Glossary · last updated 2026-05-27
SERP (Search Engine Results Page)
Also known as: Search Engine Results Page
The page a search engine returns for a query: historically a ranked list of blue links, now an assembled experience with AI Overviews, featured snippets, People Also Ask, knowledge panels, ads, and organic results all sharing the screen.
The SERP in 2026 is no longer a list. A typical Google SERP for an informational query now layers: an AI Overview at the top citing 3-10 sources, a "People Also Ask" expandable block, a featured snippet for some queries, a knowledge panel on the right, sponsored ads above and within, and organic results pushed below the fold. Bing SERPs interleave Copilot answers similarly.
The composition of the SERP determines what optimisation actually means. Ranking #1 in organic when an AI Overview takes the entire above-the-fold is a hollow win; the user may never see your result. Conversely, being cited in the AI Overview, even if your organic rank is page 2, may drive more qualified traffic than a blue-link first position.
This is why modern programmes track SERP composition, not just rank. The zero-click search phenomenon is partly a SERP-composition story: Google has reshaped the SERP to answer many queries within the page, reducing click-through to publishers. Optimising for the AI surfaces of the SERP (featured snippets, People Also Ask, AI Overviews) is what AEO and GEO programmes increasingly target.
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