What Are Featured Snippets?
Featured snippets are short text excerpts that appear at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs), designed to give users quick, direct answers.
Google pulls these snippets directly from a webpage and links back to the source for users who want to learn more.
Here’s a featured snippet example:
Google displays featured snippets in SERPs when its ranking systems determine that users are looking for answers to specific questions that Google can address by showing specific passages from relevant webpages.
They fall under the larger umbrella known as SERP features, which are special results that stand out from traditional search listings.
Are AI Overviews Featured Snippets?
No, AI Overviews are not the same as featured snippets.
Featured snippets pull a direct passage from a single webpage. In contrast, AI Overviews generate multi-source summaries using AI models like Google Gemini.
While AI Overviews may reduce some of the clicks that snippets traditionally received, not every query triggers an AI Overview. And when both appear on the same results page, featured snippets still occupy a highly visible spot.
So if you’re wondering if it still makes sense to optimize your content for featured snippets, it does.
Why Getting Featured Snippets Is Good for SEO
Featured snippets are valuable for SEO because they put your content in a prime position on Google’s search results page, often leading to more clicks.
They can sometimes contribute to zero-click searches where users get answers without clicking through. Still, they provide important brand benefits, including:
Enhanced Visibility
Securing featured snippets gives you prime SERP real estate and can make you one of the most prominent results on the page.
On mobile devices, featured snippets occupy about 50% of the screen in some cases. This pushes competitors below the fold and ensures your content captures user attention first.
Increased Traffic to Your Site
Appearing in featured snippets can drive more organic traffic to your site by placing your content in a highly visible place that can attract clicks.
Even if featured snippets are zero-click searches in the sense that they answer the immediate question directly on the page, users who are interested in learning more may be enticed to click through to your page.
Stronger Authority
Being selected for a featured snippet signals that your website is authoritative and that your content is trustworthy.
That can:
- Reinforce your site's reputation
- Showcase your expertise right there on the SERP itself
- Build user confidence in your content
That stronger authority could also translate to more branded searches later on.
Types of Featured Snippets
There are four main types of featured snippets: paragraphs, lists, tables, and videos.
Let’s go over each:
Paragraph Snippets
Paragraph snippets provide a concise text-based answer to a user’s query, often in one or two sentences.
Google can also include relevant images next to paragraph snippets in some cases.
Like this:
The paragraph is the most common snippet type.
List Snippets
List snippets present information in either ordered (numbered) or unordered (bulleted) lists.
Ordered lists often detail steps or rankings.
Like this:
While unordered lists provide collections of related items.
Like this:
These snippets are sometimes pulled from lists in the content. Or from headers.
Table Snippets
Table snippets display data in a structured table format, making it easy to compare information such as prices, sizes, or measurements.
Video Snippets
Video snippets feature short video clips and often address how-to or action-based queries.
In the video, Google often highlights a specific timestamp that directly addresses the query.
How to Find Featured Snippet Opportunities
Identifying search queries that trigger featured snippets helps you understand the snippet type (e.g., paragraph, list, etc.), so you can tailor your content accordingly.
If you already have keywords in mind, perform a Google search for each one and check if a featured snippet appears.
Take note of the snippet format and assess whether the content aligns with your expertise.
For example, a baking blogger might know they want to target “how to bake a cake step by step.” Which displays a list snippet breaking down the steps:
But the query “how to decorate a cake” doesn’t display a snippet:
You can repeat this process to uncover additional keywords that trigger featured snippets.
However, manual searches can be time-consuming. And they rely on you already knowing which keywords you want to target.
Plus, featured snippets may not always appear consistently for the same keyword due to factors such as your location, search history, and whether you use an incognito window.
To speed up the process and find new keyword ideas, use Semrush's Keyword Magic Tool.
Open the tool, enter a seed keyword (a broad term related to your niche), and click "Search."
You’ll then get a list of keyword ideas, along with useful metrics like search intent, search volume, and keyword difficulty.
This is all useful, but you want to narrow your search to only show keywords that trigger featured snippets.
To do this, click the “Advanced filters” drop-down menu, select the “Any” drop-down under “SERP features,” and select the box next to “Featured snippet.” Then click “Apply.”
This will generate a filtered list of keywords that trigger featured snippets in the search results.
Click on the “Open SERP” icon to view the search results and see what the current featured snippet looks like.
For example, you might see video snippet, like this:
Visit the page to understand why the content got the featured snippet. Then brainstorm ways to make your own content more comprehensive and engaging to hopefully steal that featured snippet.
How to Optimize for Featured Snippets
You need to focus on creating clear and well-structured content if you want to rank for featured snippets.
Here are some simple tips to improve your chances of appearing for them:
Answer Questions Directly
Featured snippets are designed to provide clear, concise, and accurate responses to specific queries, so that’s what you should aim to do in your content.
Ensure your content answers the query clearly and directly within the first few lines. Whether that’s the first few lines of the article itself, or the first few lines after a heading.
For paragraph snippets, this means crafting a 40-50 word response that is clear and direct.
Start with a straightforward statement that immediately answers the user’s question. You can use additional context or details to add value, but the main answer should come first.
For example, ONSAAS ranks for a paragraph snippet for the query “saas seo:”
Now let’s have a look at how they structured this content:
They asked the question in the subheading and answered it directly in a short one-sentence answer, followed by additional context in the next one-sentence paragraph.
Aim to write objectively—similar to a dictionary entry—avoiding personal opinions and emotional language.
Target Long-Tail Keywords
Focusing on long-tail keywords (highly specific queries that tend to be longer) is a good idea because featured snippets typically appear for these types of queries.
Short-tail keywords are broad and less specific, like:
- “seo tips”
- “cake recipe”
- “marketing techniques”
In contrast, long-tail keywords are more detailed and clearly indicate exactly what the user is looking for:
- “seo tips for small business”
- “how to bake a cake step by step”
- “effective marketing techniques for ecommerce startups”
If you're looking for long-tail keywords, use the Keyword Magic Tool.
Enter your seed keyword and click “Search.”
The tool will provide a list of related keywords you can browse to identify long-tail opportunities to target.
To narrow the results to only show long-tail keywords, use the “Advanced filters” feature.
Set the word count filter to show keywords with at least five words and click “Apply.”
(If the results still aren’t specific enough, you can use a larger number as the minimum word count.)
The filtered list will show long-tail keywords that are more specific. Which makes them excellent targets for creating content around to capture featured snippets.
To refine the list further, apply a keyword difficulty filter to identify keywords that are likely to be easier to rank for.
To do so, click on the “KD %” drop-down menu at the top. Then, select the “Easy” option to only display keywords with low competition.
Structure Your Content Appropriately
Organizing your content is key for earning featured snippets, especially for list and table snippets.
To optimize for list snippets, present steps or items in a way that Google can easily identify and display.
This involves using heading tags to clearly define your structure.
Heading tags (H1, H2, etc.) are HTML elements that structure your content in a hierarchical way.
You don’t need to place the entire list under one heading, although it’s often the most logical approach.
This is because Google can compile snippets by pulling headings from various parts of your content and converting them into list items.
For the query “seo content writing,” Google generates a list snippet from the website Bynder:
After reviewing their content, you learn that Google generated this snippet by simply extracting all the main subheadings from their article:
To rank for table snippets, include a clean, structured table in your content. Google can then pull the rows and columns directly into the snippet, which makes your data more scannable in search results.
Let’s look at an example for “netsuite pricing:”
For example, the featured snippet for "netsuite pricing" displays data pulled from a well-organized table on the source webpage.
The featured snippet displays data pulled from a well-organized table on the source webpage:
To increase your chances of ranking for table snippets:
- Organize your data into a clean, simple table with rows and columns
- Ensure the table is relevant to the query and provides clear data points
- Use a clear heading (e.g., H2 or H3) to introduce the table and explain what it represents
- Naturally include target keywords in the table heading and surrounding content
By structuring your content with clear headings for lists and organized tables for data, you make it easier for Google to feature your content in snippets. Therefore, increasing your visibility and click potential.
Target People Also Ask Questions
The People Also Ask (PAA) section on Google SERPs is an excellent resource for identifying low-volume, long-tail keywords that often trigger featured snippets.
When a user clicks a PAA question, it expands to reveal a brief answer that directly addresses the query.
Beneath the answer, there’s a link to the source page for users who want more detailed information.
For example, searching for “what are keywords in seo” displays a PAA section like this:
And by clicking the question “What are the 4 types of keywords for SEO?,” you’ll see an answer displayed in a similar way as a paragraph snippet.
This result comes from our blog, so let’s see how we structured it:
We used a subheading for the question, answered it in a short and direct answer, then added additional context for each keyword type below.
To uncover relevant PAA questions, tools like AlsoAsked can help you gather insights directly from Google’s PAA data.
Just enter a seed term, and the tool will generate a tree diagram of related questions pulled from Google’s PAA section.
It clusters these queries based on user intent. Offering a clear roadmap for creating targeted content that matches searchers’ needs.
Or use the Keyword Magic Tool to apply an advanced filter to show queries that trigger a PAA box.
There are a few ways to target PAA keywords.
First, by creating a dedicated page for each question. Use the PAA question as your title or H1, and provide a clear, direct answer immediately below it.
For example, Resume Genius ranks for the snippet “do cover letters need an address” by answering this question on a dedicated FAQ page:
Secondly, you can integrate PAA questions as H2 subheadings within longer blog posts.
For example, the query “what is a search engine optimization strategy” might trigger a paragraph snippet like this:
This question is formatted as an H2 heading on the source page. The answer is directly underneath, making it easy for Google to match up the answer with the question for the featured snippet.
Track Your Featured Snippets (and AI Overviews)
Tracking your featured snippets helps you see which content is performing, uncover new opportunities, and maintain visibility in search results.
With the rise of AI Overviews, it’s just as important to monitor where your site appears in these AI-generated summaries.
Semrush’s Position Tracking tool does both. That gives you a full picture of your visibility across traditional and AI-driven SERP features.
To get started, set up a Position Tracking project and choose your desired time frame.
Then, click the "Featured Snippets" tab.
Click "Already featured" to see how many of your pages are appearing for snippets triggered by your target keywords.
And click "Opportunities" to see which keywords trigger snippets that you don’t yet have.
In the “You” column, you’ll see where your site currently ranks in organic search.
The best opportunities to optimize for featured snippets are ones where you’re already on page 1.
By monitoring both snippets and AI Overviews in one place, you can adjust your strategy to capture as much SERP real estate as possible.