A question is not a search term

You can want to know the same thing and get very different things back depending on what you type. "CNAME vs A record" returns a dictionary entry. "I am moving my domain; does that mean www is a CNAME and the apex is an A record?" returns an answer about my situation. At the end of an earlier post I wrote that without intent you produce search terms, not questions. This post unpacks that one sentence.

A search term has no "me" in it

A search term is for finding documents that exist somewhere. The shorter the better, and the less of your own situation the better. That is how search engines are built.

A question is the opposite. It has to carry where I am and what I am trying to do. Type a search term into an AI and the AI imitates a search engine: it returns generalities. Not wrong, just not mine.

Looking back at my first month with AI, most of what I typed were search terms. That is why the answers felt flat.

Three pairs I actually typed

First, moving my domain.

• Search term: A record vs CNAME
• Question: My domain currently points at the old host and I am moving to a new one. Which record type should www and the apex each use, and if I enter a wrong value how long is the site down?

The search term got a dictionary explanation. The question got the two values I had to change that day and how long a rollback takes.

Second, fixing my e-commerce business registration after opening a new site.

• Search term: documents for changing a mail-order business registration
• Question: I have the certificate and only the domain changed. The site is already live with prices. What do I attach, and do I have to take the site down until the change is filed?

The search term got a list of required documents. The question got the answer that the site can stay up, plus the deadline. My task for the day was settled.

Third, opening my company's corporate tax return for the first time.

• Search term: how to read a corporate tax return
• Question: Small company, ten years of leaving everything to an accounting firm. I am opening the return for the first time. Pick out only the boxes I should check myself and the things that cost me if missed.

The search term got the whole structure of the form. The question got one box to look at and two things to ask about.

Three things a good question contains

Lay the pairs side by side and the questions always carry three things.

Where I am now. Pointing at the old host, certificate in hand, no accountant. Current state.

What I am trying to do. Move to the new host, fix only the domain, handle only this month. Purpose.

How much I can afford to get wrong. How long the site is down, whether it must come down, whether there is a penalty. Risk.

With those three in, the same AI gives a different answer. This is not prompt technique. It is writing down what I am trying to do.

Practising the switch

The one habit that changed things for me: after typing a search term, add one more line underneath. "Here is my situation, here is what I am trying to do, here is what worries me." Awkward at first. After ten times you stop typing search terms at all.

Then, when the answer comes, follow it with one of the seven questions. Start with a question, continue with follow-ups, and that is a dialogue.

A blurry question gets a blurry answer

AI answers to the extent you ask. Type a search term and you get search results; put your situation in and it fits the answer to you. When the answers feel flat, do not change the AI. Reread what you typed. Usually you are not in it.