Informational query
An informational query is a search from someone who wants to learn something, like "how to descale a coffee machine", and isn't shopping yet.
An informational query is a search from someone who wants to learn or understand something. "How to descale a coffee machine" and "flat white vs latte" are informational. The person wants an answer and isn't shopping yet.
In SEO it's one of the usual kinds of search intent, next to navigational searches for a particular site, and commercial or transactional searches from people comparing or ready to buy. They're the searches most content marketing is written for.
Why they're worth ranking for
An informational search rarely leads to a sale that day. It does put your brand in front of someone early, and it's where you show you know your subject. Guides, how-tos and explanations are the pages that win these searches.
Informational queries move to AI first
These are the questions AI answers handle most easily. When someone asks Google how to descale a coffee machine, an AI Overview may give the steps at the top of the page, and many people stop there. On ChatGPT or Perplexity, they get the answer without seeing a results page at all. So you'll often get fewer clicks from informational searches than you used to.
What you can still get is the citation. When an answer explains how to descale a machine and links Harrow & Pine's guide as its source, Harrow & Pine is the brand the reader saw while learning. If they ask "which coffee machine is easiest to clean?" later, that can matter.
On AI platforms we call these informational prompts. They tend to be longer and more specific than the searches people type into Google.
In AnswerOrbit
When you click Generate prompts in Topics, you choose the mix of learning, comparing and buying questions. The learning ones are informational. Tag them so you can read their numbers apart from the rest. See Topics and prompts.