PromptScoutWhat is Featured Snippets?
Featured Snippets are selected excerpts from a webpage displayed at the top of search results to directly answer a query. Featured Snippets are a type of SERP feature and are commonly triggered by clear question-and-answer formatting.
Quick definition
Featured Snippets are short answers pulled from a webpage and shown directly in search results.
How Featured Snippets works
- Featured Snippets are selected when a search engine identifies a passage that matches search intent.
- Featured Snippets often use a paragraph, list, or table format.
- Featured Snippets tend to appear for queries where a concise, stable answer exists.
- Featured Snippets can overlap with AEO goals because both reward answer-ready formatting.
Why Featured Snippets matters
Featured Snippets matters because the snippet can capture attention and reduce the need to click.
Featured Snippets affects:
- click-through behavior (including zero-click search)
- which pages are treated as authoritative for a specific question
- how content is summarized by downstream systems
Example use cases
- Structuring a glossary entry so the first paragraph is a self-contained definition.
- Using headings and bullet lists to answer “how to” or “best” queries.
- Adding structured data to clarify page topic and key entities.