SERP Features

D

• Discover feed

  Google Discover is the personalized content feed shown on the Google mobile app and Android home screen, formerly called Google Now. It serves articles algorithmically based on user interests — no query involved. Eligibility appears in Search Console only after Discover starts driving traffic.

F

• Featured snippet

  A featured snippet is an answer extracted from a top-10 organic result and displayed at the top of the SERP, often called "Position 0". Four primary formats exist: paragraph, numbered or bulleted list, table, and video. Eligibility requires ranking in the top ten and matching question intent.

I

• Image pack

  An image pack is an inline horizontal carousel of image results displayed on the SERP for queries with visual intent. The pack typically shows 4-12 thumbnails. Clicking any thumbnail opens Google Images, not the source URL — a click-path detour the publisher rarely recovers.

K

• Knowledge Graph

  The Knowledge Graph is Google's structured database of entities — people, places, organizations, things — and the relationships between them. Launched in 2012, it powers knowledge panels, the entity disambiguation layer in ranking, and increasingly the grounding for AI Overviews.

• Knowledge panel

  A knowledge panel is the entity card Google displays on the right side of desktop SERPs (or top on mobile) for queries about a specific person, place, organization, product, or thing. Powered by the Knowledge Graph, it aggregates facts from Wikipedia, Wikidata, structured data, and licensed feeds.

L

• Local pack

  The local pack — also called the map pack or 3-pack — is the SERP block showing a map with three local business listings, displayed for queries with local intent. It pulls data from Google Business Profile and ranks by relevance, distance, and prominence.

P

• People Also Ask (PAA)

  People Also Ask (PAA) is an expandable question box on the SERP showing related questions with collapsible answers. Each click loads more questions dynamically, sometimes infinitely. Sources are top-ranking pages — eligibility is roughly the same as featured snippets.

• People Also Search For

  People Also Search For is a related-queries box that appears under a search result when a user clicks through and then returns to the SERP. The box shows alternative queries Google thinks better match the user's intent. Often called "pogo-stick" behavior because the user bounced.

R

• Rich result

  A rich result is a SERP listing visually enhanced by structured data — product prices, recipe ratings, event dates, FAQ expansions, and more. Eligibility depends on schema markup that matches a documented Google rich-result type. Test eligibility with the Rich Results Test.

S

• Shopping results

  Shopping results are the product listings on the SERP, mixing paid Product Shopping ads with organic shopping listings. Ads pull from a Google Merchant Center feed. Organic listings pull from the same feed plus product schema on indexed pages — opt-in to free listings is required.

• Site links

  Site links are the indented sub-page links Google shows beneath a top result, most often for branded or navigational queries. Up to 6-10 links can appear in expanded layouts. Generation is automatic, but you can influence which pages qualify and demote ones you don't want.

T

• Things to know

  Things to Know is a SERP feature that displays expandable subtopics for broad queries, introduced in 2022 and powered by Google's MUM algorithm. Each subtopic expands to show related aspects of the query. Many implementations are display-only — the subtopics aren't clickable.

• Top stories

  Top Stories is the news carousel that appears on the SERP for queries with news intent or freshness signals. It rotates a handful of recent articles with publisher logos and timestamps. Eligibility requires inclusion in Google News and meeting technical and editorial signals.

V

• Video carousel

  A video carousel is a SERP block of video results, usually 3-6 thumbnails in a horizontal row, shown for queries with video intent. YouTube dominates algorithmically — non-YouTube videos compete only when properly marked up with VideoObject schema and listed in a video sitemap.