3.9Intermediate9 min

Featured Snippets: -64% Visibility, but 42.9% CTR When They Appear

Lucas Blochberger·7 April 2026·Updated 11 June 2026

Definition

Featured snippet SERP visibility dropped 64 percent between January and June 2025 (from 15.41% to 5.53%), largely replaced by AI Overviews which grew 323.69 percent in query coverage. Where they appear: 42.9 percent CTR versus only 1.08 percent organic CTR as AI Overview source.

Key Takeaways

✓Featured Snippet visibility: -64% (January to June 2025)
✓AI Overviews: +323.69% query coverage (October 2024 to May 2025)
✓Featured Snippets: 42.9% CTR (vs. 1.08% as AI Overview source)
✓Paragraph Snippets: ~70% of all snippets, optimal 40-60 words
✓55.5% of 10-word queries have Featured Snippets
✓People Also Ask in approx. 75% of all searches
✓Star ratings increase CTR by 35%

Featured Snippets have lost prevalence, but where they appear, they are more valuable than ever.

The Decline

Visibility dropped 64 percent between January and June 2025, from 15.41 to 5.53 percent. AI Overviews grew 323.69 percent in query coverage and replaced many snippet positions.

The Remaining Value

42.9 percent CTR — versus 1.08 percent as an AI Overview source. Featured Snippets also serve as building blocks for AI Overviews.

Optimization

Paragraph Snippets (~70%): 40-60 words direct answer. List Snippets (~19%): Proper HTML lists or H2/H3 subheadings. Table Snippets (~6%): Structured HTML tables. People Also Ask: Formulate H2/H3 as questions, 2-3 sentence answer directly below.

Data & Statistics

Featured-Snippet-Sichtbarkeit sank von 15,41 % (Januar 2025) auf 5,53 % (Juni 2025), relativer Rückgang von 64 %; Korrelation -0,9053 mit AI-Overview-Wachstum (1 Mio. US-Desktop-SERPs)

Ahrefs Blog — How SERP Features Have Evolved in the AI Era (Ryan Law) (2025)

Featured Snippet / Snippet auf Position 1 erreicht 42,9 % CTR vs. 39,8 % organisch #1, 18,7 % #2, 10,2 % #3

First Page Sage — Google Click-Through Rates (CTRs) by Ranking Position (2025)

Historisch: Snippet Position 1 ~8,6 % CTR, Seite direkt darunter ~19,6 % (vs. ~26 % ohne Snippet); ~12,29 % der Suchanfragen hatten ein Featured Snippet (2-Mio.-Stichprobe)

Ahrefs Blog — A Study of 2 Million Featured Snippets (Tim Soulo) (2017)

Mit AI-Zusammenfassung klicken 8 % der Besuche auf einen klassischen Treffer (vs. 15 % ohne); 1 % klickt einen Link in der Zusammenfassung; 26 % vs. 16 % Sitzungsende (n=68.879 Suchen, 900 US-Erwachsene)

Pew Research Center (2025)

FAQ-Rich-Results nur noch für autoritative Behörden-/Gesundheitsseiten; HowTo-Rich-Results seit 13. September 2023 deprecated; ungenutztes Markup wird geparst, hat aber keinen sichtbaren SERP-Effekt

Google Search Central Blog — Changes to HowTo and FAQ rich results (John Mueller) (2023)

PAA erscheint auf 49,37 % (Desktop) / 52,27 % (Mobile) der SERPs, rund sechsmal häufiger als ein Featured Snippet; 79 % der PAA-Boxen sind Absatz-Antworten (1 Mio. Keywords, US-Desktop)

Semrush Blog — How to Maximize People Also Ask SEO Opportunities (Study) (2020)

Title-Tags mit 40-60 Zeichen: +8,9 % durchschnittliche CTR; positive Titel: +4,1 % höhere absolute CTR; organisches Top-Ergebnis: 27,6 % CTR (4 Mio. Suchergebnisse)

Backlinko — We Analyzed 4 Million Google Search Results (2025)

Das Vorhandensein eines AI Overview korreliert inzwischen mit einer um 58 % niedrigeren durchschnittlichen CTR für Position-1-Inhalte; der frühere 34,5%-Wert gilt als überholt (Dezember-2025-Daten)

Ahrefs Blog — AI Overviews Reduce Clicks (Update) (2025)

FAQ

Are Featured Snippets still relevant in 2026?

Yes, but selectively. Their visibility dropped from 15.41% to 5.53% of analyzed US SERPs in 2025, a 64% decline. However, where they do appear, position 1 achieves a CTR of 42.9%, exceeding the organic top result at 39.8%. Snippet optimization is particularly worthwhile for factual, transactional, and bottom-of-funnel queries, less so for broad informational questions that are now often answered by an AI Overview.

Why have Featured Snippets become less common?

The decline coincides temporally with the expansion of AI Overviews. In the underlying analysis, the snippet decline correlates very strongly (-0.9053) with the growth of AI Overviews. However, correlation is not proof of causation. AI Overviews primarily take over informational top-of-funnel queries that previously would have triggered a definition snippet.

How do I optimize on-page for a Featured Snippet?

Frame an H2 or H3 heading as the user's question and provide a compact, self-contained answer directly below, beginning with a clear definition sentence. Use proper HTML for lists and tables, maintain clean heading hierarchy, and place the short answer before detailed depth. This extractable structure simultaneously serves Snippets, People Also Ask, and AI Overviews.

Does FAQ schema markup still generate rich results?

Not for most sites anymore. Google only displays FAQ rich results for established, authoritative government and health sites, and HowTo rich results have been discontinued since September 13, 2023. The markup doesn't hurt and continues to be parsed for page understanding, but has no visible SERP effect for regular business sites. Article, Product, Breadcrumb, and Organization markup remain SERP-effective.

What is the difference between Featured Snippets and People Also Ask?

A Featured Snippet is a single highlighted answer box above the results. People Also Ask (PAA) is an expandable list of related questions with their own short answers. PAA has 49.37% desktop coverage, roughly six times more frequent than a Featured Snippet, and 79% of PAA boxes are paragraph answers. For many B2B sites, PAA is therefore the more stable and productive on-page lever.

Is snippet optimization worthwhile in the zero-click era at all?

Yes, because the same work pays double. Precise, extractable answer blocks win traditional snippets while simultaneously increasing the chance of being cited in AI Overviews. While direct clicks decline—only 8% of visits click a traditional result with AI summaries versus 15% without—CTR optimization via title tags remains effective, as titles with 40 to 60 characters achieve 8.9% better CTR. Brand visibility as a cited source gains importance.

What snippet formats exist and which are still being served?

There are four basic formats: Paragraph snippets (prose definitions), list snippets (steps and rankings), table snippets (prices and specifications), and video snippets. Paragraph snippets are most affected by AI Overviews because a single paragraph delivers the answer. List and table snippets survive more often for instructions, comparisons, and structured B2B data, provided they are cleanly marked up in HTML.

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