They’re made up of organic and paid search results.
In this guide, you’ll learn:
- Why SERPs matter for SEO.
- How to get in the SERPs.
- What changed when Google introduced AI to SERPs.
- How to monitor the SERPs.
- How to use the SERPs for SEO.
Most people click organic results on the first page of the SERPs and rarely visit page two.
According to our study analyzing billions of search results, 96.6% of all clicks go to results on the first page . Page two receives less than 1% of clicks, and page three gets virtually zero traffic. This means if you’re not ranking on page one, you’re missing out on nearly all potential organic traffic for that keyword.
| 2025-08-01 | Top 10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | >30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desktop click percentage | 96.98 | 1.77 | 0.56 | 0.7 |
| Mobile click percentage | 97.56 | 1.52 | 0.49 | 0.42 |
This is why everyone wants to rank on the first page of Google. If you’re on page two or beyond, you’re practically invisible.
But ranking on the first page doesn’t always equate to lots of traffic for a few reasons.
First, most of the organic clicks go to the first few positions.
Second, paid results often push the organic rankings down in the SERP.
For example, Google shows four paid ads above the organic results for “buy eyeglasses online.” Because of this, 27% of all clicks go to paid results.
Third, Google sometimes shows SERP features that answer the query in the search results.
The most notable example is AI Overviews (previously called SGE —Search Generative Experience), which Google began rolling out in May 2024. AI Overviews appear at the very top of the SERP and provide AI-generated answers that synthesize information from multiple sources.
Google has fundamentally changed the SERP landscape with AI-powered features. Here’s what you need to know.
AI Overviews
AI Overviews (AIOs) represent Google’s biggest change to search results in over a decade. Instead of simply linking to websites, Google now generates original answers by analyzing multiple sources and synthesizing the information.
AI Overviews typically include:
- A multi-paragraph AI-generated answer.
- A list of source links the AI referenced.
- Links to featured brands or products. These may open a new search or, in some cases, link directly to the brand’s website.
- The ability to ask additional questions in a conversational format (this launches AI Mode)
AI Overviews can answer the user’s question directly in the search results, potentially eliminating the need to click through to any website. These appear for 21% of all queries, and 99% of them appear for informational searches where users want quick, comprehensive answers.
AI Overviews’ impact on SEO is significant, to say the least. When an AI Overview appears, it can reduce clicks to organic results by 34.5%, especially for informational queries that can be fully answered in the SERP.
AI Mode
In late 2024, Google began testing “AI Mode”—a dedicated search experience that’s entirely AI-driven.
When users toggle into AI Mode, every query receives an AI-generated conversational response. To do this, the system instantly performs two key actions:
- Fan-Out Queries: AI breaks your question down and runs multiple, related searches simultaneously. This ‘casts a wider net’ to gather different perspectives and ensures no important details are missed.
- Organic Results: These are the traditional web links and articles used by AI to generate the answer. The AI reads these results in real-time to learn the answers and uses them as the factual building blocks for its response, ensuring the information is grounded in reality.”
AI Mode isn’t really a SERP feature. It’s more like a new way to experience search results, and over time, it could even replace the traditional SERP altogether.
Web Guides (Experimental)
Google Web Guides are another new experiment where Google’s AI creates comprehensive, multi-page guides on complex topics. 
These appear for queries that would traditionally require visiting multiple websites to get a complete answer. The AI compiles information from various sources into a structured, easy-to-follow format.
SERPs may look different for each query, but they’re all made up of the same three building blocks. These are:
- Paid ads
- Organic results
- SERP features
Below, we’ll walk through each of these in detail and explain how you can show up there.
Paid ads
Paid search results appear before, and sometimes also after the organic results. Both types of results are virtually indistinguishable, the only real difference being that paid ads are marked as such.
Paid ads work on a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) basis, meaning that advertisers bid on keywords and pay Google for each click. The highest bidders generally receive prime placement, although Google also takes other factors like the relevance of the ad and CTR into account.
Bottomline: If you want to appear in paid ads, you’ll have to dig into your piggy bank.
Organic results
Organic search results are pages from Google’s index.
Because there are often thousands of matching results, Google sorts them using hundreds of ranking factors. As a result, the most relevant and high-quality pages generally end up on the first page of the SERPs.
Nobody knows all of Google’s ranking factors, but we do know some of them.
For example, we know that the number of backlinks to a page is important.
In terms of how Google displays organic results, they usually show the title, URL, and a descriptive snippet.
You can tell Google what to display in the SERP by setting the page’s title tag, URL slug, and meta description.
However, while Google almost always shows the hardcoded title tag in the SERP, it often chooses something other than the meta description for the snippet.
For pages with structured data, Google sometimes shows rich snippets alongside the regular organic results, too.
Bottomline: if you want to appear in the organic search results, you need to focus on creating the best and most relevant result for the query. You also need to make sure Google can index your pages, and that they’re optimized for search.
For some YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) topics, the bar for ranking will be significantly higher. YMYL refers to content that could potentially impact a person’s health, financial stability, safety, or well-being. This includes topics like:
- Medical and health information.
- Financial advice and investing.
- Legal information.
- News and current events.
- Safety information.
For these queries, Google applies stricter evaluation standards and relies heavily on E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. This means:
- Experience: First-hand or life experience with the topic.
- Expertise: Formal education, credentials, or professional knowledge.
- Authoritativeness: Recognition as a go-to source in the field.
- Trustworthiness: Accuracy, transparency, and reputation.
To rank for YMYL topics, you’ll typically need demonstrable credentials, author bios highlighting qualifications, citations to authoritative sources, and a strong reputation in your field.
SERP features
SERP features are non-traditional results. They can be paid, organic, or pulled directly from Google’s Knowledge Graph.
While the purpose of SERP features is sometimes to directly generate revenue for Google (i.e., Shopping ads), the aim is most often to provide information in the search results without the need to click a result.
For this reason, SERP features have a significant effect on SEO.
Recent estimates suggest that nearly 60% of searches now result in no clicks:
However, being featured in SERP features can also increase clicks to your website.
Bottomline: It’s possible to show up in some SERP features, but the way you do that depends on the type of feature.
Google shows dozens of SERP features in the results, and they’re always testing new ones.
Below, we’ll cover some of the most common, their sources of data, and whether it’s possible to appear in them to win more traffic to your site.
- AI Overviews
- Knowledge Card
- Knowledge Panel
- Image pack
- Map pack or Local pack
- Top stories
- People Also Ask (PAA)
- Sponsored shopping results
- Organic product grids
- Sitelinks
- Videos
- Short videos
- What people are saying/Discussions and forums
- Short videos
- Featured snippets
AI Overviews
We’ve already covered what AI Overviews are, so let’s focus on how you can get your site into those.
AI Overviews do appear mostly on the top of the SERPs, but not all that glitters is gold.
According to Pew Research Center, users rarely click on links within AI Overviews. Engagement rates are significantly lower than traditional featured snippets or organic results. When the AI answers the question completely, there’s simply less motivation to click through.
However, there may be an important exception to this: product recommendations.
Recently, AI Overviews started appearing much more frequently for product-related queries like “top noise-canceling headphones under $200.” In these cases, the AI Overview often mentions specific brands and products by name.
Even when Google doesn’t link directly to your site, appearing in these product-focused AI Overviews can significantly increase brand demand, because a click on brand names triggers a search of the clicked brand.
We’ve made a detailed video that breaks down the specific short-term tactics you can implement right now to increase your chances of being cited by Google’s AI:
https://youtu.be/6NFei1FbytM?si=A6uRmJ4DGyuJ1eRx
While you should optimize for AI Overviews tactically, the real investment should be in building your brand through. We found that brand signals have the biggest impact on AI Overview inclusion (that also applies to AI Mode and ChatGPT visibility).
For a deep dive into exactly which brand signals correlate most strongly with AI Overview inclusion and how to take advantage of that, read our full study:Top Brand Visibility Factors in ChatGPT, AI Mode, and AI Overviews (75k Brands Studied)
Knowledge card
Knowledge Cards appear at the top of the SERP and offer a short, definitive answer to the query. They come in various formats.
There are three main sources of data for Knowledge Cards: Google’s Knowledge Graph, data partners, and other highly-trusted sources like Wikipedia and official government bodies.
Can you appear in Knowledge Cards?
Unlikely. Since data is pulled exclusively from Google-owned and trusted third-party sources, appearing in a Knowledge Card isn’t possible for most websites.
Knowledge Panel
Knowledge Panels provide information about the main subject of the query. They usually appear near the top of the SERP on mobile, and on the right-hand side on desktop.
Like Knowledge Cards, most of the data in Knowledge Panels comes from the Knowledge Graph, and trusted sources like Wikipedia and Wikidata.
However, Google sometimes also links to social profiles and partners.
Can you appear in the Knowledge Panel?
Yes. Google shows branded Knowledge Panels for companies in the Knowledge Graph. These usually include a direct link to the company’s website and links to social profiles.
Your company logo can also show up in competitors’ Knowledge Panels, although it doesn’t link to your website. It performs a Google search for the company name when clicked.
Image pack
Image packs show a handful of thumbnails, and clicking on them takes you to Google Images. They often appear at the top of the SERP, but can appear further down the page.
Can you appear in Image packs?
Kind of. Images from your website can show up here, but the link will always take the searcher to Google Images—not your website. However, once they click through to Google Images, they’ll see a link to the image source.
Map pack
Map packs (also called the “Local Pack”) show a map with three local business listings below it. These appear for searches with local intent, like “coffee shops near me” or “plumber in Seattle.”
Each listing includes:
- Business name and category.
- Star rating and review count.
- Address and hours.
- Phone number and website link.
Map packs typically appear near the top of the SERP for local queries and can drive significant foot traffic to physical businesses.
Can you appear in map packs?
Yes. To appear in map packs, you need:
- A verified Google Business Profile.
- Consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) information across the web.
- Reviews from real customers.
- Relevant business categories.
- Complete business information and photos.
Local SEO factors like proximity to the searcher, relevance to the query, and prominence (based on reviews and citations) determine which businesses appear.
Top stories
Top stories carousels show recently-published articles, live blogs, and videos. Google displays a thumbnail, title, publisher name, and timestamp for each result, and they usually appear near the top of the SERP.
Can you appear in Top Stories carousels?
Yes. However, according to research by News Dashboard, 99.31% of results on desktop come from sites that are indexed in Google News.
It’s also worth noting that most rankings here are short-lived, as the purpose of the SERP feature is generally to show new results, and pages can’t be new for long.
People Also Ask (PAA)
People Also Ask boxes show related questions that searchers ask Google. Each question unfolds to reveal an answer pulled from a web page displayed in a similar way to Featured Snippets.
Google loads more related questions every time you click to reveal an answer.
Can you appear in People Also Ask boxes?
Yes. Like Featured Snippets, answers to the questions in PAA boxes come from third-parties. Having content that answers one or more of these questions means you have a chance of appearing in a PAA box.
That said, it’s unlikely that showing up here will lead to a lot more traffic. PAA boxes are more useful for content research.
Sponsored shopping results
Shopping results, officially known as Product Listing Ads (PLAs), showcase relevant products from paid advertisers. Every result features the product name, price, and retailer, and some show reviews and special offers.
Most Shopping results show up for queries with transactional or commercial investigation search intent. For example, “buy protein powder” or “best protein powders.”
Can you appear in sponsored shopping results?
Yes, but it costs money. There’s no way to show up here organically. Learn more here.
Organic product grids
Google now displays “Popular Products” grids that are completely organic (free).
These grids show product images, prices, and ratings directly in the search results, usually for retail-focused keywords.
Can you appear in organic product grids?
Yes. You can appear there without paying for ads, but some technical setup is required.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Upload your product feed to Google Merchant Center and enable Free product listings.
- Use proper Schema markup on your product pages so Google can confirm your prices and whether items are in stock.
- Collect reviews and ratings from customers to build trust and improve visibility.
- Share local inventory data if you want your products to appear in results like “In stores nearby.”
Once these pieces are in place, your products can show up organically in Google’s product grids.
Sitelinks
Sitelinks are links to other pages on the ranking website or other parts of the ranking page. They’re more of an enhancement to regular organic results than a SERP feature, as they appear as ‘extra’ links below a result.
The benefit of sitelinks are twofold:
- People can find what they’re searching for faster.
- People are more likely to click on your website in the SERP, which means more organic traffic.
Can you appear in Sitelinks?
Yes. Google usually shows sitelinks for branded queries, so it’s likely that people already see sitelinks when searching for your website.
For non-branded queries, you’re more likely to ‘win’ sitelinks when your page is popular and has internal links to other relevant content—at least from my observations.
Videos
Video results are organic results enhanced with a video thumbnail. Only pages with embedded videos are eligible, and Google also usually shows the upload date, duration, and the name of the uploader in the SERP.
Most video results come from YouTube, but they can show up for other websites too.
Can you appear in the Video results?
Yes. For embedded videos hosted on YouTube, Google sometimes shows thumbnails in the SERP. For embedded videos hosted elsewhere, the page needs VideoObject schema markup to be eligible for this feature.
Short videos
While the “Videos” feature used to be dominated by YouTube tutorials, the SERP now frequently includes a grid of vertical, short-form videos from TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels.
These usually appear for “how-to” queries, reviews, or visual inspiration topics (e.g., “kitchen organization hacks”).
Can you appear in Short videos?
Yes, you can do it by making Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and TikToks. Using clear captions and titles that match search intent is key to getting these clips indexed in the main search results.
What people are saying and Discussions and forums
The “Discussions and forums” and “What people are saying” blocks are dedicated sections in the SERP that highlight content from community platforms like Reddit, Quora, LinkedIn, and niche industry forums.
The features were introduced to provide more visibility to the consumer’s voice, or the “Experience” (part of Google’s EEAT guidelines). Google knows that for queries like “best running shoes for flat feet,” users often trust real people on Reddit more than generic blog posts.
Can you appear in Discussions and Forums?
Yes. To appear, you must have an active, helpful presence on relevant forum threads. If a thread you started or replied to gains traction and relevance, Google may pull that specific discussion thread into this block.
Featured snippets
You’ll notice we covered featured snippets in this guide, but it looks like AI Overviews are rapidly replacing them. Our analysis shows that as AI Overviews roll out, featured snippets are disappearing from the SERPs. Unless you’re already ranking in the top 3 and can win one with a quick tweak, your time is better spent elsewhere.
Featured snippets show a snippet of content from one of the top-ranking web pages. They’re usually displayed at the top of the SERP, although other results sometimes appear above them.
Common snippet formats include:
- Paragraph
- List
- Table
Not all featured snippets are text. Google sometimes shows videos (often referred to as suggested clips):
Can you appear in Featured Snippets?
Yes. Most of the time, Google pulls the snippet from one of the top five results.
If you’re already ranking in the top five for a query, and Google shows a featured snippet, it may be worth optimizing your page to try to appear there.
Keeping an eye on your rankings in search results is a big part of SEO. Here’s a simple way to do it, starting with free tools and moving up as needed.
Free tools to get started
You don’t need paid software right away. These tools cover the basics:
Quickly see the top 10 results for any keyword in 243 countries. No login needed. It shows unbiased results without Google’s personalization.
A browser extension that lets you view search results as if you were in another country, language, or device. If you use Ahrefs, it also shows helpful SEO metrics directly in the results.
See which keywords your site ranks for, which pages are ranking, and how positions change over time. You can filter by top rankings, keywords, or SERP features. Free for verified site owners.
Google’s own tool shows where you rank across web, image, video, and news search. It also tracks click-through rates, helping you improve titles and meta descriptions.
If you need deeper insights, consider a paid solution like Ahrefs’ Rank Tracker. Among others, our Rank Tracker allows you to:
- Track competitors and compare how much visibility you have versus them.
- Monitor local rankings down to the zip code.
- Spot keyword cannibalization when multiple pages compete.
- Use advanced metrics like Share of Voice and Share of Traffic Value.
Screenshot from Ahrefs’ Rank Tracker showing a dashboard with competitor tracking using metrics: Share of Voice, Average position, Traffic, SERP features, and ranking buckets breakdown.
The SERP is your best guide for understanding what Google (and users) want for any given query. Here’s how to leverage SERP analysis for better content.
Analyze search intent with the 3Cs
Look at the top 10 results and note three things:
- Content type: What kind of page is ranking? (Blog post, product page, landing page, video, tool).
- Content format: How is the information structured? (How-to guide, list, review, comparison).
- Content angle: What’s the main hook? (Beginner-friendly, updated for 2025, affordable options, in-depth guide).
This shows you what style and angle your content needs to meet user expectations.
For example, for a keyword like “summer vacation”, your best bets to rank are most likely articles listing vacation ideas and YouTube videos.
Identify what to cover
See what the top pages have in common by checking:
- Headings on high-ranking pages.
- “People Also Ask” questions.
- “Searches related to…” at the bottom of the results page.
These clues reveal what users expect answers to.
Automate the analysis
Tools like Ahrefs AI Content Helper can do the SERP analysis for you. It figures out search intent automatically and highlights the common topics you should cover. It also scores your page and shows how well you’ve covered each topic, giving you a clear, visual way to track your progress and see what’s missing.
This saves hours of manual work and ensures you don’t miss critical insights.
