Voice Search Marketing

As more consumers use voice assistants to find products, nearby dispensaries, or answers to cannabis-related questions, brands that fail to appear in voice searches are effectively invisible. Voice queries are faster, more conversational, and increasingly local, which means dispensaries have a unique opportunity to capture ready-to-buy customers the moment they speak.

This guide explains cannabis voice search marketing, why it matters, and how to make it a cornerstone of your digital marketing strategy.

What Is Voice Search?

Voice search is the use of voice-enabled assistants—like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant—to search for cannabis products, dispensary info, or marijuana-related questions by speaking instead of typing. These voice-activated searches are often local and conversational, reflecting how real people talk in everyday situations.

Whether someone says “Where’s the closest dispensary?” or “Best indica for sleep,” your content needs to show up as the answer. That means optimizing your site to respond to these queries in a natural, question-based format.

Why is Voice Search Marketing Important for Cannabis Businesses?

Initially considered more "gimmicky" than practical, voice-activated search tools have now achieved widespread mainstream adoption. 

In 2024, over 30% of global internet users aged 16–64 reported using voice assistants weekly — a number that’s growing fast as hands-free tech becomes the norm across phones, speakers, and cars (Backlinko). Voice-enabled search is no longer niche — it’s now part of everyday life for millions of cannabis consumers.

And there’s a reason adoption continues to grow: "70% of users say voice search is faster than typing—and 90% say it’s easier." (DemandSage) That convenience factor is a major driver behind why customers prefer using voice to search for nearby dispensaries, store hours, or product availability.

Popular Voice Platforms in Use Today: 

1. Google Assistant – Google’s current voice-enabled AI assistant, available on Android devices, smart speakers, and wearables.

2. Siri – Apple’s intelligent assistant embedded in iPhones (4s and later), iPads, iTouches, and Apple TV.
3. Cortana – Microsoft’s assistant for Windows 10, Xbox One, iOS, Android, and Amazon Alexa.
4. Alexa – Amazon’s intelligent assistant featured in Echo and Echo Dot devices.

How Does My Dispensary Take Advantage of Voice Search?

Cannabis voice search marketing is driven by geography. In fact, nearly 76% of voice searches include 'near me' or other local intent phrases, showing just how critical local optimization is. (Synup) Make sure your dispensary’s digital presence is optimized for local voice search:

Local Voice Search Optimization Tactics On Google Business Profile

1. Listing: Ensure your Google Business Profile is accurate – name, address, phone number, hours, categories, and includes 5+ photos and a unique description.
2. Reviews: Both Google and consumers place a high value on reviews. Train your team to encourage reviews and address feedback promptly.
3. Photos: While it's a common belief that geo-tagged photos help on GBP, studies show Google actually strips GPS location data from uploaded images. Instead, focus on schema markup. (DataPins)

🚀Learn how to enable voice search registration for your local dispensary here.

Cannabis Voice SEO Checklist

• Use conversational, long-tail keywords in content (e.g., "What are the best edibles near me?")
• Add structured FAQ markup to key pages
• Create FAQ pages answering real customer questions
• Write blog posts around common search queries
• Optimize for local search and maps listings
• Improve mobile site speed and performance

How to Create Voice-Friendly Cannabis Content

Creating voice-friendly cannabis content means aligning your website, blog, and FAQ pages with the natural, question-based language people actually use when speaking to their devices. This is the core of conversational marketing: anticipating your audience’s needs and providing clear, useful answers in a format optimized for voice assistants.

To get started, ask your budtenders what customers frequently ask in-store—these real-world questions are often identical to what people search via Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant. Then, make sure your website includes content that reflects those exact queries:

• FAQ pages (short answers)
• Blog posts or articles (long-form answers)
• Social media posts (real-time interactions)

Examples of Conversational Voice-Enabled Search Queries

Voice-enabled search is driven by natural language and contextual questions:

• “Where is the closest dispensary?”
• “What time does XYZ dispensary close?”
• “Best edibles near me?”

These natural-language searches are even influencing how people type their queries. The takeaway? Optimize for cannabis conversational marketing.

SEO Takeaway: Exact-match keywords are out. Google’s Hummingbird update (2013) and cannabis voice search technology require content that matches user intent, not just specific phrasing. The best practice for voice search = the best practice for all SEO.

Map Voice Queries to Google's 4 Micro-Moments

Voice searchers often have more urgent needs than text-based searchers. Google defines these moments as micro-moments—critical touchpoints when consumers turn to their devices with a specific intent:

• I-Want-To-Know Moments: They’re researching but not necessarily buying yet. “What’s the best cannabis strain for a migraine?”
• I-Want-To-Go Moments: They’re ready to buy and want directions or proximity. “Where is the closest dispensary?”
• I-Want-To-Do Moments: These are how-to queries, either pre- or post-purchase. “How do I consume edibles safely?”
• I-Want-To-Buy Moments: The consumer is ready to make a purchase and wants to know what, how, or where.

Content Planning Tip:

• I-Want-to-Know → Blog posts, FAQs
• I-Want-to-Go → Google Business Profile, maps, location pages
• I-Want-to-Do → How-to videos, educational content
• I-Want-to-Buy → Product pages, promotional landing pages

What Makes Voice Search SEO Different from Traditional SEO?

Voice SEO focuses on capturing long-tail, conversational queries, while traditional SEO often emphasizes short keywords and search volume. With voice search marketing, your content must answer specific questions clearly and concisely to qualify for featured snippets, local packs, and zero-click results.

Key distinctions include:

• Natural language: Write like your customers speak.
• Featured snippet targeting: Use FAQ-style headers and paragraph answers under 50 words.
• Mobile and local focus: Voice searches are overwhelmingly mobile and often contain location intent.
• Schema markup: Use FAQ and LocalBusiness schema to help Google parse your content contextually.

🚀Want to stay ahead of how customers discover dispensaries in real time? See how we implement local cannabis SEO.

“Hey Google, Who’s Missing Out on Cannabis Customers?”

Voice search marketing isn’t just another trend; As of 2025, over 153.5 million Americans use voice assistants, and that number is projected to reach 170.3 million by 2028." (eMarketer). If you’re not optimizing for voice, you’re not just behind—you’re missing out on high-intent customers who are ready to act the moment they ask.

Now’s the time to rewrite your SEO strategy in a language people actually speak. Start answering their questions, claim your space in voice search, and let your next sale begin with: “Hey Google…”

🚀Ready to get started? Let’s build your cannabis voice search strategy together. Talk to us and see how we can help you dominate voice-first discovery.