AEO for Where Queries

TL;DR

"Where" queries are location and source questions: "where to find X", "where is Y headquartered", "where can I file Z". Win them by leading with a one-line answer (place name plus disambiguator), following with a parallel list of options that include addresses, hours. Authoritative URLs, and marking up the entities with Place, LocalBusiness, or sourceOrganization schema (Google Search Central, 2024). For digital sources, replace addresses with canonical URLs and last-verified dates.

The four flavors of "where" queries

Not every "where" query is local. Treat them as four distinct patterns:

1. Geographic location — "where is the Eiffel Tower", "where to find a 24-hour pharmacy in Brooklyn". Answer with address, coordinates, or neighborhood plus opening status.
2. Source or origin — "where does this statistic come from", "where is this dataset hosted". Answer with publisher, URL, and verification date.
3. Jurisdiction or process — "where do I file an LLC", "where do I report a tax mistake". Answer with the agency name, the form, and the official URL.
4. Availability — "where can I buy X", "where is feature Y available". Answer with the channel list (retailers, regions, app stores) and any eligibility constraints.

Generic "location article" templates conflate these flavors. The single biggest AEO win is matching the page structure to the flavor of the query.

Page structure that wins citations

A strong where-query page follows a five-block pattern.

1. Direct-answer line

The first sentence under the H1 names the place, source, or jurisdiction unambiguously. Example: "You file an LLC in Delaware through the Delaware Division of Corporations." Avoid throat-clearing introductions — the answer engine truncates them.

2. Disambiguator paragraph

In 60-120 words, clarify common confusions: similarly named places, jurisdictional overlap (city vs county vs state), or which channel applies to which use case. This paragraph prevents wrong-entity citations.

3. Structured options list

A bullet or table list of the eligible places, sources, or channels. Each item contains:

• The canonical name (Place, organization, retailer, agency).
• A precise address, URL, or jurisdiction string.
• Hours, availability windows, or eligibility constraints.
• A primary-source link (official site, government domain, or vendor docs).

For local results, include latitude and longitude in the schema even if you do not display them in the body. Coordinate-anchored results disambiguate when several places share a name.

4. "How to verify" block

Where-queries are high-trust queries: a wrong address can waste a trip, and a wrong jurisdiction can break a legal filing. Add a short "How to verify" block that names the official directory, lookup tool, or hotline ("Confirm hours via the Google Business Profile listing or call the location directly"). This block earns citation weight from trust-aware engines.

5. FAQ for nearby intents

Close with FAQs that anticipate the next questions: "Is X open today?", "How do I get there?", "Is this the same as Y?", "What if I cannot reach the location?". Each answer should be 40-100 words and cite a primary source where applicable.

Schema markup by flavor

The right schema turns a where-answer into a machine-resolvable entity. Use these mappings:

Reference the schema.org Place type and Google's local business structured data guidelines (Google Search Central, 2024). For government services, the GovernmentService type is underused but well supported.

Worked examples

Example 1: Local geographic

Query: "where to find late-night ramen in San Francisco"

Direct-answer line: "Three San Francisco ramen shops serve past midnight: Marufuku Ramen (Japantown), Ramen Yamadaya (Inner Sunset). Iza Ramen (Lower Haight)." The list block then gives address, last-call hour, and Google Business Profile URL for each. The verify block links to the Google Business Profile listings, since vendor websites often miss late-night updates.

Example 2: Source attribution

Query: "where does the 60% statistic about AI Overviews citations come from"

Direct-answer line: "The 60% citation rate originates from a 2024 research note published by [Publisher]. This analyzed [N] queries between [start] and [end]." The list includes the publisher URL, the original methodology section, and any peer review or replication. If the statistic cannot be primary-sourced, the page must say so and propose a softer claim, not invent provenance.

Example 3: Jurisdictional process

Query: "where do I file an LLC in the United States"

Direct-answer line: "You file an LLC with the Secretary of State (or equivalent) in the state where you intend to do business." The list block then enumerates a small set of common-choice states (Delaware, Wyoming, Nevada, your home state) with the official agency, the filing portal URL, and the typical fee. The verify block links to the IRS publication on entity classification and to the official state portals.

Example 4: Availability

Query: "where can I buy a Steam Deck"

Direct-answer line: "Steam Decks ship from Valve directly via the official Steam store in supported regions." The list enumerates supported regions, the official URL. Any third-party retailers (with caveats about authorized resale). The verify block points to Valve's regional availability page.

Example 5: Hybrid (jurisdiction plus location)

Query: "where do I report identity theft in California"

Direct-answer line: "In California, report identity theft to the FTC at IdentityTheft.gov and to your local police department. The California Attorney General's office provides a state-level resource." The list enumerates each agency with URL and phone number, plus the order of operations.

Common mistakes

1. Burying the answer. A 200-word historical preamble before the address kills citation likelihood.
2. Flat lists without schema. A bullet of place names without Place markup forces engines to guess at coordinates and hours.
3. Stale hours and prices. Where-queries are time-sensitive. Pages without dateModified or visible "verified on" markers are downweighted.
4. Conflating flavors. Mixing source attribution into a local guide ("the data comes from this study") confuses the entity graph. Keep one flavor per page when possible.
5. No disambiguation. "Springfield" without state context, "Stanford" without specifying the university or the town — ambiguity drops you out of citation rankings.
6. Affiliate-only retailer lists. If every "where to buy" link is an affiliate, the page reads as promotional. Include the canonical first-party channel.
7. No verify block. Trust-aware engines reward pages that show their work. A two-sentence verify block is cheap and effective.

Implementation checklist

• [ ] Direct-answer line in the first sentence after H1
• [ ] 60-120 word disambiguation paragraph
• [ ] Structured list of options with name, address or URL, hours or availability, primary source
• [ ] Schema markup matched to query flavor (Place, LocalBusiness, GovernmentService, Product)
• [ ] "How to verify" block linking to the canonical directory or agency
• [ ] Inline (verified YYYY-MM) markers on every time-sensitive claim
• [ ] FAQ covering 4-6 nearby intents
• [ ] Hub link to /aeo/ and 3-5 sibling article links

FAQ

Q: Do where-queries always need local schema?

No. Only geographic-location queries need Place or LocalBusiness. Source-attribution queries use Article plus sourceOrganization; jurisdictional queries use GovernmentService; availability queries use Product plus Offer. Match the schema to the flavor.

Q: How specific should the direct-answer line be?

Name the entity (place, organization, agency) and add a one-clause disambiguator (city, jurisdiction, region). "You file with the Secretary of State" is too generic; "You file with the Delaware Division of Corporations" is extractable.

Q: What if the answer differs by user context?

Use a short conditional list ("If you live in California...", "If you operate online-only...") and let the page enumerate the small number of common contexts. AI engines will surface the matching branch when the user provides context (Perplexity Hub, 2024).

Q: Should I include phone numbers in body text or only in schema?

Both. In-body phone numbers help users; schema telephone properties help engines resolve and verify the entity. Keep the formats consistent across both.

Q: How often should I refresh where-query pages?

Review hours, prices, and URLs every 30-60 days. Refresh dateModified on every change so recency-aware engines reissue citations.

Q: Is it acceptable to link to Google Maps or Apple Maps?

Yes, as a convenience link, but the primary source should be the official Google Business Profile or the venue's own website. Never let a third-party convenience link replace the canonical source.