Google Quietly Shifts People Also Ask to AI-Generated Answers

A recent search for how to boil an egg on Google revealed a subtle but significant change in its People Also Ask (PAA) feature.

The PAA box, which displays related questions and answers based on a user's query, has been a valuable tool for SEO. Traditionally, clicking on a question would display a short snippet of text from a website, complete with a link back to the page it came from.

However, as of September 2026, Google is increasingly generating its own AI-generated answers, rather than relying on user-submitted content. According to data from AlsoAsked and Allintitle, this shift has reached around 97% in just over a year.

The change means that while websites can still gain visibility by being cited as the source of information, their role is shifting from providing the best answer to providing the information Google uses to create its own answers. This makes it more important for businesses and individuals to establish themselves as trusted and authoritative sources.