4 Tools and Methods for Researching Questions in Your AEO Strategy
This straightforward guide presents essential tools for effective question research, drawing on expert insights about uncovering customer pain points through hybrid approaches. Support logs and speaker inquiries offer valuable decision-stage questions that can transform your AEO strategy. Google's "People Also Ask" feature provides additional direction for creating content that directly addresses what potential customers want to know.
Hybrid Research Reveals True Customer Pain Points
We developed a hybrid approach combining AnswerThePublic data with our clients' actual customer service tickets and chat logs. This reveals the gap between what people search for and what they actually struggle with. We prioritize questions that appear in both datasets but have low competition scores. For example, small business owners search "how to improve website traffic" but their real frustration is "why isn't my traffic converting." Targeting these authentic pain points rather than high-volume generic queries has increased our content engagement by 280%.
Mining Speaker Inquiries for Decision-Stage Questions
I stopped relying on keyword tools and started mining speaker inquiry emails themselves.
Every time an organizer writes, "Do you have someone who speaks about...?" that's a live AEO data point, phrased exactly how real people search. I built a small AI script to cluster those questions by intent and frequency, then cross-check them against Google's "People Also Ask" results.
Instead of chasing volume, I prioritize questions that indicate decision-stage curiosity, the ones that start with "how do I find" or "which speaker can."
Those convert better because they're commercial signals disguised as questions.
Google's People Also Ask Shapes Content
When we're digging into question-based searches for AEO, I've noticed that the "People also ask" section on Google is one of the best places to start. It shows the exact questions people are typing in, which makes it easier to shape content that actually answers them. We usually focus on the ones that show up high in search results and tie back to what we offer. To catch anything we might miss, we also use tools like AnswerThePublic to spot related questions worth covering.
Support Logs Uncover High-Impact Operational Questions
In our industry, competing for AEO visibility is a real challenge. It's easy to get caught up chasing high-volume, generic questions. We knew we couldn't just chase volume; we had to be smarter about it.
The invaluable method we use for researching question-based queries is an Internal "Operational Failure Interrogation" of Support Logs. The real value isn't in external SEO tools; it's in how we use our own data. We don't just look at a number. We look at the actual questions our customers are asking and the "story" behind their operational crisis.
We prioritize which questions to target based on Cost-of-Failure Impact. We connect the marketing content to a guaranteed operational problem-solution flow. For example, a question about a heavy duty OEM Cummins part that causes major downtime gets top priority because answering it proactively reinforces our 12-month warranty promise.
This simple, manual process has completely changed our approach to AEO. We are no longer just competing with a number. We are competing with a strategy. Our content is now more targeted and more effective.
My advice is simple: the best way to prioritize is to stop looking at the number and start looking at the story. The best way to beat a competitor is to understand them, and your internal operations data is a goldmine of information.
