Search features and measurement
Featured snippet
A featured snippet is a special Google search result that shows a short quote from one page first, above the link to that page.
In plain words
Google calls featured snippets special boxes where the format of a normal result is reversed: the descriptive snippet comes first.
Google’s systems decide which pages get one. You can’t mark a page as a featured snippet yourself.
Example
Google’s own illustration shows a featured snippet with the answer "7-10 minutes" above a page called "How to make a hard-boiled egg".
<meta name="robots" content="nosnippet">Why it matters for AI search
Clicking a featured snippet takes people straight to the quoted section of the page, Google says.
The same snippet controls also reach Google’s AI features. Google says nosnippet also keeps content from being used as direct input for AI Overviews and AI Mode.
What you can do
- Answer a clear question in a short, self-contained paragraph right under a matching heading.
- To show up less often in featured snippets, try a lower max-snippet value. Google says this is not guaranteed.
- To block all snippets for a page, use nosnippet.
Often confused with
- AI Overview
- A featured snippet quotes one page. An AI Overview is an AI-written summary with links to several pages.
- Rich result
- Rich results add extras like images or ratings, based on structured data. A featured snippet is a quote from the page text.
Sources
- Google Search Central: Featured snippets and your website
- Google Search Central: Robots meta tag, data-nosnippet, and X-Robots-Tag specifications
Facts and sources last checked on 19 October 2026.
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