Anyone finds it easier to speak than to type. That’s why the voice search It has gone from being a novelty at tech fairs to becoming an everyday way of finding things: we ask our mobile whilst driving, we ask the speaker in the kitchen to play our shopping list, and we consult the assistant without taking our eyes off what we’re doing. If your brand hasn’t yet considered how it sounds in that context, now is a good time to do so.
At Vandelay, we’ve been seeing the same pattern for months across the accounts we manage: desktop traffic behaves one way, whilst voice and mobile traffic behave quite differently. It’s not magic; it’s a change in behaviour. And although voice search isn’t going to replace the Google search bar overnight, it is gradually rewriting the rules about who appears when someone asks a question out loud.
What exactly is voice search (and what isn’t)
Voice search is, quite simply, the use of one’s voice to submit a query to a search engine or an assistant. Behind the scenes, this involves speech recognition, natural language processing and, increasingly, artificial intelligence models that interpret the user’s intent and return a single spoken response rather than a list of ten blue links.
It is worth distinguishing it from two things with which it is often confused. It is not the same as the conversational search within ChatGPT or Gemini — although there is some overlap — nor is it simply dictating text. The key difference lies in the result: when someone asks a smart speaker a question by voice, in many cases they only get one Answer. There is no second page. Either you are that answer, or you do not exist for that person at that moment.
The figures: how many people are already using voice search
Let’s be honest here: global figures for voice search vary widely depending on the source, as each consultancy measures it differently. With that caveat in mind, industry compilations paint a clear picture. According to data aggregated by DemandSage, around 27% of searches are already carried out using voice, and around 76% of those voice searches are local in nature, such as «near me». The same report estimates that there are more active voice assistants than people on the planet.
In Spain, a study on the use of voice technologies reported by Marketing News It notes that around 17% of internet users use voice assistants every week to search for information. In the same study, Alexa (37%) and Google Assistant (33%) lead the category, with Siri lagging behind (13%), and the main uses are listening to music, listening to the radio and, in third place, searching for information. In other words: voice technology is already established in many homes, but pure search still has some way to go. That is where the opportunity lies.
An important caveat to avoid making empty promises: these very same studies acknowledge that a considerable proportion of the questions people ask via voice search still do not receive a fully satisfactory answer. Technology is advancing rapidly, but it is not infallible. Interpreting the data with a down-to-earth approach is part of the job.
Why voice search is changing your SEO
When we type into Google, we tend to use short, telegraphic phrases: «vegan restaurant Barcelona». When we speak, we’re human: «Where can I have a vegan meal nearby that’s open right now?». That difference changes almost everything.
- Longer, more natural queries. Voice queries are conversational and usually include «how», «where», «when» or «which is the best». Your content needs to answer real questions, not just contain isolated keywords.
- Local support has skyrocketed. If the majority of voice searches are location-based, having a flawless Google Business Profile — opening hours, address, telephone number, reviews — is no longer optional. This is where the game is played.
- Answers, not lists. The assistant reads out a single result, which often comes from a highlighted section. According to the compilations by DemandSage, around 40% of the voice responses come from those featured snippets.
- Structured data that machines can understand. The marking schema It helps search engines understand what each element on your page is. The same sources point out that pages with structured data are much more likely to appear in voice search results.
If you’ve read our article on the Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), you’ll see that the logic is very much the same: in both cases, the aim is for a machine to choose you as the source that deserves to be cited or read aloud. The voice is, in a way, the most audible tip of that very same iceberg we discussed in search everywhere.
How to optimise your brand for voice search, step by step
There’s no need to reinvent your website. You just need to fine-tune it carefully. This is the approach we take when preparing a site for voice search.
1. Write the way your customer speaks
Make a list of the questions your customers ask you over the phone or in-store, and answer them, one by one, in plain language. A well-structured FAQs section is one of the best tools for voice search, because it fits in naturally with the way people ask questions out loud.
2. Treat local SEO as if it were your shop window
Check that your name, address and telephone number are consistent across all platforms, keep your opening hours up to date and focus on reviews. When someone searches for «near me», the assistant relies on these signals to decide which businesses to suggest. This is probably the strategy with the greatest short-term return.
3. Follow the highlighted section
Structure your content with a question as the heading and a brief, direct answer immediately below it – about two or three sentences long – before going on to expand on the topic. This is the format that search engines tend to extract for reading aloud.
4. Implement structured data
Add to favourites schema for your local business, your products, your reviews and your FAQs. It’s unglamorous technical work, but it’s the language that machines understand without ambiguity. This is where many SMEs can get ahead of larger competitors who haven’t yet done so.
5. Speed it up and optimise it for mobile devices
Most voice searches take place on mobile devices. A website that is slow or difficult to read on a small screen is at a disadvantage from the outset. Loading speed and responsive design are not a luxury: they are a prerequisite.
The mistake of waiting for «this voice thing to take off»
There is an understandable temptation: as voice search does not yet account for the majority of traffic, many businesses put it on the back burner «for later». The problem is that almost everything you do to optimise for voice — content that answers questions, solid local SEO, structured data, a fast website — also improves your traditional search rankings and your presence on AI-powered search engines. You’re not investing in an uncertain channel: you’re strengthening the foundations you already need for ten other reasons.
And there is one competitive factor that should not be overlooked. According to industry surveys, the proportion of marketing managers who actively optimise for voice is still in the minority. In other words: the field is less crowded than it will be in two years’ time. Getting in early here pays off.
Our recommendation is to start small and measure your progress. Choose the ten questions your customers ask you most often, answer them properly on your website, optimise your local listing and add structured data. That alone will put you ahead of most of your competitors. If you’d like us to review how your brand comes across today when someone asks out loud — and what it would take for the assistant to choose you — at Vandelay We’ll set it up with you, with the facts laid out on the table and no empty promises. Your brand’s voice is already in your customers’ kitchens and pockets; the question is whether your brand has anything to say when they call.
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