SERP is the main program of the search engine. These SERPs make life a lot of easy life today. Search engines have different types of results on their results pages. Today, Search engines have evolved and are making impressive progress. Instead of 10 blue links, now we see a lot of other SERP features that satisfy the user’s query intent or problem. Afcors, all these features are behind very complex algorithms and systems that generate these features to create SERP. SEOs have the most benefit of these features they improve their website through scanning SERPs. Let’s discuss in detail.

What Is a SERP?

SERP(Search Engine Result Page) is the page of the search engines where they show the list of blue links/results. A SERP can include text-based links, ads, images, videos, and other features, which I explain in more detail in this article.

What are the Types of results in SERPs?

There are two types of results in SERP(Search engine result page). Organic & Inorganic.

Organic Results: These are the listings that search engines deem most relevant to the user’s query based on their complex algorithms. Ranking high in organic results is the primary goal of search engine optimization (SEO). A typical organic result displays the page title, URL, and a short descriptive snippet.

Paid Results: Often appearing at the top and bottom of the SERP, these are advertisements. Businesses pay to have their links displayed for specific keywords. These are clearly marked with an “Ad” or “Sponsored” label. The most common form of paid results is Pay-Per-Click (PPC).

How Many Features of SERPs?

Google’s search results now include numerous special features (beyond the 10 blue links) designed to answer queries faster. In fact, SE Ranking data shows that 99.57% of first‐page results include at least one feature. Below are the major Google SERP features today, with their appearance and SEO/user impact (including any known prevalence or device bias).

• Featured Snippets: Directly answer a user’s query with a succinct explanation pulled from a webpage, appearing at the top of the SERP.
• AI Overviews: Short, AI-generated summaries from top-ranking pages, appearing at the very top of SERPs.
• Popular Products Carousels: Display products related to a search query, including images, prices, ratings, and links to product pages.
• Shopping Results (Product Carousel): When a query is commercial (e.g. product or category), Google often shows a Shopping carousel of product cards.
• Shopping Side Bar (Filter Panel): When shopping queries are detected, Google adds filtering options in a left-hand sidebar on desktop (and a filter panel on mobile). This lets users refine by price, brand, etc.
• Local Pack(3-Pack): A set of business listings (with map) for local-intent queries, showing names, addresses, phone numbers, ratings, and operating hours.
• Google Business Profile (Business Listing): For a branded or location query, Google may show a full Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) card. This includes business name, photos, map, reviews, hours, etc.
• People Also Ask (PAA) Boxes: A list of questions related to the initial search query, with quick answers and links to source pages.
• Rich Snippets: Enhanced organic results that show extra information about a page, such as images, ratings, and prices (e.g., review snippets, recipe snippets, product snippets, event snippets, sitelinks).
• Discussions and Forums: Shows conversations from platforms like Quora and Reddit related to the user’s search.
• Image Packs: A row or grid of images related to a search query, typically appearing near the top of the SERP.
• Knowledge Panels: An information box about an entity (person, place, or thing) that appears on the right side of the SERP, pulling information from Google’s Knowledge Graph.
• Knowledge Card (Quick Answer Box): For certain factual queries (e.g., “COVID-19 symptoms”, “Tesla share price”), Google shows a Knowledge Card at the very top. This is a rich answer box – sometimes interactive (e.g. a chart or calculator) – that directly answers the question.
• Quick Answer Tools (Calculator, Weather, Conversions, etc.): Google provides instant answers via tools: Calculator, Weather widgets, currency converters, language translators, etc. For example, math queries trigger an on-SERP calculator at the top.
• Video Carousels: A horizontal list of videos related to the search query, often appearing for queries where Google thinks video content is a better answer than text.
• People Also Search For (PASF) is a related searches widget that suggests follow-up queries. It usually appears near the bottom of the SERP (or after a user clicks back). PASF shows queries that other users searched after the original query, often narrowing in intent.
• Sitelinks (Expanded Links): Sitelinks are extra links shown under a main result, usually for branded or navigational queries. On desktop, Expanded Sitelinks appear as a horizontal block of links under the top result. On mobile, sitelinks appear as scrollable horizontal links under the main result snippet
• Top Stories (News Carousel): For newsworthy queries, Google displays a Top Stories carousel of recent articles, usually near the top.
• “Things to know” (Topic Explorer): For broad informational queries, Google may show a “Things to know” section near the top.
• From “Sources across the web” (Multi-source Answer): Google sometimes combines answers from multiple sites into one box. This “From sources across the web” feature quotes snippets from 3–4 sources, each credited with a link.
• Datasets: For technical or research queries, Google may show a Datasets box. It lists publicly available datasets (via Google Dataset Search) related to the query.
• Events (Local & Scheduled): When searching for events (concerts, festivals, etc.), Google shows Events features. On mobile, these appear atthe top (desktop on the right), listing events by location with dates/times.
• Twitter/X Packs: Since Google indexes Twitter (X) posts, it may show a Twitter block for queries (especially trending topics or popular brands).
• Sports Scores: Sports-related searches trigger a Sports box showing live scores, upcoming games, league tables, etc.
• Jobs: For job-search queries, Google shows a Jobs carousel containing job postings (position, company, salary, etc.)
• Maps (Transit/Fares): For queries about transit or specific areas, Google may show an interactive Map widget at the top. For example, searching a city name might show a map with transit routes, or searching a bus route shows real-time schedules.
• Flights, Hotels, Travel: Google integrates travel data:
• Flights: The Flights card lets users search and compare airline tickets right on SERP.
• Hotel Pack: A Hotel Pack (combining a mini map and list of hotels with dates, prices, ratings) appears for hotel-related queries.
• Plan a trip: A list of travel guides may appear (“plan a trip”).
• Other Quick-Fix Features: Google also offers Currency Converter, Time/Date, Dictionary Definitions, and Unit Converters that answer queries instantly. For example, asking “100 USD in EUR” shows a converter, or “define serendipity” shows a dictionary box. These appear at the top or above results and are sourced from Google’s own tools.
• Related Searches (“Searches related to…”): At the bottom of the SERP, Google shows a list of Related Searches (suggested refinements). These are simple links to new search queries.
• Ads (Sponsored Results): Google also displays paid search ads, which technically are SERP features. Text Ads appear at the top and/or bottom of desktop and mobile SERPs (labeled “Ad” or “Sponsored”).
• Reviews & Ratings Snippets: This feature displays a star rating (typically on a 1-5 scale) and sometimes the number of reviews directly within a search result.⁵ This is not a standalone feature but an enhancement to other features, appearing in organic results, Local Packs, and product listings.
• Perspectives Filter: A newer feature, particularly on mobile, that allows users to filter results to see a blend of videos, social media posts, and forum discussions, further emphasizing the value of user-generated and multi-format content.

How do search engines generate SERPs?

SERPs are generated through a very long process. First, Google’s crawler crawls the new websites, then renders these crawled web pages, and after rendering, it indexes them into its database. After the index, they rank.

How can SERP analysis improve my SEO strategy?

To improve seo strategy, you need to scan from the search bar to the end pagination part. extract entities, queries, perspectives, PAA, related Searches, etc. This helps you to build your content most relevant, accurate, and likely to answer most of the queries in your topic.