For years, "voice search optimisation" meant trying to win the featured snippet a smart speaker would read aloud. That model has changed. The main voice assistants now pass many questions to large language models, so the answer a person hears is increasingly the same kind of answer they would read in a chat window.
What has changed
- Siri can hand questions to ChatGPT, an integration Apple introduced with Apple Intelligence in iOS 18.2 in December 2024.
- Alexa+, Amazon's generative AI version of Alexa, began rolling out in the United States in 2025.
- Gemini has been replacing Google Assistant as the default assistant on Android phones, and Google has said it will do the same on other devices.
The common thread is that voice is becoming another interface to the same AI models. A spoken question about the best plumber nearby or which accountant handles small charities is answered by a model drawing on web sources, much like a typed question.
What is different about voice
Two things are worth keeping in mind.
The answer is shorter. A spoken answer cannot list ten options with links. It names one, two or perhaps three. The penalty for not being named is even sharper than in a written answer.
Local and practical questions dominate. People use voice while driving, cooking or walking, so questions tend to be about places, opening hours, availability and quick recommendations. Accurate business listings matter a great deal here, in particular your Google Business Profile, Apple Business Connect and the major review platforms.
What to do
- Keep listings accurate and complete. Name, address, phone number, hours, categories and services should be identical on Google Business Profile, Apple Business Connect, Bing Places and the directories in your sector.
- Answer common questions in plain sentences. A page that says "We are open until 8pm on weekdays and offer same-day appointments in Manchester" gives a model a sentence it can speak.
- Earn reviews that describe what you do. Reviews that mention the service and location help a model match you to the question.
- Do the same foundation work as for any AI assistant. Crawl access, readable pages and consistent facts. Our complete guide to AEO covers these.
What to stop doing
Writing pages stuffed with conversational phrasings ("hey, where can I find...") was common advice in the snippet era. It produces awkward pages and does little now that models understand intent rather than matching phrases.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is voice search optimisation different from AEO?
Less and less. Now that Siri, Alexa+ and Gemini use generative AI models to answer, the work that gets a business named in a typed AI answer also applies to spoken answers, with extra weight on local listings.
Which voice assistant matters most?
It depends on your customers' devices. In the UK, iPhone and Android usage is split broadly, so most businesses should keep Apple and Google listings accurate and track both ecosystems.
Do featured snippets still matter for voice?
They matter less than they did. Voice answers increasingly come from AI models that combine several sources rather than reading a single snippet.