Featured Snippet (المقتطف المميز)
A featured snippet is a highlighted answer box that a search engine extracts from a webpage and displays at the top of results, often called position zero. It directly answers a query with a paragraph, list, table, or video, and is frequently read aloud by voice assistants.
In Iraqi dialect
الصندوق اللي يطلع فوق النتائج ويعطي الجواب جاهز
In detail
Featured snippets are the original answer surfaces. Google selects a passage that best answers the query — typically 40-55 words — and displays it in a box above organic results, crediting the source page. Formats vary: paragraphs define terms, ordered lists explain steps, tables compare data, and videos demonstrate tasks. Winning a snippet often requires ranking on page one first, then structuring content so the answer is easy to extract: a question-style heading followed immediately by a direct answer. Snippets matter because they appear above every other result and feed voice assistants. They are also training data for AI answers. Content written in answer-first format with FAQ schema has the best chance of being selected.
Practical example
A definition paragraph placed directly under a 'What is...' heading won the featured snippet for that query.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a snippet-target answer be?
Around 40-55 words — concise enough to fit the box, complete enough to answer fully.
Can you opt out of featured snippets?
Yes, the nosnippet meta tag prevents a page's content from being shown in snippets and AI answers.