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Deepak Gupta markGEO Compass

Glossary · last updated 2026-05-27

Featured snippet

Also known as: position zero, answer box

A SERP feature that lifts a short passage from a ranking page and displays it directly as the answer to a query, with the source linked beneath. The original AEO target and still a meaningful traffic surface in 2026.

Featured snippets launched on Google around 2014 and reshaped on-page SEO around extractable passage units. The mechanic: for queries Google judges to have a direct answer, it elevates a passage from one of the top-ranking pages to a box above the organic results, with a "from [domain]" attribution and a click-through link.

Featured snippet wins are extractive, not generative: Google chooses a passage that already exists on your page rather than synthesising one. The shapes:

  • Paragraph snippets: a 40-60 word definitional or explanatory passage.
  • List snippets: bulleted or numbered steps lifted from the page (often a HowTo).
  • Table snippets: comparison data extracted from a structured table.

Optimisation tactics are now codified: a definitional paragraph immediately under a question-shaped H2; clean unordered or ordered lists for procedural content; semantic HTML tables for comparison content; FAQPage schema on genuine Q&A sections. The same passages that win featured snippets are the ones AI engines also extract; featured snippet optimisation generalises to AEO and AI Overviews optimisation almost entirely.

Featured snippets are sometimes confused with the AI Overview block. They are distinct surfaces: the AI Overview synthesises across multiple sources and may include conversational framing; the featured snippet is a direct extraction with one source. Both coexist on many SERPs in 2026.

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