Voice search is using spoken language to query a device or the web: “What’s the weather?”, “Find a plumber near me,” “Play my workout playlist.” The device turns speech into text, interprets intent (often with NLP), and returns an answer or action.
Queries tend to be longer and more conversational than typed searches. That overlaps with classic SEO — clear answers, local intent, structured data — and with AEO, where assistants may speak a single summary instead of a list of links.
A real-life example of voice search
You’re cooking with messy hands and say, “How many grams in a cup of flour?” The speaker answers without a screen tap. Same pattern in the car for “gas station open now.” Businesses win when their content answers those spoken questions plainly.
Optimize for natural phrases people say out loud, not only short keywords. Start with What Is Voice Search? and Voice Search and SEO.