Definition
SERP features are the elements on a search results page other than standard organic links: AI-generated answers, featured snippets, local packs, knowledge panels, People Also Ask boxes, video and image carousels, shopping listings, Top Stories, sitelinks and rich results such as star ratings. Each feature has its own eligibility rules and data sources, so winning one is a different job from ranking an organic link.
On Google in 2026, the main features fall into a few groups:
- AI features: AI Overviews, which appear above results for many queries, and links to AI Mode. They cite web pages selected through Google's index; a 2026 study of 55,393 queries found nearly 30% of cited domains did not appear on the first results page at all.
- Answer features: featured snippets (a quoted passage from one page) and People Also Ask (expandable related questions, each with its own source).
- Entity features: knowledge panels drawn from Google's Knowledge Graph and business profiles.
- Local features: the map-based local pack, fed by Google Business Profile data and reviews.
- Media and commerce: video, image and short-video carousels, Top Stories for news, and free and paid shopping listings fed by Merchant Center.
- Rich results: enhancements to a standard link, such as review stars, product price and availability, recipe details or event dates, triggered by schema markup.
The set changes often, and recent changes have mostly been removals. Google stopped showing HowTo rich results in September 2023 and limited FAQ rich results to government and health sites the month before. In June 2025 it announced it would phase out seven lesser-used structured data features, including Claim Review, Course Info, Estimated Salary and Vehicle Listing. On May 7, 2026, FAQ rich results stopped appearing entirely, according to Google's Search Console help. Markup for retired features can stay on a page without harm, but it no longer earns a visible result.
AI Overviews have become the feature that matters most on informational queries. Comscore measured them on 39.4% of US desktop searches in June 2026. They push other features and organic links down the page, and Pew Research found that users clicked a link inside an AI summary on only 1% of visits. Being cited is still worth tracking, because the citation itself carries brand exposure even without a click. Since August 31, 2026, Search Console has a dedicated generative AI performance report showing which pages earn impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode.
To work on SERP features, start by recording which ones appear for each target query, since that is the clearest signal of how Google reads intent. Then pick the features you can realistically win: a local pack needs a complete business profile and reviews, a featured snippet needs a concise answer passage directly under a matching heading, a video carousel needs a video, and an AI Overview citation needs a crawlable page that states the answer clearly with specific facts. Track presence per feature over time, because Google tests and retires features without much notice. See SERP for the page as a whole and zero-click search for the traffic effect.
Examples of SERP Features
- A help center loses its FAQ dropdowns on May 7, 2026, and Search Console reports a sharp drop in FAQ impressions. Its FAQ markup stays in place, and the team redirects effort toward featured snippets by placing 40 to 60 word answers directly under question headings.
- A plumbing company with a complete Google Business Profile, 300 recent reviews and accurate hours appears in the local pack for 'emergency plumber' across its city, while a competitor with a stronger website but a thin profile does not.
- A cooking channel adds chapters and accurate titles to its YouTube videos and starts appearing in the video carousel for 'how to fold dumplings', a query where its blog post had never reached page one.
- An insurance comparison site checks its top 100 queries and finds AI Overviews on 62 of them. It starts tracking citations in those AI Overviews as a separate KPI next to organic rankings.
