What are funnel stages?
Funnel stages are the three steps a buyer moves through before a purchase: top of funnel, when they learn about a problem; middle, when they compare options; and bottom, when they are ready to choose a provider. Each stage has its own searches and pages.
Cited from the66th.com/glossary/funnel-stages
How funnel stages work
Marketers shorten the stages to TOF (top of funnel), MOF (middle of funnel) and BOF (bottom of funnel). Each stage has its own searches, and each search calls for a different kind of page. A person who searches "why is my furnace making noise" wants an explanation. "Furnace repair or replacement" wants a comparison. "Furnace repair calgary" wants a business to hire.
Funnel stages come from marketing, and we use them as working terms in our content method to plan which pages a site needs and how those pages link to each other.
| Stage | Example search | Page that fits |
|---|---|---|
| Top of funnel | why is my furnace making noise | A guide that explains the causes |
| Middle of funnel | furnace repair or replacement | A comparison of costs and trade-offs |
| Bottom of funnel | furnace repair calgary | The service page with prices, proof and booking |
Why Google and AI tools care
Google's guidance on helpful, reliable, people-first content asks whether a reader leaves feeling they have learned enough to help achieve their goal, and treats content that leaves readers needing to search again as a warning sign. A person learning about a problem and a person ready to hire have different goals, so they need different pages.
Google's guide to generative AI search also warns against the opposite error. Creating separate content for every variation of how people search, including the extra searches AI tools run behind one question, primarily to manipulate rankings or AI responses violates Google's scaled content abuse policy.
What it means for your business
A site with only bottom of funnel pages waits for buyers who already know what they want. A site with only top of funnel guides draws readers and gives them nowhere to go next. Covering all three stages for each service, with links from the guides to the service page, builds the authority that helps the service page rank and gives readers a path to it.
The stages matter most for services with a long decision, such as renovations, software or professional services. For an emergency service, the bottom of funnel page does most of the work, because the buyer is ready to call. Our SEO copywriting work writes the pages for each stage.
Common mistakes
- Labeling a search by its wording alone. Read Google's first page: if it shows guides, the search is top of funnel, whatever the wording suggests.
- Writing top of funnel guides with no link to the service. Link each guide to the service page it supports, so the reader has a next step.
- Making a page for every variation of a search. Google's guide says doing so primarily to manipulate rankings violates its scaled content abuse policy, and one page can serve searches that share an intent.
Related terms
Sources: Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content, 5 October 2026; Google Search Central, Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search, 10 July 2026.