You will be able to judge intent from what currently ranks and the features shown on the results page.
Priya was sure "P5 maths tuition Tampines" was a buying search. Parents typing it wanted a centre, she thought, so her class page was the right answer. Then she searched it herself, signed out, on her phone. The first thing she saw was a map with three centres pinned on it. Below the map were two tuition centre pages, a directory that listed fifteen centres with ratings, and a forum thread where parents argued about which ones were worth the money.
Her label was half right. People wanted centres, but they also wanted to compare. The results page told her that in ten seconds, and it would have taken her weeks to learn it any other way.
Google's systems are trying to rank pages that satisfy the people who search. So the pages that rank today are Google's current best guess at what searchers want. You cannot see inside the systems, but you can see their output, and the output is evidence.
Look at the type of page in each of the top results: a how-to guide, a list of options, a product or service page, a local business listing, a video, a forum thread or a news article. One or two types usually dominate. Search "how to make kaya" and you get recipes and videos. Search "buy kaya online Singapore" and the shops appear. The two searches share a word and want different things, and the results make that plain.
When Priya looked again, she noticed that every centre page in the results was about one level in one area, and none of them was a general homepage. That told her something about format as well as intent. Google appeared to prefer pages that matched both the level and the place.
Results pages carry more than ten blue links. Each extra feature tells you something.
A map with local listings, often called the local pack or map pack, means Google thinks the searcher wants a place nearby. Module 7 covers how to appear there. A People also ask box shows related questions people search, which suggests at least part of the audience is still learning. Video results suggest people want to watch something done. Shopping results and product listings suggest buying intent.
An AI Overview, the summary Google sometimes shows at the top, appears for many informational and comparison searches. Its presence tells you people are asking a question that can be answered in a few sentences, and the links it shows tell you which pages Google treated as supporting sources. Module 8 looks at AI Overviews properly.
Sometimes the top results are nearly all the same kind of page. Every result for "PSLE maths heuristics" might be a guide with worked examples. Every result for "kueh lapis delivery" might be a shop page with prices and an order button.
When that happens, you usually have to match the format to compete at all. A sales page will struggle to break into a list of guides, and a guide will struggle among shop pages, because Google has in effect settled what that search is for. Your aim becomes being the best page of that type.
Mixed results, say three guides, two service pages, a directory and a map, suggest either that Google is less sure or that searchers want different things. That gives you more room, and you can choose the format you do best.
Results depend on where the search is made. A search from Singapore shows Singapore businesses and pages that Google thinks fit Singapore readers. If you check from overseas, or through a tool set to another country, you may see a completely different picture. Keep your checks on a Singapore connection, signed out, as you did for your baseline in lesson 1.5, Check how Google sees your site today.
Results also change over time. Google updates its systems, competitors publish new pages, and features like AI Overviews come and go for particular searches. A label you set today should be rechecked for your most important searches every few months, and whenever you see a sudden change in your Search Console figures, covered in module 9.
For each search you check, write down the format of the top five results, the features shown on the page, and whether those confirm the intent label you gave it in lesson 2.1, Search intent: what the searcher is trying to do.
Priya's note for her search read: map pack, two level-specific centre pages, one directory, one forum thread, no AI Overview. Intent: commercial with a local element, so she changed the label from transactional. The note took two minutes to write and it changed what she planned to build.
Pick five searches from your list of 20, choosing the ones that matter most to your business, and give each the same treatment in the activity below.
For five of your 20 searches, record the format of the top five results and the page features shown, and confirm or change your intent label.
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