Featured snippet
FEE-cherd SNIP-it
A highlighted answer box at the top of Google search results that extracts and displays content from a web page.
A featured snippet is the answer box that appears above the regular search results on Google. When you search 'what is annual recurring revenue,' Google pulls a definition from a web page and displays it prominently. That is the featured snippet, sometimes called 'position zero.'
Featured snippets are valuable because they get the click even when you are not the #1 organic result. Google can pull a snippet from the page ranked #3 or #5. Formats include paragraph snippets (definitions), list snippets (steps or items), and table snippets (comparisons).
To win a featured snippet, structure your content to directly answer the question. Use a clear heading that matches the query, followed by a concise answer in the first paragraph. For list snippets, use proper HTML heading tags and ordered/unordered lists. Google's algorithm favors clear, direct, well-structured answers.
Examples
A glossary page wins a featured snippet for a definition query.
The page for 'net dollar retention' includes the short definition right after the H1 heading. Google pulls that definition into a paragraph snippet for 'what is net dollar retention.' Click-through rate from the snippet is 35%.
A blog post loses its featured snippet to a competitor.
The post held the 'how to calculate CAC' snippet for six months. A competitor published a cleaner answer with a formula in a table format. Google switched the snippet to the competitor's page.
A content team optimizes existing posts for snippets.
They identify 50 queries where their pages rank in the top 5 but do not hold the snippet. For each, they add a clear definition paragraph or a properly formatted list right after the relevant heading.
In practice
Read more on the blog
Frequently asked questions
Do featured snippets hurt organic click-through rates?
It depends. If your page holds the snippet, your CTR usually increases. But snippets can also satisfy the query without a click (zero-click search). For definitional queries, some users get their answer from the snippet and never visit the page.
Can you opt out of featured snippets?
Yes. You can add a 'nosnippet' meta tag or 'data-nosnippet' attribute to prevent Google from using your content in snippets. But most sites want snippet visibility, so opting out is rare.
Related terms
The page displayed by a search engine in response to a query, containing organic results, ads, and rich features.
A search where the user gets their answer directly on the results page without clicking through to any website.
A specific, multi-word search phrase with lower volume but higher intent than broad keywords.
Structured data added to web pages that helps search engines understand the content and display rich results.
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