What is “position zero”?

It's the informal name for a featured snippet — the answer box that sits above the first ranked result, ahead of position one. Google draws it from a page that already ranks on the first page and answers the query directly, so it reads as the definitive response before any blue link.

How do I win a featured snippet?

Answer the specific question clearly and concisely on a page that already ranks well, and give it clean structure — a direct opening sentence, headings that match the question, and lists or a table when the answer is a set of steps or a comparison. You can't force a snippet, but pages that answer plainly and are easy to parse are the ones Google tends to pull.

How do featured snippets relate to AI Overviews?

The two reward the same thing: a clear, self-contained answer a machine can lift. A page written to win a featured snippet is often the kind of source an AI Overview then summarizes, so the work overlaps — win the snippet and you improve your odds of being cited in the AI answer above it.

Glossary · Adjacent

Featured Snippets

The boxed, direct answer Google pulls to the top of results — 'position zero' — and a frequent source for what AI Overviews then summarize.

Updated August 20265 min readReviewed by PageLens.ai

Featured snippet · position zero

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One page's clear answer, lifted to the top of the results as the snippet.

A featured snippet is the highlighted answer box Google pulls to the very top of its results — the response shown before the first ranked link. It’s so prominent that people call it “position zero.”

What a featured snippet is

When a query has a clear informational answer, Google often lifts a passage from a page that already ranks well and displays it in a bordered box at the top of the page — with the answer, the source’s title, and a link. The buyer reads the answer without scrolling, and often without clicking. The snippet isn’t a separate ranking you buy or submit; it’s Google choosing an existing result and promoting the passage that best answers the question.

The main types

Snippets take a few recognisable shapes, and the shape follows the question:

Paragraph.A short block of text answering a “what is” or “why” question — the most common form.
List.An ordered or bulleted list, drawn from steps or a ranked set — “how to” and “best” queries.
Table. Rows and columns lifted from a comparison or a set of figures, such as pricing or specifications.

How you win one

A snippet is drawn from a page that already ranks on the first page and answers the specific question plainly. The levers are structural more than anything: put a direct, self-contained answer near the top; use a heading that mirrors how people ask the question; and format the body as a list or table when the answer is a sequence or a comparison. Clean structure makes the passage easy for Google to lift cleanly.

Why they matter for AEO

Featured snippets are an early, familiar case of answer-first search. Because the answer sits in the box, many searches end there — the zero-click pattern that AI Overviews have since made the norm. Snippets also feed forward: the page a snippet is drawn from is frequently a source an AI Overview then summarizes. Writing to win a snippet — a plain answer, clean structure — is the same work that makes your content quotable to answer engines, which is why it sits close to the centre of a practical AEO approach.

Frequently asked

What is “position zero”?: It's the informal name for a featured snippet — the answer box that sits above the first ranked result, ahead of position one. Google draws it from a page that already ranks on the first page and answers the query directly, so it reads as the definitive response before any blue link.
How do I win a featured snippet?: Answer the specific question clearly and concisely on a page that already ranks well, and give it clean structure — a direct opening sentence, headings that match the question, and lists or a table when the answer is a set of steps or a comparison. You can't force a snippet, but pages that answer plainly and are easy to parse are the ones Google tends to pull.
How do featured snippets relate to AI Overviews?: The two reward the same thing: a clear, self-contained answer a machine can lift. A page written to win a featured snippet is often the kind of source an AI Overview then summarizes, so the work overlaps — win the snippet and you improve your odds of being cited in the AI answer above it.