Understanding the Search Results Page (SERP) in Google

Search for "best running shoes" and then for "pizza near me," and you'll notice the two results pages look nothing alike. One may open with an AI-written summary and product listings, the other with a map and three local restaurants. Where are the "normal" results? And which of these spots can you actually win with SEO?

In this lesson, I will take you on a tour of the search results page, piece by piece. By the end, you will be able to name every main part of a Google results page, tell paid from organic, understand where your title and description come from, and judge which features are realistic targets for your own pages.

We touched on organic vs paid results in the first lesson, what SEO is. Here, we go much deeper.

What is a SERP, and why does it look different every time?

SERP stands for search engine results page. It's simply the page you see after you search. In the early days, it was a list of ten blue links. Today, it's a mix of different blocks, which SEOs often call SERP features.

The layout changes with each search because Google tries to match the format to what the searcher needs. Google's own example: a search for "bicycle repair shops" will probably show local results, while "modern bicycle" is more likely to show images. The same search can also look different on a phone, in another city or on another day.

That's why one of the best SEO habits is to look at the real results page before you create content. It shows you what Google thinks searchers want. We'll build on this in the lesson on search intent.

The main parts of a Google results page

Here is a quick map of the most common features you'll see, and whether you can influence them with SEO.

Feature	What it is	Can SEO help you appear?
Ads (sponsored results)	Paid listings, labeled as sponsored, often at the top or bottom	No. These are bought through Google Ads.
AI Overview	An AI-generated summary with links to supporting pages	Yes, indirectly. Pages need to be indexed and eligible to show a snippet.
Organic text results	The standard results with a title link and snippet	Yes. This is the core of SEO.
Featured snippet	A box that shows a quote from a page above its link	Yes, but Google chooses. You can't mark a page up for it.
People also ask	Related questions that expand to show an answer from a page	Yes, by clearly answering common questions.
Local results (map pack)	A map with nearby businesses, drawn from Google Business Profiles	Yes, through local SEO and your Business Profile.
Image and video results	Image thumbnails and video results, often from YouTube	Yes, with good image and video SEO.
Rich results	Results with extras such as review stars, prices or recipe details	Yes, mostly with structured data.
Related searches	Other searches people make on the same topic	Not directly, but they're great for keyword ideas.

Let me walk you through the two features at the top of the page first, then each of the others in its own section.

How do you tell ads from organic results?

Ads are paid placements. Advertisers bid in Google Ads to show for certain searches, and they pay when someone clicks. Google labels these results as sponsored, and they usually appear at the top of the page, sometimes also at the bottom. Shopping searches may also show product ads.

Organic results have no label. Google says nobody can pay to rank higher in the organic results, and that ads are shown separately and clearly marked. So when you study a SERP for SEO purposes, I suggest you mentally skip past the ads and start counting from the first organic result.

AI Overviews and AI Mode: what are they?

For many searches, Google now shows an AI Overview near the top. It's a short summary written by Google's AI, with links to pages that support it. Google says AI Overviews appear only when its systems decide they add something beyond the classic results, so plenty of searches don't show one.

AI Mode is a separate, more conversational search experience for deeper questions and comparisons. It also gives an AI-written answer with links to sources.

What matters for you is how a page gets linked. Google says a page is eligible to appear as a supporting link if it is indexed and eligible to show in Search with a snippet, and that there are no extra technical requirements or special optimizations. In other words, solid SEO basics are the way in. Google also says traffic from these features is counted in the Search Console Performance report under the "Web" search type.

Chapter 8 of this course covers this properly in the lesson on AI Overviews and AI Mode. My posts on AI Overviews SEO and Google AI Mode go deeper still.

What is inside a single organic result?

Each standard organic listing, which Google now calls a text result, is made of several small parts. Google documents them in its "visual elements gallery." Knowing them helps you understand what you can influence.

Site name and favicon: your site's name and the small icon shown next to it.
Visible URL and breadcrumb: your domain plus a trail showing where the page sits in your site.
Title link: the clickable headline that takes people to your page.
Snippet: the short description under the title.
Byline date: a date Google estimates the page was published or updated, shown for some results.
Sitelinks: extra links to other pages on the same site, usually for brand searches.
Image: sometimes a relevant image from the page appears beside the result.
Rich attributes: extra details such as review stars or prices, usually powered by structured data.

Where does the title link come from?

Google says creating title links is completely automated. It mainly uses your page's <title> element, but it can also draw on your main heading (such as the <h1>), other prominent text on the page, and the text of links pointing to the page. So if Google shows a different title than the one you wrote, that's why. The best way to keep control is to write a clear, unique, descriptive title for every page. The lesson on title tags covers this step by step, and my guide on writing title tags for SEO has many examples.

Where does the snippet come from?

Google says snippets are primarily created from the page content itself. It may use your meta description (a short summary you write in the page's code) when it describes the page more accurately. Because Google picks the text most relevant to each search, the same page can show different snippets for different searches. You can't write the snippet directly, but a good meta description helps, as you'll see in the lesson on meta descriptions.

Featured snippets and "People also ask"

A featured snippet is a special box where the usual format is flipped: the quote from the page comes first, with the link underneath. It often answers a "what is" or "how to" question directly. When someone clicks, Google usually takes them straight to the matching section of the page.

Google is clear on how you get one: its systems decide whether a page would make a good featured snippet, and there's no markup you can add to request it. The practical approach is to answer common questions clearly and concisely, right under a heading that matches the question.

People also ask is a box of related questions. Google's gallery calls it a related questions group. Each question expands to show a short answer from a page, often in the form of a featured snippet. It's also a goldmine of ideas for what your audience wants to know. My post on People Also Ask shows how to use it for content planning.

Local results, images, videos and rich results

Local results and the map pack

For searches with local intent, like "dentist near me" or "plumber in Austin," Google often shows a map with a short list of nearby businesses. This is usually called the map pack or local pack. These listings come from Google Business Profiles, not directly from websites. The lessons on local SEO basics and Google Business Profile show you how to compete here.

Image and video results

Google shows image results when a search is likely looking for pictures, and video results when a video is the best answer, such as for many "how to" searches. Your images and videos can appear here if they're embedded on your pages and easy for Google to understand. See the lessons on image SEO and video SEO.

Rich results

Rich results are results with extra visual details, like star ratings, prices, event dates or recipe cooking times. They usually rely on structured data, which is extra code that labels the information on your page in a standard way. Not every type is still shown, though. Google retired HowTo rich results in 2023 and has heavily limited FAQ rich results, so I don't recommend chasing those. The lesson on structured data explains which types are worth adding.

Try it: map the results page for your top keyword

Let's put this into practice. You'll need about 20 minutes and a notepad or spreadsheet.

Pick your most important search. Choose the search you most want to appear for, such as your main service plus your city.
Search it on your phone and on a computer. Many searches happen on phones, and the layout can differ between devices.
List every feature from top to bottom. For example: "Ads (3), AI Overview, map pack, organic results 1–4, People also ask, videos, organic 5–10."
Count how far down the first organic result is. If it's below an AI Overview, ads and a map, the map or AI Overview may be a more important target than position one.
Note who appears where. Write down which competitors show up in each feature.
Check your own listing. If you appear, look at your title link and snippet. Are they clear and appealing? Would you click them? If not, note what to fix.
Collect questions. Copy the "People also ask" questions. Each one is a candidate for a section of your page or a future article.

Repeat this for your top three to five searches. You'll quickly see which features matter in your market. For more ways to win clicks once you appear, read my post on improving organic click-through rate.

Questions beginners ask about the search results page

Why does Google show a different title than the one I wrote?

Google generates title links automatically. It mainly uses your title tag, but it may use your main heading or other text if it thinks that better describes the page. Clear, unique, accurate titles are the best way to reduce rewrites.

Is being in the AI Overview better than ranking first?

It depends on the search. Being linked in an AI Overview can be valuable, but it doesn't replace classic rankings. Google says the same basics make a page eligible for both, so I suggest working on solid SEO rather than treating them as separate goals.

Can I choose which pages appear as sitelinks?

Not directly. Google shows sitelinks automatically when it thinks they're useful. A clear site structure with good internal links helps Google understand your most important pages.

Does position one still matter if there are so many features?

Yes, but it's not the whole story. Where the first organic result sits on the page, and which features appear above it, affects how many clicks it gets. That's why it's worth mapping the full page, not just checking your position number. My guide to SERP features covers this in more depth.

Reading the SERP like an SEO, and what comes next

The search results page is a mix of ads, AI Overviews, organic text results, featured snippets, related questions, local maps, images, videos and rich results, and the mix changes with every search. You can't buy organic spots, and Google generates your title link and snippet automatically, but clear titles, helpful content and solid basics give you the best chance of appearing well. Studying the real SERP for your searches is one of the simplest and most powerful habits in SEO.

In the next lesson, white-hat vs black-hat SEO, we look at Google's rules and why shortcuts can backfire. If you'd like us to map the results pages for your key searches with you, feel free to get in touch.

Understanding the Search Results Page