Search is having a conversation with you now. "Tell me about..." queries surged 70% in 2025 and "how do I..." searches hit all-time highs. If your content isn't structured for AI discovery, you're invisible to the platforms that matter most in 2026.
TrendFlash
Google just dropped its 2025 Year in Search report, and one statistic should terrify anyone still writing "SEO content" the old way: searches starting with "tell me about" surged 70% year-over-year. Add to that "how do I" queries hitting all-time highs with 25% growth, and you're looking at a fundamental shift in how people interact with search engines.
This isn't about keywords anymore. This is about how AI systems read, understand, and cite your content when they're generating answers. The game has changed. Most content creators haven't noticed yet. By the time they do, the window for being discoverable will have closed.
Here's what changed and what you need to do about it.
Five years ago, someone searching for information about climate change would type "climate change effects." Specific. Keyword-dense. Optimized for Google's algorithm.
Today, that same person opens ChatGPT or Google's AI search and types: "Tell me about the effects of climate change on ocean ecosystems." A full sentence. Conversational. Spoken like they're asking a knowledgeable friend.
Why the shift? Because AI made it possible. You don't need to speak in fragments anymore—AI understands natural language. And younger users grew up with voice assistants, so conversational phrasing feels natural.
The bigger insight: when people ask questions in full sentences, they're showing intent depth. "Tell me about X" isn't a quick fact check. It's "I want to understand this topic comprehensively." These users are more engaged, spend more time reading, and are better prospects for monetization via ads.
That's why content that answers "tell me about" questions is suddenly worth premium algorithmic placement.
Let's ground this in numbers:
"Tell me about..." queries: Up 70% year-over-year. In absolute terms, that's hundreds of millions of searches.
"How do I..." searches: At all-time highs, with 25% YoY growth. These are action-oriented. Someone asking "how do I start a blog" wants steps, guidance, practical advice.
"What's the deal with..." searches: Exploded. This phrasing signals curiosity about emerging topics, controversial subjects, or things trending right now.
AI Overviews: Now appearing in over 13% of global Google searches (and as high as 60% in the US when accounting for all device types and query variations). These aren't featured snippets anymore—they're synthesized answers pulling from multiple sources.
Visual searches: Up 70% year-over-year. People are taking photos of things and asking "what is this" or "how do I use this," expecting instant, contextual answers.
The through-line: search is becoming conversational, question-focused, and AI-powered. Your content strategy needs to match.
Here's the uncomfortable truth: ranking in the top 3 Google results doesn't guarantee visibility anymore.
AI Overviews pull information from multiple sources and synthesize it into a single answer. Sometimes they cite the top-ranking page. Often they don't. They might pull from page 3, page 5, and page 8 because each one answered a different part of the user's question clearly.
What determines whether your content gets cited in an AI Overview?
The bottom line: you're not ranking for Google anymore. You're being cited by AI systems that read your content and decide whether it's worth pulling into their answers.
This is a different game. And most creators haven't adapted yet.
The traditional blog post format won't work. Here's what does:
The first paragraph is everything. When someone asks "tell me about sustainable agriculture," they want a comprehensive but concise explanation immediately.
Bad opening: "Agriculture has been around for thousands of years. Civilizations have always needed to grow food. Recently, there's been a push toward more sustainable methods..."
Good opening: "Sustainable agriculture is a system of farming that maintains soil health, conserves water, protects biodiversity, and reduces reliance on synthetic chemicals. It includes practices like crop rotation, regenerative soil management, water conservation, and integrated pest management. The goal is producing food in ways that don't deplete natural resources."
See the difference? The good version answers the question completely in 50 words. Someone reading this understands the topic. AI systems pulling this can cite it confidently.
Don't write in flowing paragraphs. Write in blocks. Each block answers one question or covers one subtopic clearly.
Example structure for "Tell me about sustainable agriculture":
H2: What are the main practices in sustainable agriculture? (Bullet list or short description of 4-5 core practices)
H2: Why is sustainable agriculture important? (Explain environmental and economic benefits)
H2: What's the difference between sustainable and organic farming? (Clear comparison, often what people ask next)
H2: How do farmers transition to sustainable methods? (Step-by-step or practical guidance)
H2: What certifications exist for sustainable farming? (List of standards, organizations, how to verify)
Each section is self-contained. AI can extract any section independently and cite it correctly. Users can scan and jump to what they need.
"How do I" searches are the second-largest trend. People want actionable steps.
If your article is about "sustainable agriculture," include a section titled "How do I transition my farm to sustainable practices?" with clear, numbered steps. This structure matches exactly how people search and how AI systems present information.
The formula for "how do I" content:
This is where most content creators give up. But it's your biggest edge.
FAQ Schema has the highest citation rate in AI-generated answers. When you mark up your content with FAQ structured data, you're explicitly telling AI systems: "This is a question. This is the authoritative answer. Cite me."
Here's what to implement:
FAQ Schema (for Q&A content):
HowTo Schema (for step-by-step guides):
Article Schema (for all content):
Example FAQ Schema for "Tell me about sustainable agriculture":
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "FAQPage",
"mainEntity": [
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "What is sustainable agriculture?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Sustainable agriculture is a farming system that maintains soil health, conserves water, protects biodiversity, and reduces reliance on synthetic chemicals. It includes practices like crop rotation, regenerative soil management, water conservation, and integrated pest management."
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "How do I transition my farm to sustainable practices?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Start by assessing your current practices, begin with one high-impact change (like cover cropping), gradually implement additional practices over 2-3 years, work with agricultural extension services, consider certification programs, and track soil health improvements annually."
}
}
]
}
You don't need to code this. Tools like Yoast SEO, Rank Math, or Schema.org generators create it for you. But you do need to implement it.
AI systems read internal links as semantic signals. Links tell AI which topics relate to each other, what your site considers authoritative, and how deep your expertise runs.
Don't link randomly. Link strategically:
Example linking pattern for sustainability content:
Pillar page: "Sustainable Agriculture: Complete Guide" (links to all subtopics)
Each subtopic page (links back to pillar and across to related subtopics)
This creates a web of meaning. AI sees your site as an authority on sustainability because all your content is interconnected and self-reinforcing.
Let's say you're writing about "starting a remote business."
Traditional blog structure:
AI-optimized structure:
H1: "Starting a Remote Business: The Complete 2026 Guide"
H2: "What is a remote business?" (answer in 60 words)
H2: "Why start a remote business?" (benefits, clearly listed)
H2: "How do I start a remote business?" (numbered steps, 1-8)
H2: "What tools do remote businesses need?" (tool list with brief descriptions)
H2: "Common mistakes remote business owners make" (list of 5-6, each with brief explanation)
H2: "How do I manage finances in a remote business?" (practical guidance)
H2: "What's the difference between remote and fully online?" (comparison clarifying confusion)
H2: "How do I know if a remote business is right for me?" (self-assessment questions)
H2: "FAQ" (5-8 real questions people ask, marked with FAQ Schema)
Each section is self-contained. Each could be cited independently by an AI system. The internal linking structure connects everything cohesively.
Here's the thing nobody talks about: people who search with "tell me about" are more engaged than people typing keywords.
Why? Intent. "Sustainable agriculture" could mean someone casually browsing. "Tell me about sustainable agriculture because I'm considering transitioning my farm" means someone ready to make a decision.
Conversational search tends to attract higher-intent users. They spend more time reading. They're more likely to click through your ads, buy your products, or subscribe. Better traffic quality matters more than traffic quantity.
Your conversion rates on "tell me about" content will often be 30-50% higher than traditional keyword-targeted content. This is the real ROI.
Featured snippets—those answer boxes at the top of Google—still exist and still drive traffic. But they're becoming integrated with AI Overviews. Google often pulls featured snippet candidates into AI-generated summaries.
If you're writing content optimized for AI Overviews, you're almost automatically optimizing for featured snippets too.
The overlap isn't 100%, but it's significant. Content that ranks for featured snippets tends to get cited in AI Overviews more frequently.
Traditional metrics are becoming less reliable:
Bad metric: "Ranking position" (top 3, top 10, etc.)
Better metric: "AI Overview citations" (Is your content being pulled into AI-generated answers?)
Good metric: "Organic traffic from conversational queries" (Use Google Search Console to filter for "tell me about," "how do I," etc.)
Better metric: "Engagement on content" (Time on page, scroll depth, return visitors)
Best metric: "Conversions from organic search" (Does this traffic actually convert?)
To measure AI overview citations, you'll need to manually search your target queries in Google Search, Bing Chat, ChatGPT, and Perplexity AI, noting which sources they cite. It's manual, but it's the most reliable signal that your content is discoverable to AI systems.
Alternatively, tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, and SE Ranking are adding AI Overview tracking to their platforms, making this easier.
Here's the urgency: this is a narrow window.
In 2024, most content creators didn't realize conversational search was growing. In 2025, Google made it official (70% growth in "tell me about" queries). In 2026, AI Overviews will likely dominate Google's interface further (they're already at 60%+ in the US).
Creators who optimize for AI Overviews now will dominate in 2026. Creators who wait until 2026 will be playing catch-up.
The content you publish today structured for conversational search will compound benefits for years. The content published in traditional keyword-optimized format will gradually lose visibility as AI Overviews expand.
Don't scrap everything you've written. Adapt it:
Audit your top-performing pages. Which ones could be restructured into H2 blocks with clear questions?
Add schema markup. Go through your top 20-30 pages and add FAQ, HowTo, or Article schema. This is the highest ROI quick win.
Rewrite openings. Your first paragraph should answer the "tell me about" question directly and completely. Most existing content buries the answer in paragraph 3 or 4.
Add internal linking. Identify related pages and create strategic links using conversational anchor text.
Create new content for gaps. Identify "how do I" questions your existing content doesn't fully answer, and create focused content blocks for them.
This isn't a complete rewrite. It's strategic enhancement.
Mistake 1: Hiding important information in long paragraphs.
AI can extract it eventually, but it might not. Put key information in bullet points, short lists, or FAQ format where it's unmissable.
Mistake 2: Keyword stuffing in a new format.
Just because you're writing "tell me about" content doesn't mean you should cram keywords in awkwardly. Write naturally. If your content is good, keywords flow naturally.
Mistake 3: Forgetting that humans still read this.
AI optimization doesn't mean writing for machines. Your content should be engaging and clear for humans first. AI optimization happens because you're being clear and structural—which also helps humans.
Mistake 4: Not updating old content with new schema.
Your archive of content is an asset. Adding schema to 50 old pages takes a weekend but could boost visibility significantly. Prioritize high-traffic pages.
Mistake 5: Creating separate AI content vs. human content.
Don't do this. Write once, structure it well, and it works for both humans and AI. Separate content tracks dilute your authority.
Free tools:
Paid tools worth the investment:
Tools to avoid:
Focus on tools that help you understand what questions people ask and structure your answers clearly. Everything else is noise.
Here's what most creators miss: the competitive advantage isn't sophisticated. It's structural.
You need:
Most content on the internet does zero of these things well. Most do one or two. If you do all five, you're in the top 5% of creators on your topic.
That's your edge.
Expect:
Your content strategy in 2026 will need to account for all of these. The good news: if you're optimizing for "tell me about" questions today, you're already future-proofing.
Month 1: Audit and understand
Month 2: Add schema, restructure
Month 3: Create new content, build links
Three months of focused effort positions you ahead of 90% of creators. Do this work now, before conversational search optimization becomes common knowledge.
For deeper context and specific strategies, explore these related articles:
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