A modern Google search results page is rarely just ten blue links. SERP features — specialised result formats that appear above, below, or alongside standard organic listings — now dominate the most valuable real estate in Google search. Featured snippets, People Also Ask boxes, local packs, image carousels, shopping results, and knowledge panels each represent an opportunity to gain additional visibility — or a competitor occupying the space your organic result could inhabit. This guide explains the most important SERP features, how Google decides which pages win them, and what you can do to appear in them.
What Are SERP Features?
SERP features are specialised result formats that Google displays for queries where a standard organic listing would be less useful or less complete than a formatted presentation of specific information. They draw from the web in different ways — some (like featured snippets) display content from regular web pages, others (like knowledge panels) draw from Google's Knowledge Graph, and others (like local packs) pull from Google Business Profile data.
The significance of SERP features for SEO is twofold. First, appearing in a SERP feature typically increases visibility and click-through rate — a featured snippet appearing above all organic results for a query is "position zero," more prominent than position one. Second, SERP features sometimes reduce click-through rates for organic results, because users get the information they need directly in the search results without clicking through to a website (sometimes called "zero-click searches").
Understanding which SERP features appear for your target keywords — and optimising for them — is an advanced but highly effective SEO strategy.
Featured Snippets
A featured snippet is a block of text (or a table, list, or video) extracted from a web page and displayed prominently at the top of Google search results, above the first organic listing. Featured snippets appear for queries where Google identifies a "best answer" — typically informational queries asking "what is," "how to," or "why."
Types of featured snippets:
- Paragraph snippets — a short paragraph (40–60 words) answering a direct question. The most common type.
- List snippets — ordered or unordered lists, often used for step-by-step processes, ranked lists, or comparisons.
- Table snippets — tabular data displayed directly in search results. Common for pricing comparisons, specification tables, and data sets.
- Video snippets — a YouTube video (usually with a timestamp to the most relevant segment) displayed for queries best answered with video content.
How to optimise for featured snippets:
- Target questions that already show a featured snippet for a competitor — these queries are "snippet-eligible."
- Structure your content with a clear question (as an H2 or H3 heading) followed immediately by a concise answer (40–60 words for paragraph snippets).
- For list snippets, use proper HTML ordered or unordered list elements rather than manually numbered text.
- Your page should already rank in the top 10 organically — Google almost always selects featured snippets from pages already on page one.
Use our SERP preview tool to see how your content appears in search results and refine your snippet-targeted paragraphs.
People Also Ask
People Also Ask (PAA) is a SERP feature that displays a set of expandable question-and-answer boxes related to the main search query. Each question, when expanded, shows a brief answer extracted from a web page (similar to a featured snippet) plus a link to the source page.
PAA boxes are dynamic — clicking any question loads additional related questions, making the PAA box a potentially deep source of related query data. For SEO purposes, PAA is significant because:
- Appearing in a PAA answer gives a second point of visibility on the search results page for a query where your page may already rank organically.
- The questions displayed in PAA boxes represent real user queries — adding content that answers these questions improves your relevance for those searches.
- PAA appears for a wide variety of query types and is present on most informational search results pages, giving it broad coverage.
To appear in PAA boxes: identify the PAA questions for your target keywords (by searching on Google and noting what appears), add those questions as H2 or H3 headings in your content with concise answers immediately below each heading. A structured FAQ section covering PAA questions is one of the most reliable ways to win PAA appearances.
Rich Results and Schema Markup
Rich results are enhanced organic listings that display additional information beyond the standard title, URL, and meta description — such as star ratings, review counts, recipe cooking time, event dates, job listings, product pricing, or FAQ accordions. Rich results are powered by structured data (schema markup) — standardised HTML annotations that explicitly tell Google what type of content a page contains and its key attributes.
Common rich result types:
- Review/rating stars — for products, services, recipes, and local businesses. Star ratings in search results significantly improve CTR.
- FAQ rich results — FAQ pages with schema markup can display expandable Q&A directly in the SERP, providing additional space in the results listing.
- How-to rich results — step-by-step instructions displayed with numbered steps in the SERP.
- Article/breadcrumb — article type and breadcrumb trail displayed in the URL area of the listing.
- Event results — event name, date, location, and ticket information.
- Job listings — job title, company, location, and salary information.
Schema markup is added as JSON-LD code in the <head> of your page. Google's structured data documentation provides the full specification for each schema type. After adding schema, test it with Google's Rich Results Test tool to verify it is implemented correctly.
Local Pack
The local pack (also called the "map pack") is a SERP feature displaying three local businesses alongside a Google Map, appearing for searches with local intent — queries like "SEO agency near me," "plumber in Manchester," or "best coffee shop London." The local pack appears above organic results and is one of the most valuable SERP features for businesses with a physical location or local service area.
Local pack rankings are determined by three factors:
- Relevance — how closely your Google Business Profile matches the search query.
- Distance — how close the business location is to the searcher's location (or the location specified in the search query).
- Prominence — how well-known the business is, based on reviews, backlinks, and citations.
To appear in the local pack: create and optimise a Google Business Profile (complete all fields, add photos, collect reviews, respond to reviews), ensure your Name, Address, and Phone number (NAP) information is consistent across all online directories, and build local citations (mentions of your business on directory sites).
Other SERP Features
Additional SERP features worth knowing:
Knowledge panels — information boxes appearing on the right side of desktop search results for searches about people, organisations, places, or concepts. Knowledge panels draw from Google's Knowledge Graph. For brands, a knowledge panel adds credibility and prominence. Earning one requires sufficient online presence and consistent entity information across the web.
Image packs / image carousels — rows of images appearing in organic search results for queries where visual content is relevant. Winning image pack placements requires high-quality images with descriptive filenames, alt text, and image schema markup.
Video carousels — video results from YouTube and other platforms displayed for queries where video content is relevant. Video SEO (optimised titles, descriptions, tags, and transcripts) drives video carousel appearances.
Shopping results — product listings with images, prices, and retailer names, appearing for product-intent queries. Shopping results require a Google Merchant Center account and product feed.
Sitelinks — additional links to internal pages of a website appearing under the main listing for navigational branded searches (e.g., searching for a specific brand name). Sitelinks are awarded automatically by Google for brands with clear site structure and internal linking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does appearing in a featured snippet always mean more traffic?
Not always. For some queries, featured snippets satisfy the user's need entirely in the search results, reducing clicks to the source page. However, for longer or more complex queries, featured snippets typically drive additional clicks because the snippet generates interest and the user wants the full article. Research generally shows that pages appearing in featured snippets receive more total SERP visibility and often see CTR increases, though the effect varies by query type.
Can any page win a featured snippet?
Google selects featured snippets from pages that already rank in the top 10 (usually top 5) organic results. You cannot win a featured snippet for a query where your page does not rank organically. Start by ranking on page one for a target query, then optimise your content to match the format Google prefers (concise paragraphs, structured lists, clear Q&A format).
What is the difference between a rich result and a featured snippet?
A featured snippet is a block of content extracted from a regular web page and displayed prominently at the top of search results — it requires no special markup. A rich result is an enhanced organic listing powered by structured data (schema markup) that displays additional attributes like star ratings, pricing, or FAQ questions directly in the listing. Featured snippets require content formatting; rich results require schema markup in the page code.
How do I find which SERP features my competitors are winning?
Search your target keywords in Google and manually note which SERP features appear. For automated tracking, tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Moz track SERP features in their keyword tracking dashboards — they show whether a featured snippet, PAA, or local pack appears for tracked keywords and which domain occupies it.