SERP
A SERP, or search engine results page, is the page a search engine shows in response to a query, including organic results, ads, local results, AI summaries, featured snippets, images, videos and other features.
What a modern SERP contains
- Paid ads at the top and bottom
- AI Overviews and other AI summaries
- The local pack with a map and three businesses
- Featured snippets and "People also ask" boxes
- Shopping, image and video results
- Traditional organic links
Why the SERP layout matters
The more features appear above organic results, the fewer clicks those results get. Pew found people clicked a traditional result in 8% of Google visits that showed an AI summary, against 15% without one (Pew Research Center, July 2025). Alphabet says AI Overviews reach around 2.5 billion monthly users (Alphabet via The Motley Fool, Aug 2026).
What to do
Look at the actual SERP for your target searches before planning content. If it is dominated by local results, invest in local SEO. If AI summaries appear, make pages that are easy to cite. See SEO and AEO and GEO.