Search Concepts
Featured Snippet
A highlighted search result that appears at the top of Google's results page, showing a direct answer extracted from a web page. Featured snippets are considered precursors to AI-generated answers.
Featured snippets were Google's first step toward answer-based search. Content that earns featured snippets often has the structural qualities that AI systems also value: clear definitions, structured formatting, authoritative sourcing, and concise answers. While AI Overviews are replacing many featured snippets, the optimization strategies overlap significantly. Brands that consistently earn featured snippets tend to perform well in AI search visibility.