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Featured Snippet Statistics 2025 – 20 Mind-Blowing Statistics

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Looking for featured snippet statistics 2025? I have an inkling why. Internet users’ attention spans have declined to a mere eight seconds as of July 2022!

So much so that internet users do not even take the effort to click the top 10 search results in Google. They just rely on the quick answers their questions have from “position zero” results—called featured snippets—that Google provides.

This new reality has pushed marketing professionals to heighten their SEO tactics by leveraging on featured snippets for their companies’ websites.

Why featured snippets? Well, these 13 mind-blowing statistics will surely tell you why.

1. Featured snippets dominated total search queries by 12.29%.

A 2020 SEMRush study involving 160 million desktop keywords and 46.1 million mobile keywords showed that featured snippets would appear 99% of the time for top organic search results. While featured snippets dominated 12.29% or 14 million out of 112 million total search queries in 2021.

With online experiences prompted by more than half—68%–of search engine results, search engine optimization has become more relevant than before. All the more driving businesses to create strategies to increase their search engine ranking including incorporating featured snippets tactics.

Accordingly, 91.94% of searches online come from Google and Google image referrals or results. This has created 61% more market leads for B2B marketers online.

2. 19% of keywords used in Google come with a featured snippet on top of the 7.3% of Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) using double featured snippets.

Featured Snippets were launched by Google in 2014 and so many changes have taken place since then. A modification included a featured snippet URL that eventually was removed in 2020. So far, double-featured snippets are still in circulation.

Notwithstanding, featured snippets remain important for search engine optimization for almost a quarter (19%) of keywords often used by internet users in Google Search are equipped with a featured snippet. Across search engine platforms, 7.3% allow double-featured snippets in the listing of their results for certain keywords.

3. 11% of 5.5 million search engine results pages (SERPs) have featured snippets.

GetStat highlights that this translates to 605,000 SERPS using featured snippets. That’s a big volume of queries, normally fueled by featured snippets that answer the “six Ws” or Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.

4. 19% of SERPs for US mobile data have featured snippets.

Speaking of SERPS, US mobile data search results show that featured snippets appear in 19% of SERPS. While double-featured snippets appear in 7.3% of US mobile data SERPs. More than half of mobile screens in the US are accordingly occupied by a featured snippet.

5. Featured snippets appear in 12.3% of search queries with 99.58% appearing on Google’s first-page search results.

Meanwhile, an Ahrefs study reveals that almost all first page Google search results have featured snippets on them. While a relative percentage of search queries (12.3%) reveal to have featured snippets in them. The organization says that this data highlights the importance of featured snippets in guaranteeing companies that their websites will be clicked.

Featured snippets are accordingly a secure way to bridge the gap in SEO efforts for click-through rates. Zero Limit Web explains that normally, only top searches in a search results page assure companies that their websites will be visited by internet users. Dasa actually show that 67.5% of clickthroughs came from the first five results of a search query.

Those who ranked lower than five would only enjoy the possibility of being clicked by 6.48%. While those on the second page of the search results (and further) would lessen any chances of being visited at all by internet users based on a search query they made.

Moz.Com adds that the aforementioned chances have a lesser probability of happening since a study showed 18% of internet users conduct another search query even before they click the results from their initial research.

By now, you are getting the drift of how important featured snippets are. But here are more statistics to get you going.

6. Featured snippets appear in 40.7% of voice search results.

These statistics are critical in planning your website’s content update and SEO tactics for 2023. Studies show that voice searches are the next big thing—with 72% of internet users using the technology in the last six months. As such, featured snippets have been present in almost half, or 40.7% of voice searches as of date.

Implementing such formats of featured snippets in your website would be a great advantage to your business. There are approximately 119 languages equipped into Google Search for this function. Just imagine the possibilities!

7. Google’s top 1 to 10 search results are 99.58% of the time equipped with a featured snippet.

Ahrefs highlighted that featured snippets rank in Google’s top 1 to 10 position of search results for queries. This means that websites that already rank in Google’s top 10 have a higher possibility of appearing in position zero or as a featured snippet for queries. But this nonetheless creates a possibility for those in the list to jump from 10 to 1 in the ranking if they would improve their website’s content for a featured snippet.

8. 66% of “structured” articles appear in Google as featured snippets.

Regarding improving website content, articles with structured data appear more often (66%) as featured snippets in Google searches. Structured articles pertain to articles that use heading tags—the more the better, such as an average of 14.5 headings or subheadings (H1 to H14)–and have a minimum length of 1,100 words. Accompanying the article with a minimum of eight images properly labeled with ALT tags is highly suggested by experts. Creating such content for your website would increase the chance for it to appear as a featured snippet in Google Search.

9. Featured snippets performed 42% better than regular search listings for clickthroughs.

According to EngineScout, knowledge panels and featured snippets collected 42% of total click share in search engine results over regular search listings. Featured snippets registered 35.1% average total click share while regular listings recorded 44% of all search clicks in Google. The informative text that often makes a featured snippet is the reason why almost a third or 30% of internet users clicked the link it came with.

10. 24% of internet users perceive featured snippets as advertisements.

EngineScout added that their study showed contrasting data on internet users’ behavior concerning featured snippets. Almost a quarter of internet users oddly perceived featured snippets. Another reason people avoided clicking the featured snippet was their lack of trust in it. This particular set of people said they preferred regular search listings. This survey also showed that 6% of all clicks were received by the “People Also Ask” portion or box on the Google Search results page.

 

Featured Snippet Statistics 2022

11. Travel and Computer & Electronic industries rank first for featured snippets

A study conducted by Brado and Semrush randomly involving 1 million mobile data SERPs that covered 62% of search queries were for the Computer & Electronics and Travel industries. This was followed by the Art & Entertainment industry at 59% of search queries and by the Science industry at 54% of cases.

12. “Why” questions generated the most featured snippets

Brado and Semrush add that the results they gathered for industry ranking were mostly generated (77.6%) by questions that started with “why” as a featured snippet. An interesting aspect of the results showed that featured snippets covered 70% of articles published within the last three years for 80.4% of websites with 1-3 subfolders.

13. Optimizing “low-hanging” featured snippets boosts SEO ranking

Ahrefs suggests that companies who prioritize low-hanging keywords—those that have notable search volumes where a company ranks within Google’s top 10 results as a featured snippet—have greater chances of getting to point zero in no time.

To find out how to do this, simply identify the top keyword referrers of your website. Then figure out which of these keywords come out as a featured snippet in Google. Those keywords with the lowest ranking featured snippets are then areas you need to work on for your website. These might be keywords that you didn’t put much content on, so work on those areas.

According to Ahrefs, writing your definition for the keyword and adding it to your website would most likely be your winning featured snippet in the long run. Make sure that the definition is at least 50 words long, which you could elaborate on separately afterward. Adding six related keywords to it, which are relevant in covering the topic, is highly recommended.

14. 70% of Featured Snippets are in paragraph format.

Data from SEMrush show that Featured Snippets mostly come in paragraph format, comprising 70% of those in current use. The list format, on the other hand, comprises 19.1% of Featured Snippets. For this type of format, the text is 44 words and revolves around 6 items. Table formats of five (5) rows and two (2) columns make up 6.3% of Featured Snippets. While 4.6% of Featured Snippets are in video format with a duration of 6 minutes and 35 seconds.

15. It only takes ten (10) word-search-queries to (73%) make Featured Snippets appear with the People Also Ask (PAA) box on SERPs.

Featured Snippets appear differently on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) depending on the number of words used for search queries. They appear together with the “People Also Ask” box on SERPs on two occasions. One, if the search query is ten (10) words long, which happens 73% of the time. Second, if the search query is nine (9) words long, which has been recorded to occur with a 71% probability.

16. 11% of keywords under the Real Estate category trigger Featured Snippets.

Mobile data from the United States show that only 11% of keywords belonging to the Real Estate category prompt Featured Snippets to appear on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Keywords belonging to the Online Communities (27%), Home & Garden (30%), Books & Literature (31%), and Shopping (32%) also trigger Featured Snippets to appear rarely on SERPs.

17. “Why” questions generate paragraph format Featured Snippets the most (99.96%).

A study conducted by Ghergich & Co and SEMrush shows that varying questions used as keywords for search queries result in various formats of Featured Snippet. “Why” questions have the highest occurrence (99.96%) of generating paragraph format Featured Snippets. Yet with the least probability of generating list (0.04%) and table (0.0%) format Featured Snippets.

Questions that begin with “Does” (99.91%), “Are” (99.86%), “Do” (99.78%), “Was” (99.77%), “Should” (99.76%), “Can” (99.74%), “Is” (99.66%), and “Will” (99.65%) are also top generators of paragraph format Featured Snippets.

18. “How” questions generate list format Featured Snippets the most (46.91%).

Search queries that begin with “How” prove to trigger the creation of list format Featured Snippets on SERPs by 46.91%. This is immediately followed by questions that begin with “Have” at 17.71%, “When” at 3.41%, “Where” at 1.96%, and “What” at 1.07%. On the reverse side, questions that begin with “Are”, “Was”, “Will”, and “Does” do not generate (0.00%) list format Featured Snippets.

19. Featured Snippets with 45 words or 293 characters show up more often (21.09%) on SERPS.

The length of Featured Snippets also affects its optimal appearance on SERPS. The study conducted by Ghergich & Co and SEMrush reveals that using 45 words or 293 characters on average—97 words or 752 characters at maximum—appear more on Search Engine Results Pages by 21.09% than any other word length for paragraph format Featured Snippets.

Using 40 words (19.27%) and 50 words (20%) for paragraph format, Featured Snippets also are considered alternative optimal lengths. Using 55 words will immediately drop the appearance of paragraph format Featured Snippets to 8% on SERPs. Similarly, using 35 (12.73%) or 30 (8.18%) words will decrease the appearance of Featured Snippets in paragraph format on SERPs.

20. Featured Snippets appear more on mobile searches in paragraph (0.9%), table (1.3%), and videos (1.6%) than on desktop.

A research undertaken by STAT Search Analytics reveals that featured snippets appear at various frequencies using a mobile gadget from a desktop. Paragraph form Featured Snippets appear 70.5% on SERPS using mobile gadgets as a to the 69.6% of using a desktop.

On the other hand, Table form Featured Snippets appear 5.0% on mobile, a 1.3% difference to the 3.7% appearance on desktops. Video format Featured Snippets appear relatively higher on mobile (3.6%) than on desktop (2.0%). Lists are the only forms of Featured Snippets that appear more on desktop (24.7%) than on mobile (20.8%) SERPs.

Conclusion

Featured snippets may not be something you pay for with Google to get the lead. But since it is based partly on algorithms and more on your website’s relevant content to a keyword or search query, it is best to take the time to maximize its benefits for your business. Tinkering your website on keywords you already use for your business that are answered in a straight-forward and short fashion might lead you to that so-desired position zero spot.

Sources Used

    FAQs

    Can you pay Google to have your website appear as a featured snippets?

    No, you can’t. Google decides which websites appear as featured snippets based on relevant information on a search query. It is not an advertisement but an organic search result based on a website’s content that quickly answers a user’s question typed on Google Search.

    Can a featured snippet of Google be replaced or removed?

    Yes, it can be replaced or removed. Google can remove a featured snippet if the website it belongs to does not follow its policies. Google’s system is designed in such a way that it can identify which featured snippets are non-compliant with their policies despite the large volume of search results. However, this may take time because they remove it manually from their system since they also need to check on user-provided reports or feedback on the featured snippets.