Discover essential tools that help businesses capture voice search traffic, optimise for “near me” queries, and stay visible when customers use voice assistants.
Unlike traditional SEO that targets typed keywords, voice search optimisation requires understanding how people actually speak—longer phrases, question formats, and local intent.
The tools covered in this Tech Tuesday roundup help businesses adapt their content, manage local listings, implement structured data, and track performance specifically for voice-driven search traffic.
From Amazon’s official Alexa development framework to schema markup standards and local SEO platforms, these solutions ensure your business stays discoverable as search evolves from typed queries to spoken conversations.
Google Keyword Planner
Google Keyword Planner is a free keyword research tool within Google Ads that provides search volume data, keyword suggestions, and performance insights. Though designed for PPC campaigns, it’s valuable for voice search optimization because it reveals conversational and long-tail query patterns.
What It Does: The tool helps identify how people naturally phrase questions and requests when using voice search, which tends to be more conversational than typed queries. Users can discover voice-friendly variations of their target keywords and understand search volume for question-based phrases like “What’s the best pizza place near me?” or “How do I change a tire?”
Best For: Content creators, SEO professionals, and digital marketers optimizing for voice search without budget for paid keyword tools. Particularly useful for businesses creating FAQ content, local service pages, or conversational content that matches how people speak to voice assistants. Essential for identifying the natural language phrases to target in voice search optimization strategies.
SEMrush
SEMrush is a comprehensive SEO and digital marketing platform with specialized features for voice search optimization, focusing on conversational keywords and local SEO management that voice assistants rely on.
What It Does: SEMrush helps identify the natural language phrases people use in voice searches, then tracks how content performs for these conversational queries. The platform ensures business information is optimized across all the directories and platforms that voice assistants use as data sources, particularly for local searches.
Best For: Digital marketers, SEO professionals, and local businesses targeting voice search traffic. Particularly valuable for companies optimizing for question-based, long-tail queries like “Where can I find Italian food near me?” or “How do I fix a leaky faucet?” Essential for businesses that need to track voice search performance and manage local listings across multiple voice-enabled platforms.
Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO is a comprehensive WordPress plugin that optimizes websites for search engines, with specific features that support voice search readiness through content analysis and automated structured data markup.
Voice Search Features:
- Readability Analysis – Evaluates sentence length, passive voice usage, transition words, and Flesch Reading Ease to help content match the conversational style voice assistants prefer
- Automated Schema Markup – Implements FAQ, HowTo, and LocalBusiness structured data that voice assistants frequently use for direct responses
- AI Optimize – Provides real-time suggestions to improve text clarity, structure, and keyword placement for better voice search compatibility
- Content Structure Guidance – Helps create snippet-ready content that’s easy for voice assistants to parse and speak
What It Does: Yoast analyzes content to ensure it’s written in the clear, conversational tone that works well for voice search. The plugin automatically adds the structured data markup that helps voice assistants understand and extract information for spoken responses, particularly from FAQ and how-to content.
Best For: WordPress website owners, content creators, and SEO professionals who want to optimize for voice search without technical expertise. Particularly valuable for businesses creating FAQ pages, instructional content, or local service information that needs to be voice-assistant friendly. Ideal for teams wanting automated schema implementation rather than manual coding.
Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is Google’s free platform for managing how businesses appear in Google Search and Maps. It serves as a primary data source for voice assistants answering local queries, making it essential for voice search visibility.
What It Does: When users ask voice assistants questions like “What time does the coffee shop close?” or “Find a plumber near me,” Google Assistant pulls answers directly from Business Profile data. Well-maintained profiles increase the likelihood of appearing in voice responses and zero-click results where the assistant speaks the answer without requiring users to visit a website.
Best For: Local businesses of all sizes, especially retail stores, restaurants, medical offices, salons, and service providers that rely on local foot traffic. Critical for businesses wanting to capture voice searches with local intent, where customers use conversational queries to find nearby services, check hours, or get directions through voice assistants.
Moz Local
Moz Local is a local SEO platform that manages business directory listings to ensure accurate information appears when users make location-based voice searches. The platform maintains consistent business data across multiple directories that voice assistants use as sources.
What It Does: Moz Local ensures that when someone asks a voice assistant “Where’s the nearest pizza place?” or “What time does the pharmacy close?”, the assistant has access to current, accurate business information. The platform prevents conflicting data across directories that could confuse voice search algorithms.
Best For: Local businesses, particularly small to mid-sized retailers, restaurants, medical practices, and service providers that depend on local discovery. Essential for businesses that want to capture voice searches like “near me” queries and need consistent, accurate information when customers ask voice assistants for directions, hours, or contact details.
Schema.org
Schema.org Schema.org is the universal standard for structured data markup, created through collaboration between major search engines to help websites communicate semantic meaning to search platforms. It’s essential infrastructure for voice search optimization rather than a standalone tool.
What It Does: Schema.org markup helps search engines understand webpage content context, making it more likely to appear in rich results and voice responses. The speakable schema specifically tells voice assistants which content sections work well for text-to-speech delivery, while FAQ and HowTo schemas structure information in formats that match conversational voice queries.
Best For: Web developers, SEO specialists, and content teams focused on voice search visibility. Critical for anyone wanting their content to be accurately interpreted and spoken by voice assistants. Particularly valuable for businesses targeting conversational queries where structured, speakable answers can capture voice search traffic through featured snippets and direct voice responses.
Yext
Yext is a digital knowledge management platform that helps businesses control how their information appears across search engines, voice assistants, and AI platforms. The platform ensures that when users ask voice assistants about your business, they get accurate, up-to-date answers.
What It Does: Yext creates a single source of truth for business information that automatically distributes to voice assistants like Google Assistant, Alexa, and Siri. When customers ask voice queries about locations, hours, or services, the platform ensures consistent, accurate responses across all channels.
Best For: Multi-location businesses, retail chains, restaurants, hotels, and service companies that depend on local discovery. Particularly valuable for brands that need to maintain consistent information across many locations and want to ensure they’re easily found through voice search queries like “find a store near me” or “what time do you close.
Alexa Skills Kit (ASK)
Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) is Amazon’s official development platform for creating custom voice applications (“skills”) that work on Alexa-enabled devices. Rather than traditional SEO, ASK helps businesses build voice-first experiences that make their content and services accessible through voice commands.
What It Does: ASK lets businesses create conversational experiences where users can interact with their brand through natural speech. Developers can build voice-friendly dialogue systems, integrate slot types for specific data (locations, numbers, etc.), and design complete voice user journeys that feel natural and responsive.
Best For: Product teams and developers who want to make their services voice-accessible through Alexa. Particularly useful for creating voice-enabled FAQs, branded customer experiences, or hands-free navigation features. Essential for businesses wanting direct access to users through Alexa’s voice interface rather than relying on web search optimization.
MobileMoxie
MobileMoxie is a mobile-focused SEO platform that provides real-time and historical data on mobile search results, landing pages, and app performance. The platform helps marketers understand how their content appears in mobile search results that voice assistants use to answer queries.
What It Does: The platform replicates real mobile search conditions to show exactly how content appears when voice assistants pull answers from search results. Users can view search previews, track ranking changes, and analyze how pages render on mobile devices.
Best For: SEO professionals and content teams focused on mobile-first and voice search optimization. Especially valuable for businesses wanting to optimize content structure for featured snippets and ensure consistent visibility when voice assistants surface their content as answers.
Comparison table:
| Tool | Core Focus | Voice Search-Relevant Features | Best For |
| Google Keyword Planner | Keyword research (Google Ads) | Identifies conversational, long-tail, and question-style keywords with search volumes, trends, and forecasts | Marketers and SEO teams seeking data on voice-friendly queries |
| Ahrefs | SEO & competitive keyword analysis | “Questions” report for voice-style queries, content gap analysis, snippet targeting | Content strategists and SEOs optimizing for FAQ-style and conversational searches |
| SEMrush | All-in-one SEO & marketing toolkit | Keyword Magic Tool (questions filter), voice vs. traditional rank tracking, local listing optimization | Digital marketers and local businesses preparing content for voice traffic |
| Yoast SEO | WordPress SEO plugin | Readability optimization, FAQ/HowTo schema, automated structured data, AI Optimize | WordPress businesses ensuring content is voice-snippet and schema ready |
| Google Business Profile | Local presence in Google Search & Maps | Structured business info, reviews, FAQs, Q&A optimization, posts—core data source for local voice queries | SMBs and local service providers capturing “near me” voice searches |
| Moz Local | Local listings management | Automated NAP (name, address, phone) consistency, review monitoring, directory citation health | Local businesses needing consistent voice assistant answers across directories |
| Schema.org | Structured data standards | Vocabulary for FAQ, HowTo, LocalBusiness, Speakable schema for TTS content | Web developers & SEO pros ensuring content is machine-readable for voice |
| Yext | Digital knowledge management | Knowledge Graph powering Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant; structured schema; Scout analytics | Multi-location enterprises ensuring brand facts appear accurately in voice search |
| Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) | Voice app development for Alexa | APIs, intents, slot types, voice dialogue flows to deliver branded voice experiences | Developers & marketers building custom Alexa skills for voice discoverability |
| MobileMoxie | Mobile SEO & visibility | SERPerator for live voice search result previews, Page-oscope for snippet/Knowledge Graph monitoring | SEO teams tracking how voice-friendly content surfaces on mobile SERPs |
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