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Glossary

SERP features

SERP features are the visual elements on Google search results pages beyond the 10 blue links: Local Pack, Knowledge Panel, AI Overviews, Featured Snippets, People Also Ask, Image Pack, Video Pack, Shopping results, and the reviews carousel.

Also known as SERP elements, SERP layout features, rich SERP features

Rank.ai glossaryUpdated 5 min read

What SERP features are

A SERP, a search engine results page, started as ten blue links. Many searches still look like that: in Sistrix’s study of mobile results, pages of plain organic results were the most common layout across the keywords it measured, while high volume searches were the ones most likely to carry extra boxes.

SERP features are those extra boxes. Some are answers (AI Overviews, featured snippets, People Also Ask), some describe an entity (the Knowledge Panel) or a set of places (the Local Pack), some are media (images, videos) and some are commerce (Shopping results, ads). Each has its own rules for when it appears and whose content it shows.

The features that matter most for local and AI visibility

  • Local Pack: three business listings and a map for searches with local intent. For a business that serves a local area, it is usually the most valuable box on the page.
  • Knowledge Panel: the information box for a search on a specific entity. For a local business, its Business Profile plays that role on searches for its name.
  • AI Overviews: Google’s AI written summary with links to supporting pages. Google says it shows one only when its systems judge that it adds to the classic results, so many searches don’t get one. Being among its links is its own discipline; see answer engine optimization.

Featured snippets, People Also Ask, image results and review carousels matter too, depending on the category.

How SERP features change your clicks

Features change how clicks spread down the page. Sistrix, measuring mobile results, found the first organic result got 28.5% of clicks on average, and less when a feature sat above it:

  • about 16.7% on searches with a knowledge panel;
  • 5.3 points below average when the first result was a featured snippet, while the second and third results gained clicks;
  • 13.7% when Google Shopping results sat at the top, and 18.8% with Google Ads.

So a first place ranking is worth different amounts on different pages. Knowing which features appear on your searches tells you what a ranking is really worth, and when the page has changed around you.

How Rank.ai records SERP features

Rank.ai’s Google rank tracker records which features appear on the results page for each keyword you track, AI Overviews included, every time it checks, and shows them beside your position. You can see when an AI Overview or a Local Pack starts appearing above a keyword you rank for.

To see whether an AI Overview cites your site for a keyword, use the free AI Overview checker.

Features to watch

Google’s AI Mode is the one to watch. Google describes it as a way to ask questions that need exploration, reasoning or comparison, with a written response and links to supporting sites. Both AI Mode and AI Overviews may run several related searches across subtopics to build a response, so the pages they link to can differ from the top organic results.

Google says the usual SEO best practices apply to both, with no extra requirements. Pages that answer a question clearly, and that Google can index and show with a snippet, are eligible.

Sources

Read on .

Related

Related terms

Google AI Overviews

Google's AI written summary at the top of some results pages.

Local Pack

Three business listings and a map, the most valuable box for most local businesses.

Knowledge Panel

The information box Google shows for a search on a specific entity.

Free tools

Check where you stand, free and without signing up

AI visibility checker

Ask ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini one question and see whether they name or cite your brand.

AI Overview checker

See whether Google shows an AI Overview for your keyword and which sites it cites.

Google Business Profile audit

Grade a profile from 0 to 100 on completeness, photos, reviews, categories, posts and NAP.

Schema markup validator

Check every JSON-LD block on a page and catch the mistakes that block rich results.

Frequently asked

How do I get featured in the People Also Ask box?
There is no markup or submission for it. Google's documentation says featured snippets can appear inside the related questions group, also called People Also Ask, and that Google's systems decide which page makes a good one. Pages that answer the question directly and early are the usual candidates.
Do SERP features hurt my organic clicks?
Often, when you are outside the feature. In Sistrix's study of mobile results, the first organic result's share of clicks fell from 28.5% on average to about 16.7% on searches with a knowledge panel and 13.7% with Shopping results at the top. Being inside the feature, such as the page cited in an AI Overview or the business in the Local Pack, puts you back in view.
Can I track SERP feature appearance?
Yes. Rank.ai's Google rank tracker records which features appear on the results for each keyword you track, AI Overviews included, every time it checks, so you can see when a feature starts or stops appearing above you.
Which SERP features should I try to win first?
It depends on your business. For a local business, the Local Pack. For a brand people search by name, an accurate Business Profile or knowledge panel. For businesses that sell through information, featured snippets and a place among the links in AI Overviews.
What's the difference between an AI Overview and a Featured Snippet?
A featured snippet shows a passage from one page, with the snippet first and the link below. An AI Overview writes its own summary and links to several supporting pages, which can come from related searches Google ran to build it.
Can I stop my page appearing as a featured snippet?
Yes. Google says the nosnippet rule blocks all snippets for a page, featured ones included, and text marked with data-nosnippet is left out of both. To keep regular snippets but make featured snippets less likely, lower the max-snippet setting; only nosnippet is guaranteed.
Why don't I trigger the Local Pack on some service area searches?
The Local Pack appears when Google reads a search as local. "Plumber near me" is clearly local; "how to fix a clogged drain" is a question, so it shows articles. When there is no Pack, you compete in the organic results and, where one appears, the AI Overview.
Are reviews carousels and image packs worth chasing?
Only where they appear on searches that bring you customers. Image results matter for visual products such as food, homes and retail; review carousels matter where buyers compare on reviews. Check which features actually appear on your searches and focus there.
How often does the SERP feature inventory change?
Google adds and changes result types over time, AI Mode being a recent example, and the same search can show different features from day to day. Check the features on your own keywords regularly.

See if AI names you when customers ask who’s best.

Enter your website. In about two minutes, Rank.ai asks ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini 12 questions your customers ask and grades how often they name you.

  • Your grade out of 100How often AI names you, cites your site, and how high it ranks you.
  • Who gets namedEvery competitor in the answers, most named first.
  • The pages AI readsThe sources behind each answer.
  • Three fixesWhat to fix first, with a brief for the first page.