SERP – Search Engine Results Page: more than ten blue links

Definition

The SERP is the results page shown after a search in a search engine. It contains organic results, ads and special features such as AI answers, featured snippets and local results.

SERP stands for Search Engine Results Page – the results page you get after a search. It is no longer a list of ten blue links, but a dynamic interface where the search engine tests, filters and prioritises content according to what it thinks you want.

What a SERP contains today

A modern SERP is a collage of formats competing for attention:

• Organic results – the traditional results, ranked by relevance.
• Ads – paid placement, usually at the top and bottom.
• AI Overviews – Google's AI-generated summary at the very top.
• SERP features – featured snippets, People Also Ask, video, image carousels, the local map pack and shopping results.

Search intent determines which formats are shown. A factual question often triggers an AI Overview and snippets, a local search triggers the map pack, and a search with purchase intent triggers shopping results and ads. The same position therefore means different things depending on what else is on the page.

AI Overviews have changed the SERP

The biggest shift in recent years is Google's AI Overviews – the AI-generated summary that sits at the top. It now appears on a large share of searches, and for purely informational queries it has almost become the norm.

That changes what it means to rank well. According to Ahrefs, the presence of an AI Overview reduces clicks to the top organic result by around 58%. But there is also an opposite effect: a page that is cited as a source inside the AI Overview answer can get more visibility than before. So the SERP now has two possible outcomes – cited source or crowded-out link.

Zero-click – why position is not the same as traffic

Alongside this, zero-click search has grown: searches that end without the user clicking through. Close to 60% of all Google searches end that way, and on mobile the share is even higher.

As a result, a high position no longer automatically means traffic. On an informational query with an AI Overview, the share of clicks can be so low that, in practice, visibility is about brand rather than visits. A number-one position can be worth a lot – or surprisingly little – depending on what the rest of the SERP looks like.

What a SERP analysis should actually answer

Analysing a SERP does not mean checking your position. It means understanding what that position is worth:

• Which format dominates? AI Overview, snippet, video, map pack or blue links – each format produces a completely different click pattern.
• Are you cited in the AI answer? Being on the page and being a cited source in an AI Overview are two different things.
• How many clicks are there to win? A query where the answer is already given on the SERP leaves few clicks, whatever your position.

We look at how this landscape is changing in AI Overviews and GEO and How does AI affect SEO?.