9 Types of Featured Snippets Explained: Boost Your Visibility

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Check out the 9 different types of featured snippets on Google search – from paragraph and list snippets to video and interactive formats.

Securing a spot on the first page of Google is no longer enough. The coveted position above the traditional #1 ranking – the featured snippet – is the new holy grail of SEO. But featured snippets aren’t a monolith. In fact, they come in a fascinating variety of forms, each designed to answer user queries in unique and engaging ways. This article will explain the 9 types of featured snippets and, more importantly, how understanding them can be the key to unlocking significantly boosted online visibility.

Table of Contents

Paragraph snippet

A paragraph snippet (also often called a definition box or answer box) is a featured snippet that presents a direct, concise answer to a user’s query in the form of a paragraph of text. It appears at the very top of Google’s search results page (SERP), above the traditional organic listings (and sometimes even above paid ads), in a prominent box.

Key Characteristics:

Format: Always in paragraph form – a block of text, typically ranging from about 40 to 50 words, but can sometimes be a bit longer or shorter depending on the complexity of the answer.
Content Source: Pulled directly from a webpage that Google deems authoritative and relevant to the user’s query. The snippet always includes a link back to the source page, usually placed below the paragraph text.
Query Type: Primarily triggered by question-based queries or queries that seek definitions, explanations, or factual information. Think of “who, what, when, where, why, how” questions, or queries seeking to understand concepts or topics.
Purpose: To provide users with a quick and direct answer to their question without them needing to click through to a website.

Examples of Queries that May Trigger Paragraph Snippets:

“What is SEO?”
“Who invented the light bulb?”
“When was the Eiffel Tower built?”
“Why is the sky blue?”
“Definition of ‘algorithm‘”

Types of featured snippets

List snippet

A list snippet is a featured snippet that displays information in the form of a bulleted list or a numbered list. It’s designed to provide users with step-by-step instructions, ranked lists, or a compilation of items related to their search query. Like paragraph snippets, list snippets appear at the top of the SERP in a featured box, above organic results.

Key Characteristics:

Format: Presented as either a bulleted list (unordered list) or a numbered list (ordered list).
- Bulleted lists are used for items that don’t necessarily have a specific order or sequence, like a list of ingredients, types of something, or benefits.
- Numbered lists are used for sequential steps, rankings, or instructions that must be followed in a specific order, like recipes, DIY guides, or ranked lists of best products.
Content Source: Extracted from a webpage that Google identifies as providing a clear and comprehensive list related to the user’s query. A link to the source page is always included, usually below the list.
Query Type: Typically triggered by queries that seek:
- Instructions/How-to guides: “How to bake a cake,” “How to change a tire”
- Ranked lists/Best of: “Best movies of 2023,” “Top 10 tourist attractions in Rome”
- Comparisons/Types of: “Types of coffee beans,” “Different types of yoga”
- Features/Benefits: “Benefits of meditation,” “Features of iPhone 15”
Purpose: To provide users with structured, easily digestible information in a list format, making complex or multi-step answers simpler to understand and follow.

Types of featured snippets

Table snippet

A table snippet is a featured snippet that displays information in the form of a table. It presents organized data, comparisons, or pricing information in rows and columns right within the search results page. Like other featured snippets, table snippets appear in a prominent box at the top of the SERP, above organic listings.

Key Characteristics:

Format: Presented as a table with rows and columns. Tables often include column headers to clearly label the data.
Content Source: Extracted from a webpage that contains a well-structured HTML table (<table> tags) relevant to the user’s query. Google identifies and extracts the most pertinent data from these tables. A link back to the source page is always provided, typically beneath the table.
Query Type: Typically triggered by queries that seek:
- Comparisons: “iPhone 14 vs iPhone 15 specs,” “Compare laptop prices,” “Best banks interest rates”
- Data and Statistics: “Population of major cities,” “Average salary by profession,” “Nutritional information for fruits”
- Pricing Information: “Laptop prices under $500,” “Cost of living in different states”
- Schedules and Timetables: “Flight schedules to London,” “Movie showtimes” (less common as a table snippet, but possible)
Purpose: To present structured data in an easily digestible and comparable format. Tables are ideal for showcasing relationships between different data points and facilitating quick comparisons.

Types of featured snippets

Video snippet

A video snippet is a featured snippet that displays a video directly within the search results page. Instead of text or lists, it features a relevant video, often with a suggested starting point within the video to directly answer the user’s query. Video snippets appear at the top of the SERP, just like other featured snippet types, and can be incredibly engaging and effective for certain types of queries.

Key Characteristics:

Format: Displays a video thumbnail and a video title within the featured snippet box. Often includes a suggested start time within the video that’s most relevant to the query. When clicked, the video often plays directly within the SERP or may link to the video platform (like YouTube).
Content Source: The video is almost always sourced from video hosting platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, and others that Google can index and understand. The video must be publicly available and relevant to the user’s query.
Query Type: Primarily triggered by queries that are best answered visually or through demonstrations, such as:
- How-to guides and tutorials: “How to tie a scarf,” “How to fix a leaky faucet,” “How to bake sourdough bread”
- Explanations and demonstrations: “What is photosynthesis?,” “How does a car engine work?,” “Demonstration of a magic trick”
- Reviews and product demos: “iPhone 15 camera review,” “Demo of a Roomba vacuum cleaner”
- Fitness and exercise routines: “Yoga for beginners,” “5-minute ab workout”
- Music-related queries: “How to play guitar chords,” “Piano tutorial for beginners”
Purpose: To provide users with visual, step-by-step instructions, demonstrations, or explanations through video. Video is often a more effective format for conveying certain types of information compared to text or lists.

Types of featured snippets

Accordion snippet

An accordion snippet (also sometimes called a Q&A snippet or FAQ snippet) is a featured snippet that displays a series of related questions in a stacked format, where each question is initially visible as a heading. When a user clicks on a question, it expands (like an accordion) to reveal the answer directly below it. This allows them to browse multiple related questions and answers within a compact space at the top of the search results.

Key Characteristics:

Format: Presented as a list of questions in a stacked format. Each question acts as a clickable heading. Clicking a question expands the section to display the answer, and often the source URL. Clicking again might collapse it (depending on the exact implementation).
Content Source: Content is usually pulled from web pages that contain FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) sections, Q&A pages, or content that logically groups related questions and answers together. Google identifies these question-and-answer pairs and presents them in the accordion format.
Query Type: Typically triggered by queries that are:
- Broad topic explorations: “SEO basics,” “Dog breeds,” “Types of coffee” – when Google anticipates the user might have multiple related questions about the topic.
- “FAQ” style queries: “FAQ about [topic],” “Common questions about [topic]” – explicitly asking for frequently asked questions.
- Queries where multiple sub-questions are likely: “Learn about climate change,” “Understand cryptocurrency” – topics that have several facets to them.
Purpose: To provide a concise overview of a topic by presenting a set of frequently asked questions and their answers. This allows users to quickly explore multiple facets of a topic without having to scroll extensively or open multiple search results.

Types of featured snippets

Carousel snippet

A carousel snippet is a featured snippet that displays a horizontal carousel of multiple cards or items. Users can swipe left or right through the carousel to browse different options, products, or pieces of content related to their search query. Each card in the carousel typically includes an image, a title, and sometimes a brief description or price.

Carousel snippets appear at the top of the SERP and provide a visually rich and interactive way to explore multiple options.

Key Characteristics:

Format: Presented as a horizontal swipeable carousel of individual cards. Each card contains:
- Image: Visually represents the item or option.
- Title: Briefly describes the item.
- Optional Description/Price: May include a short description or price, depending on the type of carousel.
- Link: Each card usually links to a specific page for more details about that item.
Content Source: Content for carousel snippets can be sourced from various types of web pages, including:
- E-commerce product listings: For product carousels.
- Blog posts or articles: For topic-based or list-based carousels.
- Image galleries: For image-based carousels.
- Google may also generate carousels from structured data and knowledge graph information.
Query Type: Typically triggered by queries that:
- Seek multiple options or choices: “Best restaurants near me,” “Types of hiking boots,” “Summer dresses online”
- Involve browsing categories: “Italian restaurants,” “Red dresses,” “Hiking boots for women”
- Product-related searches (especially broad categories): “Laptops,” “Smartphones,” “Running shoes”
- Visually-oriented searches: “Landscapes,” “Modern living room designs,” “Cat breeds”
Purpose: To provide users with a visually appealing and easily browsable set of options related to their search. Carousels are ideal for showcasing multiple products, examples, or pieces of content in a compact and interactive format.

Types of featured snippets

Image snippet

An image snippet is a featured snippet that displays one or more images directly within the search results page. Unlike other snippet types that focus on text or lists, image snippets are purely visual, providing answers in the form of relevant pictures. They appear at the top of the SERP, just like other featured snippets, and are designed to satisfy visually-driven information needs.

Key Characteristics:

Format: Presented as one or more images. Sometimes a single, prominent image is shown. In other cases, a small grid or collage of related images might be displayed. Clicking on an image usually leads to a Google Image Search results page for similar images or may link to the source page where the image is hosted.
Content Source: Images are sourced from web pages across the internet that Google’s image search algorithm deems relevant to the user’s query. The images must be publicly available and properly indexed by Google Images.
Query Type: Primarily triggered by queries that are inherently visual in nature or where a visual answer is most effective, such as:
- Identification and Recognition: “What does a [animal/object/landmark] look like?,” “Identify this [plant/car/building]”
- Visual Inspiration and Ideas: “Living room designs,” “Tattoo ideas,” “Hairstyles for men”
- Product Visualization: “Image of [product],” “See [product] from different angles”
- Diagrams and Visual Explanations: “Diagram of the human heart,” “Solar system diagram”
- Specific Image Search (sometimes): Even for general terms, if Google determines a visual answer is highly relevant.
Purpose: To directly answer visually-oriented queries by providing relevant images. Image snippets cater to users who are seeking visual information, inspiration, or identification.

Types of featured snippets

Rich snippet

Rich snippets (also often called rich results) are enhanced organic search results that display additional information beyond the standard title, URL, and meta description. They are designed to provide users with more context and enticing details directly within the regular organic search listings, helping them make more informed decisions about which result to click on. They do not appear in the featured snippet box at the very top, but rather within the standard list of organic results.

Key Characteristics:

Format: Enhance standard organic search results. They add extra visual and informational elements below the blue title link and URL in the organic listing. These elements can include:
- Star Ratings & Reviews: For products, recipes, local businesses.
- Product Price & Availability: For e-commerce product listings.
- Recipe Information: Cooking time, calorie count, ingredients.
- Event Information: Dates, times, location.
- Music Information: Artist, album, genre.
- Article Information: Author, publication date.
- Video Information: Duration, upload date.
- FAQ & How-to: Expandable Q&A directly in the result (sometimes overlapping with accordion snippet concept, but in organic results).
- Breadcrumbs: Showing site navigation hierarchy within the URL.
- And more, depending on the content type.

Content Source: Rich snippets are generated by structured data markup (like Schema.org vocabulary) implemented on web pages. Website owners intentionally add this code to their website’s HTML to tell search engines what kind of content is on the page and to highlight key information. Google then uses this structured data to display rich snippets if relevant to a user’s query.
Query Type: Rich snippets are not triggered by specific query types as much as by query relevance to content that has structured data. They are designed to enhance the results for a wide range of queries across various content types where extra information is helpful, such as:
- Product searches: “[product name] price,” “best [product category]”
- Recipe searches: “chocolate chip cookie recipe,” “vegan pasta recipe”
- Review searches: “[product] reviews,” “[restaurant name] ratings”
- Event searches: “concerts near me,” “[city name] events”
- Article/content searches: “[topic] guide,” “[author name] articles”
Purpose: To make organic search results more informative and visually appealing, increasing click-through rates (CTR) to those results and improving user experience by providing richer context directly in the SERP.

Examples of Rich Snippets (Based on Content Type):

Recipe Rich Snippet: Search for “chocolate chip cookie recipe” – you might see results with star ratings, cooking time, calorie count, and a thumbnail image of cookies below the title link in the organic result.
Product Rich Snippet: Search for “iPhone 15 price” – organic product listings might show price, availability (in stock/out of stock), star ratings, and seller information below the title link.
Review Rich Snippet: Search for “Best Italian restaurants near me” – restaurant listings might show star ratings, number of reviews, price range, and cuisine type below the title link.
Event Rich Snippet: Search for “Concerts in London” – event listings might show dates, times, venue, and ticket prices below the title link.
Article Rich Snippet: Search for “[topic] guide” – article listings might show author name, publication date, and potentially even a thumbnail image of the article below the title link.

Types of featured snippets

Interactive snippet

Interactive snippets are featured snippets that go beyond simply displaying information. They provide users with interactive tools, calculators, games, or other functionalities directly within the search results page. Instead of just providing an answer, they allow users to engage and perform actions related to their query without having to click through to a website.

Interactive snippets appear at the top of the SERP, just like other featured snippet types, and represent a highly evolved and user-centric approach to search.

Key Characteristics:

Format: Presented as interactive elements embedded directly within the featured snippet box. These can take various forms, including:
- Calculators: Mortgage calculators, tip calculators, unit converters.
- Converters: Currency converters, time zone converters, measurement converters.
- Games & Quizzes: Simple games like tic-tac-toe, quizzes on general knowledge.
- Translation Tools: Quick translation boxes for phrases or words.
- Music Tuners: Chromatic tuners.
- Color Pickers: Tools to select and get color codes.
- Sports Scores & Schedules: Live scores and upcoming game schedules that may update dynamically.
- Weather Forecasts: Interactive weather panels showing hourly or daily forecasts.
- And other specialized tools: Depending on user needs and query types.
Content Source: Interactive snippets are primarily generated and powered by Google directly, rather than being extracted from a specific website. Google builds these tools and functionalities into the search results itself. In some cases, data powering these tools might come from Google’s knowledge graph or licensed data sources, but the interactivity is generally Google-driven.
Query Type: Triggered by queries that indicate a need for a tool, calculation, conversion, or direct action, such as:
- Calculations and Conversions: “tip calculator,” “mortgage calculator,” “USD to EUR,” “kilograms to pounds”
- Time and Date: “time in Tokyo,” “current date,” “days until Christmas”
- Games and Entertainment: “play tic tac toe,” “google birthday surprise spinner”
- Quick Information Lookups: “translate hello to spanish,” “weather in Paris,” “sports scores”
- Specific Tool Requests: “chromatic tuner,” “color picker”
Purpose: To provide users with immediate and functional solutions to their needs directly within the search results, eliminating the need to navigate to external websites for simple tasks, calculations, or information lookups.