What is SERP?

SERP stands for search engine results page. The term exists because a modern results page is not simply a list of websites. Depending on the query it can contain paid ads at the top, a local pack with a map, a featured snippet answering the question directly, an AI-generated summary, people-also-ask boxes, images, videos and business panels — with the conventional organic results somewhere below all of it.

That composition matters more than a ranking position on its own. Being first in the organic results on a page where the ads, the map pack and a featured snippet occupy the entire first screen is a much weaker position than being first on a sparse page. Two businesses can both be ranked first for different terms and get wildly different traffic.

SERP features also change by device and by location. The same query typed on a phone in one neighborhood and a desktop in another can produce a materially different page, which is why local rankings are measured across a grid rather than reported as one number.