Four sources cover it: expand People Also Ask boxes two levels deep, run autocomplete with question starters, pull real questions from Reddit and your budtenders, and filter Search Console with a question regex. Then group questions that share a SERP onto one page.
Expand People Also Ask two levels deep
Search a seed term like "edibles" and open the People Also Ask box. Click the first question. Google loads more related questions underneath, and each click keeps expanding the tree. Two levels deep on one seed typically yields 20 to 30 real questions — "how long do edibles take to kick in", "can you fly with edibles", "why do edibles hit differently". These come straight from query logs, which makes PAA the fastest question research that exists. Record them as you go; the box reshuffles between sessions.
Run question starters through autocomplete
Type how, why, can, is, does, or where in front of your seed terms and note what autocomplete offers. "can you" plus a product name is especially productive in cannabis because so much of the audience is unsure what is legal, safe, or allowed — "can you take edibles on a plane", "can you smoke in a rental car". The two sources overlap maybe half the time. The other half is why you run both.
Pull questions from Reddit and the counter
Search engines only show questions people asked Google. Reddit shows the questions people were too unsure to phrase for a search box. Browse the cannabis subreddits for your product categories and note what gets asked repeatedly, in the exact words used. Then do the cheapest research available: ask your budtenders what customers asked this week. One dispensary I work with keeps a shared note behind the counter; it fills with a month of blog topics every month, and those posts consistently outperform the tool-derived ones because they answer real confusion.
Filter Search Console for questions you already get
In the GSC Performance report, add a custom regex query filter: ^(how|what|why|can|is|do|does|where|when). Set the 16-month window. Every question your site already earns impressions for appears, sorted by demand. Questions where you sit on page two are the priority list — Google is already testing you for them, and a dedicated answer section is often enough to close the gap. This filter is the single highest-yield five minutes in question research.
Key takeaways
- PAA expansion two levels deep turns one seed into 20 to 30 logged real questions.
- Autocomplete question starters and PAA overlap only partly; run both.
- Reddit threads and budtender questions surface what never gets typed into Google.
- The GSC regex filter shows questions you already rank near — answer those first.
- Group questions sharing a SERP onto one page; give distinct ones their own.
Frequently asked questions
How deep should I expand People Also Ask?
Two or three levels is usually enough. Click each question once and the box loads new related questions; after the third level they drift off topic. Fifteen minutes per seed term captures the useful core.
Does one page answer one question or many?
Group questions that share a search result. If Google shows the same pages for two phrasings, they belong on one page, one as the H1 and the rest as H2 sections. Questions with distinct results earn their own pages.
What GSC filter finds question queries?
In the Performance report, add a query filter set to custom regex and use a pattern like ^(how|what|why|can|is|do|does|where|when). It isolates every question your site already appears for across the 16-month window.
Why do question keywords matter more now?
AI answer engines and featured snippets both quote pages that pose and answer questions cleanly. A direct question heading with a two-sentence answer underneath is the format most likely to get cited or featured.
Want this done for your brand?
We build cannabis & CBD search visibility with full transparency, for dispensaries, brands, and MSOs.
Get a free cannabis SEO audit ›