SERP (Search Engine Results Page) is the search engine results page, a feedback page generated instantly by search engines after users enter search terms. When users enter keywords or voice queries in search engines like Google and Bing, the system filters the most relevant content from massive web pages based on ranking algorithms and presents them according to specific rules – this complete display interface is called SERP. Currently, most search engine results pages are no longer traditional "10 Blue Links" but have become interactive interfaces containing multimedia and multiple interaction forms. Typical components include:
- Organic Results: Non-paid rankings calculated by search engine algorithms based on hundreds of indicators such as webpage content quality and relevance, usually occupying the main position on the page. Organic results are completely generated by search engine algorithms through "non-commercial evaluation", dynamically determining the best resources that match user search intent by analyzing webpage content value, user experience data, authority endorsements, and other dimensions.
- Paid Ads (Google Ads): Promotional content placed by advertisers through keyword bidding, usually marked with "Ad" labels and appearing at the top, bottom, or sidebar of the page. Paid ads rely on advertisers' keyword bidding systems (such as Google Ads), with ranking weights mainly influenced by bid amounts and ad quality scores (including click-through rates, landing page relevance, etc.).
- SERP Features: Such as Featured Snippets that directly display answers, Knowledge Graph that integrates brand information, Local Pack that presents local businesses, as well as vertical content blocks like video carousels and real-time news. Corresponds to SEO's Structured Data.
Google Search Result Elements
Visual Elements Gallery
When you search on Google, every clickable, interactive part you see (such as titles, images, buttons, etc.) is called a "UI component". Below are common types of search interface elements:
- Text Result: Google search results based on page text content
- Rich Result: Results that typically rely on structured data in page markup to display graphical elements or interactive experiences
- Image Result: Search results based on images embedded on the webpage; more likely to appear in image-targeted queries
- Video Result: Search results based on videos embedded on the webpage; more likely to appear in video-targeted queries
- Exploration Features: Features that help searchers expand and refine their initial search
Attribution
Attribution is used to indicate where search results come from and can be seen in various search results, such as text search results, image search results, and video search results. Attribution usually includes some basic information, such as the website's name, icon, and URL.
- Icon (Favicon): A small icon associated with the website
- Site Name (Site Name): The name of the website
- Visible URL: The webpage URL displayed in a readable format. Visible URLs have two parts: domain name and path navigation
- Domain: The website address defined by the domain name; the name chosen when establishing the website
- Path Navigation / Breadcrumb: A path showing the page's position in the website hierarchy structure
Text Result
Text results (formerly called "Web Result" or "Plain Blue Link") are Google search results based on the text content of web pages. They include visual elements such as attribution, title links, and snippets. They may also contain other visual elements, such as rich attributes or sitelink groups. Specific text results may display different content based on various factors, such as device used, search content, or language. Text results won't see all visual elements included.
- Attribution: Source information of the webpage
- Title Link (Title Link): The search result title in Google Search and other properties (e.g., Google News) that links to the webpage
- Snippet (Snippet): The description or summary section of search results in Google Search and other properties (e.g., Google News)
- Byline date: The date Google estimates the webpage was updated or published
- Sitelinks group: Two or more links from the same domain or its localized variants, grouped under one text result. These links can be other pages of the domain, titles, or anchor text within the page. A sitelinks group contains two or more sitelinks:
- Sitelink (Sitelink): A single link in a sitelinks group. Sitelinks are automatically generated
- Text Result Image: Text result images are the most relevant images in a specific webpage for a given query. When users click the image, they go to the webpage where the image is embedded. For image search queries, text result images are more likely to be displayed
- Rich Attributes: Rich attributes are one or more lines of additional information about the webpage, such as rating stars and recipe information
Image Result
Image results are search results based on images embedded on web pages. For queries looking for images, image results are more likely to appear.
- Image Thumbnail: Image thumbnails are thumbnails of indexed images embedded on web pages. Clicking or tapping it takes users to that image. To optimize your images for image results, follow image SEO best practices.
- Attribution: This is the source information of the webpage where the image is embedded
Video Result
Usually only shows YouTube videos.
Video results are search results based on videos embedded on web pages. For queries looking for videos, video results are more likely to appear.
- Video Thumbnail: Video thumbnails are thumbnails of indexed videos embedded on web pages. Clicking or tapping it takes users to the webpage where the video is embedded
- Title Link: The title link of the video landing page
- Attribution: Source information of the video landing page
- Upload Date: The publication date provided in the video's metadata
Exploration Features
Exploration features help searchers explore more questions or searches related to their original search query (also called "People also ask").
- Related Searches Group: An example showing a related searches group in Google Search, displaying a series of related content that others have searched for. Clicking or tapping a related search takes users to another search results page. These searches are automatically generated based on the initial query and what others have searched for
- Related Questions Group: An example showing a related questions group in Google Search, displaying a series of questions related to the user's initial search (also called "People also ask"). When users expand a question, a featured snippet is displayed
Rich Snippets
Using Canva as an example, below are the rich snippets that appear when searching "Canva". Some elements only appear in specific themes, such as shopping, local services, flights, etc., so I won't elaborate too much.
Featured Snippets
Google extracts Featured Snippets from one of the top five results, known as "Position zero". Featured Snippets have a CTR of 8.6%, which significantly reduces the CTR of the #1 organic search result. You can optimize content to get Featured Snippets: use many relevant headings (H2 and H3 tags); include short answers to questions, with average definition length for featured snippets between 40 to 60 words. Including tables/ordered lists/FAQs in blog posts helps appear in featured snippets.
Knowledge Card, Knowledge Panel, Knowledge Graph
Based on the Knowledge Graph, automatically aggregated structured information modules for brands, people, or entities, often appearing on the right side or top of search results. Company logos may be captured by algorithms to competitor knowledge cards due to data associations. You can actively manage brand information sovereignty through Google Business Profile.
People Also Ask
A dynamic module presented in a collapsible Q&A chain format that extends user search intent. Each expanded item triggers a new search command. Optimization focuses on predicting semantically related questions, which can be extended to secondary Q&A traffic through FAQ structured data.
Tweet Boxes
Vertical content blocks formed by real-time crawling of high-heat tweets from the Twitter platform, often appearing in hot events or celebrity-related search scenarios. Can monitor public opinion and observe brand social volume.
In addition, there are many other content types that appear in specific scenarios, such as:
- Search Box: A secondary search entry embedded in SERP, generally appearing in brand term and knowledge-type query scenarios. After triggering, it generates precise vertical search results. Requires sitelink optimization (should be gone now)
- Image Pack: A high-weight image collection presented in horizontal carousel format, occupying the core visual area of the first screen. Requires optimization of image ALT tags, EXIF metadata, and contextual relevance
- Shopping Ads / Shopping Results (PLAs): Product feed ads submitted through Google Merchant Center, capturing e-commerce search traffic in image + price format. Rankings are influenced by bid amounts, product data quality, user reviews, and other dimensions
- Business Profile / Local Pack: Local service display modules integrating maps, ratings, and contact phone numbers. Algorithms prioritize based on distance, reputation, and business status. Need to complete Google Business Profile and accumulate high-quality localized reviews
- SGE / AI Overview: Google Search Generative Experience (SGE) AI instantly generates answer summaries
SERP Features Optimization Strategy for AI Products
In SEO for AI products, structured data markup is the foundation for triggering diverse SERP Features. For key pages such as product pages, solution pages, and landing pages, you can use general markup (such as Article, Product) and exclusive markup (such as SoftwareApplication, CodeRepository) from Schema.org standards. Below are some structured data types I've seen that are suitable for AI products:
General Markup
- Article (Article-type content markup): Declares the article attributes of pages to search engines, triggering rich media search results (such as headline news carousels, knowledge cards). Suitable for blogs.
- BreadcrumbList (Breadcrumb navigation markup): Builds content hierarchy structure, improving search engines' understanding efficiency of website information architecture. Very important for medium and large AI product sites.
- FAQ (Q&A markup): Triggers collapsible Q&A boxes on search results pages.
- Image/Video (Multimedia markup): Very important for image/image-text material/websites with Templates.
Image libraries like Freepik and tools like Canva get a lot of traffic from this.
Exclusive Markup
- Dataset (`Dataset`, `DataCatalog`, `DataDownload`) structured data: Suitable for companies providing data services like Scale AI and Snorkel.
- Knowledge Q&A (`Quiz`, `Question`, and `Answer`), Learning Video (LearningResource, VideoObject, Clip), Math Solver (`MathSolver`), Practice Problems (`Quiz`) structured data: Suitable for AI math tools, K12 education tools, etc.
- Job Posting structured data: Suitable for AI Job Matching / Job Search websites and Career pages of all websites.
- Review Snippet (`Review`, `AggregateRating`), Software Application (`SoftwareApplication`) structured data: Manually submitted, used for Social Proof, generally for mobile apps and desktop applications.
iOS and Android markets are built-in.
Can also be manually configured for pages.
- Forum (`DiscussionForumPosting`), Profile Page (`ProfilePage`): Generally essential for forum-type websites or websites with forum sections.
- Event (`Event`) structured data: Generally used for event platforms. Eventbrite doubled its traffic with this. Currently, besides offline organized events, only platforms like Luma can use this.
It seems quite a few people use Luma. Manus also publishes here.
This is what Events looks like in Google.
Building Data Foundation with Schema.org
Schema.org is a standardized vocabulary maintained by search engines like Google and Bing, providing over 800 types of structured data (such as Article, Product, FAQ, etc.), helping search engines accurately parse webpage content and trigger rich media search results.
- Deploy markup using JSON-LD format, which has the best compatibility and is recommended by Google
- Validate markup syntax through Google Rich Results Test or Schema Validator to avoid parsing errors causing rich media failures
Monitoring via Google Search Console – Enhancements
The "Enhancements" report in Google Search Console is the core tool for monitoring structured data effectiveness and can diagnose rich media display status and errors.
If the added structured data is useful, it will be displayed here. I haven't added many categories.
- In the "Rich Results Status" report, check the effectiveness of markup such as FAQ, Breadcrumb, etc., and fix "Invalid" or "Warning" issues (such as missing required attributes)
- Combine with the "Index Coverage" report to ensure marked pages are crawled and indexed by Google, avoiding SERP features not triggering due to crawling delays
Analyzing Competitor SERP Strategy with Semrush
Canva's.
- Can reference similar tool logic for competitor SERP feature reverse engineering
- Compare SERP display differences between competitors and your own pages, and optimize markup strategies accordingly
Conclusion
SERP, as the core interface for users to obtain information, has been upgraded from traditional link lists to dynamic interactive platforms integrating organic results, ads, and rich media modules. Its optimization requires structured data (such as Schema markup) as the foundation to trigger high-value displays like Featured Snippets and Knowledge Cards. Combined with competitor analysis and tool monitoring (such as Google Search Console, Semrush) to dynamically adjust strategies, and proactively layout AI-generated content (such as SGE) and multimodal adaptation, seize traffic entry points through technical markup and semantic depth in limited interfaces, achieving efficient matching of search visibility and user intent.