SERP

SERP stands for Search Engine Results Page: the page a search engine returns once someone has entered a query. The SERP is where all visibility in classic search is settled, because this is where the user picks which result gets the click.

What a SERP consists of today

The modern SERP is a composite page where Google selects elements according to the search intent behind the query:

• AI Overviews, Google's AI-generated answer at the top of many informational queries, with source links to the sites the answer draws on
• Ads marked "Sponsored"
• The classic organic results
• Featured snippets, highlighted answer boxes pulled from a single page
• People also ask, expandable questions related to the query
• Local map results, product carousels, images and video

Nobody sees the same SERP. Results vary by location, device, language and previous behavior.

Rankings are measured in pixels, not only positions

The composition changes what a ranking is worth. A page-one placement below an AI Overview, four ads and a map pack draws fewer clicks than the same placement on a plain SERP. In SEO work, SERP analysis is a discipline in its own right, since the elements on the results page reveal which search intent Google assigns to the query and which features a site can realistically win. The guide to Google AI Overviews covers the most contested element of the modern SERP.