down all the queries and present the relevant keywords according to the search engine, thus simplifying content strategy operations.
How to use SEOZoom’s Questions Explorer
The interface of the feature, which can be found within SEOZoom’s keyword research tools, is very simple and intuitive and follows that of Keyword Infinity: just enter words or entire phrases that make up the question we have in mind to analyze and launch the scan. To refine the search, then, we can also exclude certain terms, so as to limit the focus to the sector and type of niche in which we operate and in which we are interested.
On the next screen, SEOZoom then shows us the complete list of keywords in which the query appears, i.e., the queries that trigger the “People also ask” box in Google’s SERP in which the related query is precisely (also) present, as well as a range of information about the entire group of keywords and individual keywords.
In particular, we can immediately see the total number of keywords related to the query, the overall volume of searches generated by these keywords, the average values of Keyword Difficulty, Keyword Opportunity and average CPC, which help us to get an initial overview of the level of competition we can expect on the entire cluster.
Looking at the table, on the other hand, we can discover the detail of information on individual keywords, with indications of precise search volume, level of seasonality, but also main type of intent and presence of any features in SERPs.
No longer search by keywords but by queries and needs
Search by queries is also available in SEOZoom’s search bar: when we write a query, in fact, we can select the “query” option from the context menu and thus find out whether it is actually related to possible user queries.
By launching the analysis, we get the related information and, with respect to the functions of the tool, we can discover an additional piece of data: the total number of related queries, i.e., the other questions that users interested in the topic ask themselves and that Google shows in SERP. By clicking on a new question we can delve into its data, thus discovering the total number of keywords that trigger it and so on.
Again, knowing the questions means understanding what the users’ true needs are and what they really need, and also identifying the relevant keywords we need within our content to answer these intents in a comprehensive and useful way.
A revolution in the approach to keyword research
Thanks to Question Explorer, we have a revolutionary new system for writing content aligned with the true needs of people and Google.
The classic way of doing keyword research, starting precisely from a keyword, is related to an old conception of SEO work and content creation: instead, SEOZoom has invented a completely different system of performing these activities, starting from the needs of users and what they really write and search for in the search engine bar, or what Google shows them in terms of relevant questions to satisfy their intentions.
Until now, it was impossible to find all the precise questions (as mentioned, we have already found more than 76 million!) that people ask the search engine and that Google shows in its People Also Ask boxes – the possibilities are almost endless, starting with the interrogative pronoun used, knowledge about the topic and even level of culture, for example – and the filter and term search setting precisely allows us to broaden the scan to even more “strange” variants that we would never have thought of.
Even more relevant to our strategies, it is not humanly possible to imagine correctly identifying all keywords related to queries, because there may be very specific and sector-specific strings that we are not familiar with, perhaps with very low search volume, that risk inevitably slipping through the cracks.
With our new tool, the first of its kind worldwide, we have in just a few seconds suggestions on articles with particular focuses, which we can expand on with the other tools in the suite, such as the Editorial Assistant for writing perfectly SEO-oriented content.
Query search in the era of SEO for AI
With the advent ofartificial intelligence, SEO is increasingly moving toward the evolution we have described: to stop focusing solely on isolated keywords and move on to analyze the real heart of queries, namely queries.
This shift has posed a new challenge: we can no longer think that just “ranking” a keyword is enough to get traffic. AI today interprets user queries in a much more refined way, understanding not only the words used, but the context, intent, and specific needs behind each query.
Take, for example, initiatives such as Google Gemini and SearchGPT, two AI platforms that are redefining the field of Web searches. These engines no longer simply return lists of results tied directly to a keyword, but produce articulate answers that can solve complex problems. In a nutshell, it is no longer a matter of interpreting a single query, but of decoding its underlying context , delivering results that are precise and useful in solving the user’s information need.
A significant example is the Grounding system used by Google through its new Gemini API , which continuously links AI-generated answers to the most up-to-date and relevant links available on the web. This process makes it possible to offer accurate and contextualized answers that not only lead the user to solve his or her problem, but also create a bridge to other related searches, further expanding the user’s information journey.
In this scenario, one of the most innovative aspects is that AIs such as SearchGPT and Google Gemini no longer move through a simple sterile query-keyword relationship, but analyze and answer complex, multilevel questions directly . Their goal is not to provide a mere repetition of terms detected on less evolved databases, but to connect up-to-date resources in real time, based on real intentions and problems .
This transition also has a direct impact on SEO for AI: with AIs able to respond through what we might call a “virtual dialogue,” our goal is no longer just to focus on a long-tail keyword–practiced strategically for many years–but on ways to emerge as solvers of real problems. Today, specific, non-generic questions are the key to entering these AI-powered interactions and becoming the perfect answer to a well-defined query.
The new approach to content creation
In short, we are faced with a digital strategy in which it is not enough to understand “what” users are looking for, but also “why” and especially “how” they were trying to solve it. How can we stay competitive in the face of this new AI-based search model and succeed in writing optimized content?
SEOZoom, with its focus on question-based search, stands as the ideal solution to prepare us for this revolution now underway, dominated by artificial intelligence and the need for procedural and timely answers for the users of tomorrow. SEOZoom ‘s Question Explorer has been specially developed to help SEO professionals quickly adapt to these transformations in the digital landscape, and allows us to probe user queries, just as AI would do, to identify complex queries and analyze large clusters of related keywords, facilitating the creation of content that can intercept the question and answer it in the most comprehensive way. This allows us to optimize our site and content no longer just by single terms, but by whole information and decision-making scenarios.
There has been much talk about the importance of long-tail keywords, which in the past were an essential technique for capturing traffic on specific, less competitive queries. However, in the age of AI even long-tail is losing its effectiveness: AI-based search engines are not interested in indexing content that simply repurposes keyword shortenings. What matters today are useful answers, rich in context and capable of predicting even secondary queries. AIs do not respond to the dry concept of “long-tail,” but prefer what we might call a “multiform query,” that is, a question that carries with it successive levels of insight. And this is where tools like SEOZoom come back into play again, because they help us see beyond the keyword and prepare our SEO strategy for these new paradigms.
How to do query research with SEOZoom: practical tools and metrics
Query research is now a crucial need for SEO practitioners, and SEOZoom offers the most advanced tools to address this challenge. Using the tools built into the platform, we can move away from the old approach related to simple keyword research and adopt a strategy that allows us to intercept real user queries, analyze search intent, and build content perfectly aligned to the needs of the target audience.
The first key tool in this process is already mentioned Question Explorer, an innovation by SEOZoom that allows us to map all the queries generated around a specific query. This feature does not just return traditional keywords, but analyzes the actual queries that emerge in Google SERPs, including People Also Ask boxes, and gives us a complete picture of the search intent that triggers them. It is the gateway to building our content on what we might call the “root” questions most relevant to our audience.
With the Question Explorer , we can explore a huge database of relevant questions already collected and constantly updated. By entering a main keyword or topic of our interest, the tool shows us all related questions that Google considers relevant, with precise indications of search volume, keyword difficulty (KeywordDifficulty), potential opportunity (Keyword Opportunity) and average CPC. This data provides immediate insight into the level of competition and potential of each query, allowing us to plan our content with precision.
In addition to the Question Explorer, SEOZoom offers us additional tools that allow us to work specifically on FAQs and what Google considers to be recurring questions. The Google FAQ feature allows us to see what questions are emerging relative to keywords ranked in Google’s top 10 for our site. This gives us the ability to structure our content so that it meets the immediate needs of the user, directly optimizing our pages. Analyzing frequently asked questions becomes crucial to content strategy because it allows us to fill in any gaps, expanding our information coverage around a given topic.
But the real potential of SEOZoom is in its ability to make all this immense amount of data usable in an intuitive and contextualized way. Through the various metrics provided, we not only see what queries emerge in SERPs, but we also understand what queries trigger People Also Ask boxes, how much traffic these queries might generate, and what keyword clusters are related. This framework allows us to anticipate the market: when we know users’ questions before they become mainstream, we can build our content in a way that responds accurately and timely to their needs.
It’s not just a matter of getting more traffic: identifying the right questions allows us to place our content in the most visible areas of SERPs, making our answers direct and useful, just what Google rewards. Linking an understanding of FAQs and emerging trends with an approach based on latent intent allows us to answer user questions even before they are explicitly asked, converting our ability to anticipate searches into a competitive advantage.
Thanks to SEOZoom, research is not limited to the surface of keywords, but digs deeper, coming to understand the “why” behind each search and preparing us to respond in a comprehensive, anticipatory and strategic manner.
The new job of search engine optimization AI
The future of SEO passes through artificial intelligence , and among the first to understand this is certainly our own Ivano Di Biasi, who at the recent Advanced SEO Tool 2024 event presented a groundbreaking test to demonstrate how we can optimize content so that it is selected and valued by AI-based search systems.
This experiment led to enlightening results, suggesting new best practices for emerging in AI-driven SERPs and showing that it is no longer the keyword that is the key to success, but the ability to respond directly and comprehensively to users’ needs.
Of the test, the most striking aspect was how Ivano managed to “convince” an AI model to prefer his content over competing content. Central to this process was a change in perspective: it was no longer just a matter of optimizing for a set of keywords, but of getting into the logic of search intent and user queries. Through SEOZoom and in particular the Question Explorer, Ivano built a precise profile of the information needs related to specific searches – it was no longer limited to understanding “what words users were searching for,” but what was the world of questions and doubts that orbited around each individual query.
The focus of this test was to demonstrate how AI search engines such as SearchGPT and Google Gemini do not just choose content based on nominal keyword fit, but aim to select the best possible answers. This profoundly changed the traditional approach: providing the best content no longer implied filling a page with keywords, but offering a detailed answer that conformed to the user’s intent, made even more precise through the use of AI systems that evaluate semantic quality and narrative fluency.
Ivano conducted his test on an industry topic-cataract surgery-typically geared toward users with very specific information needs. Starting from this highly specific niche, he used SEOZoom to analyze not only related keywords, but especially frequently asked questions by users in SERPs and in different search formats. The key was to create content that went beyond mere technical answers, anticipating and resolving secondary doubts that users might have. This meant building a narrative that was not limited to the main query , but also embraced related questions that appeared in People Also Ask boxes and Google FAQs .
The result? The content developed by Ivano was preferred by AI search engines as the most effective answers, thanks to an approach that put the user-and their real need for information-at the center of the optimization process. The strategy proved successful because, rather than focusing on mere traditional technical improvement, the focus was on digital empathy: specialized, yet accessible terminology and paragraphs that guide the user through a structured information journey, with a focus on the narrative of the answer.
Witness this innovative approach is the ability ofAI to select content that not only solves a problem, but also anticipates and accompanies the user in the search for further answers. An article should no longer be just the answer to a single question, but rather a starting point for solving numerous questions that might arise while reading. Here is the masterpiece of SEO for AI: the algorithm rewards those who offer a complete experience, based not only on technical data, but also on content capable of resonating with the user’s intent.
Through the targeted use of SEOZoom Ivano Di Biasi demonstrated how we can influence the selection logic of AI engines by working on the completeness and relevance of the answers, and no longer just on the direct ranking by single keyword. Whether it is complex queries generated by SearchGPT or the results improved by Google’s Grounding tool, the goal remains the same: to create content that fully understands and resolves the intent of the searcher.
Optimizing for AI search engines means looking beyond classic techniques and focusing on how content is interpreted by the machine according to its ability to respond effectively. With the right content strategies, we can stay competitive and convince the AI that our response is the best one, both for the users and the algorithms.
How SearchGPT and Grounding transform question-based search
AIs such as SearchGPT and the Grounding system introduced by Google have ushered in a real revolution in SEO, radically changing the way we interpret search by questions. We are no longer talking about identifying simple keywords, but about understanding and optimizing content that is capable of answering complex, multilevel questions, expressed through queries that conceal a deeper intent.
With SearchGPT , search is no longer limited to entering keywords into the Google bar. Users interact with the system by asking articulate and contextualized questions, demanding more than just dry answers. For example, instead of searching for a keyword such as “best SEO strategies,” the user might ask “what are the best SEO strategies to improve a site’s organic traffic and what tools to use?” This type of question challenges AIs as they are tasked with generating an answer that builds on various levels of information, adding value and completeness. SearchGPT thus analyzes the context and overall intent of the question, not just returning fragmented results, but providing a complex and coherent account.
Google’s Grounding , on the other hand, ensures that AIs such as Gemini draw on reliable and up-to-date sources, minimizing errors or so-called “hallucinations” (inaccurate or decontextualized information that can emerge from AIs when working on dated or insufficient datasets). With Grounding, Google balances the two worlds: on the one hand, it generates complex and contextual answers through AI worlds, and on the other hand, it makes sure to link these answers to real, verifiable sources, increasing the reliability of the suggested content. The result is a dynamic search model that transforms the classic “single keyword, single answer” question into a multi-step interaction that offers readers greater depth and credibility.
In this new scheme, traditional single keyword positioning is bound to lose importance. If in the past we focused on how to optimize a single word or a short phrase to gain visibility, today we are faced with the need to structure complex content, capable of answering more complex questions. Content based on simple keywords will always have less visibility than content capable of providing comprehensive answers to questions processed by AI search engines. The added value is no longer simply to grab a specific term, but to become the primary source that directly and comprehensively solves the user’s information needs.
SEOZoom is perfectly equipped to help address this new reality. Its advanced question search capabilities give us the tools we need to analyze the core of emerging queries without getting trapped in the obsolescent concept of “keyword density.” With tools such as the Question Explorer and Google FAQ, we can recognize not only the top questions emerging in SERPs today, but also predict which questions might become relevant in users’ future search journey . Knowing what questions are being asked now is critical, but anticipating which ones will be asked tomorrow is what transitions from a reactive SEO strategy to a proactive one .
Another tool that proves essential in this context is Suggest Keyword Article, which not only returns conventional keywords, but is designed to analyze the clusters of questions and intents from which a particular search area originates. With Suggest Article Keyword we can ensure that a single piece of content offers answers to all iterations of questions related to a given topic. This tool helps us structure articles so that they become comprehensive resources for the entire audience of users seeking complex or multilevel information on specific topics.
For example, if we are creating content on “SEO strategies,” with Suggest Keyword Article we will be able to analyze all the different key user questions related to this topic. We may find that in addition to the main question, users often ask “what is the most effective SEO strategy for 2024?” or “how to measure the results of an SEO campaign?” Integrating the answers to these questions into a single article will not only increase the chances of ranking better, but also of being selected by AI systems in providing more elaborate and complex answers.
