Natural language is quickly becoming the standard way to interact with online tools. Instead of typing a few keywords, users now ask complete questions, provide detailed instructions, and expect clear, understandable answers. So how can you ensure that your content provides the answer to their question? Or better yet, how can you enable them to interact with your website in a similar way? This is where Microsoft’s NLWeb comes into play.
Meet NLWeb, Microsoft’s new open project
NLWeb, short for Natural Language Web, is a open project recently launched by Microsoft. The goal of this project is to provide conversational interfaces directly on websites, rather than requiring users to use an external chatbot that has control over what is displayed. Instead of relying on traditional navigation or search bars, NLWeb is designed to allow users to ask questions and explore content in a more personal and conversational way.
At its core, NLWeb connects website content with AI-powered tools. This allows the AI to understand what a website is about, what information it contains, and how that information should be interpreted to deliver personalized results. With this project, Microsoft is moving toward a more interoperable, standards-based, and open web that allows anyone to prepare their website for the future of search.
This project was initiated and implemented by RV Guha, CVP and Technical Fellow at Microsoft. Guha is one of the creators of widely used web standards such as RSS and Schema.org.
This is how NLWeb works
NLWeb combines structured data, standardized APIs and AI models that can understand natural language. Each NLWeb instance acts as a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, making your content visible to all agents operating in the MCP ecosystem. This makes it easier for these agents to find your website.
Website operators then use structured data to present their content in a machine-readable way. AI applications can then use this data and accurately answer user questions by matching them with the most relevant information. The result is a conversational experience based on existing content, either directly on a website or through the use of an online search tool. A conversational interface for human users and AI agents collecting information.
It is important to note that NLWeb is an open project. It’s not a closed ecosystem, meaning Microsoft wants to make it accessible to everyone. The idea is to make it easy for every website owner to create a smart, natural language experience for their website while preparing their content to interact with and be discovered by other online agents such as AI tools and search engines.
How does natural language work?
Natural language simply refers to the way we speak and write. This means using complete sentences that leave room for intent, context, and nuance. More than keywords or short commands, natural language reflects how people think and what exactly they are looking for.
To give you an example: A focus key phrase could be Trail running shoes. But in natural language the request would look more like this: What are the best running shoes for trail running in wet conditions?
Natural language in AI tools
Modern AI tools are designed to understand this type of input. The large language models behind these tools can analyze intent and context to generate answers that satisfy the given query. This is why conversational interfaces feel more intuitive than traditional searches or forms.
Tools like AI chat assistants, voice search, and even traditional search engines rely heavily on natural language understanding, and users have quickly adapted to it.
The current status of the search
The way people find information online is changing rapidly. A change that is heavily influenced by the use of AI-powered tools. We now expect personalized answers instead of a list of results that we sort through ourselves. AI chatbots also give us the ability to follow up on our original search query, making search a conversation rather than a series of clicks.
Research by McKinsey & Company shows that AI adoption and natural language interfaces are becoming mainstream, with 50% of consumers already using AI-driven information discovery tools. In fact, the majority say it is the most important digital source they use to make purchasing decisions. As these habits continue to grow, websites that are not optimized for natural language risk becoming invisible in AI-generated responses.
Why this is interesting for you
The shift to natural language is not just a technical trend. As explained above, this directly impacts your online visibility and competitive position.
When users ask an AI system for information, the response only references a handful of sources. Just like search engines, AI platforms also need to be able to read the information on your website. Being one of these sources can mean the difference between being discovered or overlooked.
NLWeb works with Yoast
With NLWeb you can communicate the content of your website clearly and in a standardized manner. This means your brand, products or expertise can appear in AI-powered responses instead of your competitors. To help as many website owners as possible benefit from this change, Yoast is partnering with NLWeb.
The best part? If you use one of our Yoast plans designed for WordPress, you’ll be ahead of the game. Yoast’s integration with NLWeb will be rolled out in phases, starting with features that will help our users using WordPress express their content in a way that AI systems can accurately interpret, without the need for additional settings. So rest easy and let us help you prepare your website for the new world of search!
NLWeb’s goal is to make your content understandable not only to humans, but also to the AI systems that are becoming increasingly relevant to discovering your website.
Read more: Yoast partners with Microsoft to help AI understand Open Web »