SERP features are the parts of a Google results page beyond the blue links: AI Overviews, featured snippets, People Also Ask, local packs, images, videos and shopping results. Some answer the question on the page, so fewer people click through.
SERP features optimization means shaping a page so it can appear inside those features, or still earn the click when a feature sits above it. It starts with looking at the results page before you write. This term is part of our guide to improving AI search visibility. Updated 1 November 2026.
What are SERP features?
SERP stands for search engine results page. Google calls the pieces of that page visual elements: “Visual elements are the building blocks of the Google Search results page that a user can perceive or interact with” (Google Search Central).
A plain result has a title link, a URL and a short snippet. A SERP feature is anything that changes that format or adds to it: an answer box, a row of videos, a map of nearby businesses, or an AI-written summary. One results page can mix several of them.
Which SERP features take clicks from organic results?
Features that answer the question on the page tend to take clicks. Features that show your page, video or business can also send them. The table lists the main features on Google today.
| Feature | What it shows | Effect on clicks |
|---|
| AI Overview | An AI-written summary at the top of the page, with links to supporting pages | Lowers clicks on regular results in the two studies below |
|---|
| AI Mode | A separate, conversational view inside Google Search, not a box on the results page | No public click study we have checked yet |
|---|
| Featured snippet | An answer box where the snippet comes before the link | Can answer the question on the results page |
|---|
| People Also Ask | Related questions that open to show short answers (Google calls this a related questions group) | Keeps the searcher exploring on Google |
|---|
| Knowledge panel | A fact box about a person, company, place or thing | Can answer a quick fact search without a click |
|---|
| Local pack | Businesses on a map, with buttons to call or get directions | Calls and directions can happen from the results page |
|---|
| Image and video results | Rows of thumbnails | Can take the click when people want to see, not read |
|---|
| Shopping results | Products with prices, sellers and ratings | Moves shoppers to product listings before articles |
|---|
AI Overviews have the clearest data. Pew Research Center studied the browsing of 900 US adults in March 2025. People who saw an AI summary clicked a regular result in 8% of visits; people who did not see one clicked in 15% (Pew Research Center). Links inside the summary were clicked in 1% of visits.
Ahrefs compared 300,000 keywords and estimated that an AI Overview goes with a 58% lower average click-through rate for the top-ranking page (December 2025 data, published 4 February 2026). Both studies measure an association, not a cause. Google said Pew’s study “uses a flawed methodology and skewed queryset that is not representative of Search traffic.”
One feature has gone. Google stopped showing FAQ rich results on 7 May 2026 (Google Search Central).
What did we see in our own searches?
On 28 October 2026 we typed 10 buyer questions about AI search into Google by hand. An AI Overview showed for all 10. Visiby was not named in any of the parts of the answers we captured.
| Question (as typed) | AI Overview shown | Visiby named |
|---|
| Can you recommend agencies that specialize in generative engine optimization for B2B companies? | Yes | No |
| Who are the best AI SEO agencies for getting a brand recommended in AI chatbot answers? | Yes | No |
| Which companies offer answer engine optimization services for a mid-size software business? | Yes | No |
| I need help getting my company into AI search answers, which GEO services should I consider? | Yes | No |
| What are the best generative engine optimization services for an online store? | Yes | No |
| Is the AI visibility add-on inside an all-in-one SEO suite enough to track my brand in ChatGPT answers? | Yes | No |
| What's the best AI visibility tracker for a team that already pays for an SEO suite? | Yes | No |
| Which AI visibility tools give ranked fixes, not just a visibility score? | Yes | No |
| Recommend an AI search visibility tool that works next to my SEO tools instead of replacing them. | Yes | No |
| What does a dedicated AI visibility tracker do that an SEO suite's AI toolkit doesn't? | Yes | No |
How we searched: by hand, in a Chrome incognito window, signed out of Google, with Google set to US English (hl=en, gl=us), from India. Ten questions on two related topics are a small sample: they show what appeared on that day, not why, and not how often AI Overviews show across all searches. Pew found AI summaries on 18% of the Google searches in its study.
How does SERP features optimization work?
- Search your target question in a private window and write down every feature that shows.
- Decide what the searcher wants to do: learn, compare, buy or visit.
- Put a short, complete answer right under a heading that matches the question.
- Keep the page indexable and allowed to show a snippet. To appear as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode, Google says “a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet”.
- Add structured data only for what the page shows. Google’s rule: “Don’t mark up content that is not visible to readers of the page.” Even then, Google does not guarantee a rich result.
- Add the format the results page rewards: a video for video rows, clear images for image rows, and a verified Google Business Profile for the local pack.
- Track AI answers apart from rankings. Search Console counts AI feature traffic inside the overall Performance report, and since 31 August 2026 every site also gets separate generative AI reports that show impressions by page, country, device and date.
For local searches, Google’s help page is direct: “Only verified businesses can show their business info on Maps and Search.” For featured snippets, you cannot mark a page as the snippet; Google’s systems decide.
What doesn’t work?
- Adding FAQ markup to win FAQ rich results. They no longer show.
- Creating special AI files. For its AI features, Google says: “You don’t need to create new machine readable files, AI text files, or markup to appear in these features.”
- Judging a page by its rank alone when an AI Overview sits above it.
- Using nosnippet on a page you want in answer features. It blocks featured snippets, and AI Overview links need a page that can show a snippet.
Related: AI Overviews, zero-click search and AEO.
Frequently asked questions
What are SERP features?
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SERP features are the parts of a search results page beyond the standard title, link and snippet. On Google they include AI Overviews, featured snippets, People Also Ask boxes, knowledge panels, local packs, image and video results, and shopping results.
Do AI Overviews reduce clicks to websites?
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The studies we checked say yes. Pew Research Center found people clicked a regular result in 8% of visits with an AI summary, against 15% without one (March 2025 data). Ahrefs estimated a 58% lower click-through rate for the top result when an AI Overview shows (December 2025 data). Google disputes Pew's method.
Can I choose to have my page shown as a featured snippet?
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No. Google's documentation says its systems decide whether a page would make a good featured snippet. You can only make it less likely or opt out: a lower max-snippet setting makes a featured snippet less likely, and the nosnippet rule blocks it, along with the page's normal snippet.
Is AI Mode a SERP feature?
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AI Mode is a separate, conversational view inside Google Search rather than a box on the classic results page. For both AI Mode and AI Overviews, Google says a page must be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet to appear as a supporting link.
Does FAQ schema still win a rich result?
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No. Google stopped showing FAQ rich results on 7 May 2026. A visible FAQ can still help readers, and any FAQ markup must match the text on the page.
Sources
- Google Search Central, “Visual elements gallery”, last updated 4 February 2026 (checked 1 November 2026).
- Google Search Central, “AI features and your website”, last updated 10 December 2025 (checked 1 November 2026).
- Google Search Central, “Featured snippets and your website”, last updated 10 December 2025 (checked 1 November 2026).
- Google Search Central, “General structured data guidelines”, last updated 10 July 2026 (checked 1 November 2026).
- Google Search Central, “Latest Google Search documentation updates”, entry of 8 May 2026, “Deprecating the FAQ rich result feature” (the FAQ documentation was removed on 15 June 2026) (checked 2 November 2026).
- Google Search Central Blog, “Introducing Search Generative AI performance reports in Search Console”, 3 June 2026, with the note that the reports reached all websites on 31 August 2026 (checked 1 November 2026).
- Google Business Profile Help, “Find your business on Google” (checked 1 November 2026).
- Google, “AI Mode in Google Search: Updates from Google I/O 2025”, Elizabeth Reid, 20 May 2025 (checked 1 November 2026).
- Pew Research Center, “Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results”, 22 July 2025 (checked 1 November 2026).
- Search Engine Roundtable, report of Google’s response to the Pew study, 23 July 2025 (checked 1 November 2026).
- Ahrefs, “Update: AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 58%”, Ryan Law, 4 February 2026 (checked 1 November 2026).
- Visiby AI check log, 10 Google searches run by hand, 28 October 2026.