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You’ve probably searched for something on Google and found your answer in a small box right under the search bar. Short, fast, and right on the spot.
That’s what Google featured snippets are for.
And the good news is that everyone, including your content, can appear on those snippets if done right.
Let’s see why appearing on snippets matters for your SEO and what you can do to get your content to appear there.
Google featured snippets are short answers to users’ questions, displayed in a small box under the search bar. They are also known as Google’s “position zero” because they appear after the search bar, before the rest of the results.
Depending on the type of the snippet, the answer is usually a short paragraph, concluded in 1-2 sentences, a single list, a table, or a visual.
The result for the featured snippet is displayed from one source only.
Just like in the featured snippet example below, Google provided “reasons why AI won’t replace humans” in a paragraph box from a single source: LinkedIn.
Below are some other types of snippets:
Featured snippets are important because they can increase clicks and traffic to your content.
Even if your original page does not rank on the first page of search results, you can still appear in a snippet. This gives you the chance to display a short section of your content at the top of the results and attract visitors to your site.
Some users might find their quick answer directly in the snippet and choose not to click through. However, isn’t it still better to have your content featured in snippets, especially if your page is hidden on the second or third page of results? That visibility is better than none.
The key is to provide clear, helpful answers to users’ questions and optimize your content so Google considers it worthy of a snippet.
Starting from 2024, Google started to roll out a new SERP feature, which appeared along with (and now, mostly, instead of) featured snippets: AI Overviews.
Compared to featured snippets, AI Overviews generate a quick answer to the searched query from multiple sources. Just like featured snippets, the AI Overviews results appear right after the search bar.
Featured snippets rely on schema markups to display the exact wording, sentence, or paragraph from a single source (usually a high-ranking one).
Meanwhile, AI overviews go deeper into searching by using generative AI and APIs to pull out, analyze, and provide an overall AI summary of the searched information from multiple websites (no matter the ranking).
In the example below, AI Overviews answered our “What is SEO?” query by providing information from multiple sources, appearing on the right side.
As AI Overviews came forward, many wondered if it was taking up the SERP instead of the Featured Snippets.
Ryan Law, the Director of Content Marketing at Ahrefs, in his LinkedIn post, talked about a decline in featured snippets results, while AI Overviews results were gradually starting from early 2025. Their team analyzed 1 million SERPs to identify these changes.
In their SERP features study, they indicate a significant decline in featured snippets SERP visibility from 15.41% (January 2025) to 5.53% (June 2025) and a significant rise in AI_overview SERP visibility from 3.93% (January 2025) to 27.43% (June 2025).
Meanwhile, a SEMrush study of over 10 million keywords indicated that as of March 2025, 13.14% of US desktop queries triggered AI Overviews, out of which 88.1% are of informational intent.
These numbers pinpoint that AI is drastically changing the search results landscape. So, to be able to stand out in search results, your content should be optimized for both featured snippets and AI overviews.
No one other than our SEO and content writing specialists could give some tips on how to get a featured snippet on Google.
So, we took the chance to interview our team members, and here are the steps we took.
For featured snippets, Google prefers targeted and precise answers to users’ questions.
Make sure your content answers questions starting with “what is?” or “how to?”, as well as includes long-tail keywords and definitions.
Keep your answers as precise as possible, but not too short.
You can also include a question in your headings and provide clear and specific answers below.
This way, Google will easily recognize that there is a direct answer/definition to the user’s question, and your chances of being featured on snippets will rise.
Since the main point of featured snippets is to provide answers to users’ questions, including the FAQ section in your content will be especially helpful.
Consider including 3-4 questions with their answers below your content, which are also relevant to it. This will maximize the chances of these questions being searched and appearing on featured snippets.
Google uses schema markup in your website’s HTML to better understand your content.
Schema markups appear in a coded form. They provide the search engines with all the necessary information about your content, for example, the title of your article, the heading sequences (H1, H2, H3), the author’s name, the published date, or what kind of content you have (a how-to or product information).
In case you included an FAQ section in your content, make sure you also have it in your schema markup to tell Google that you have a Q&A section. This will double the chances of Google featuring your FAQ in featured snippets.
Therefore, in order to hint to the search engines that your content can qualify for featured snippets, make sure to optimize your website schema markup.
Featured snippets are highly competitive, as people search for new information every single day.
Even if you make it to featured snippets, your competitors can still outrank you and take your positions. This mostly happens when you fail to update your content and provide users with fresh information.
Try to go deeper into your topic, update with fresh information, and provide new steps or tips, if relevant.
Pay special attention to the “People also ask” section on Google and answer the questions asked there.
After you are done with featured snippet optimization, you can check whether or not you’ve appeared on featured snippets and for which keywords on Ahrefs or Google Search Console.
To do so, follow these steps:
The short answer is yes, they are.
In fact, although nowadays Google’s AI Overviews are appearing on search results more often, featured snippets are also still there. It mostly depends on query type and search intent.
As of September 2025, we have tried searching for various options with various search intents to see which search results show up in featured snippets.
We have found out that featured snippets still appear for certain definitions, informational queries, and, mostly, lists.
An example of an informational snippet (searched on September 11, 2025):
Examples of list snippets (searched on September 11, 2025):
Even if your content is slightly underperforming in search results, featured snippets can help it stand out.
With featured snippets and AI Overviews working together, it’s crucial to keep your content optimized and current if you want to reach Google’s position zero.
Not sure about your SEO skills? Our SEO services are here to improve your visibility, enhance your rankings, and make your content Google-famous.
And, why not? Give it a shot at that desired snippet spot.
Featured snippets are good for your content’s SEO, especially if you are not ranking in the top search results. If your content is structured and precise enough to answer users’ queries, Google can feature it on featured snippets, driving clicks and traffic to your page.
No. Google features snippets are not paid. They are organic search results chosen by Google based on how relevant and helpful the content is.
Although, since 2024, most of the queries are appearing on AI Overviews, featured snippets are still available, especially when searching for lists or definitions.