SERP is shorthand for search engine results page. Type a search into Google and press enter: everything you see next is the SERP.
It used to be ten blue links. A 2026 Google SERP is a mix of many elements, and the mix changes from one search to the next.
What’s on a modern SERP
- Organic results: the regular listings, each with a title, URL and description
- Paid ads: marked “Sponsored”, at the top and bottom
- AI Overviews: an AI-generated summary with links to sources, on many informational searches (see AI Overviews)
- Local pack: a map and three businesses for local searches (see local pack)
- Featured snippets and People Also Ask
- Shopping results, images, videos, news, “Discussions and forums” and more
All of these are grouped under the name SERP features.
Why it matters
The SERP is where you compete, so it decides what “ranking” is worth. Compare two searches for Coastline Plumbing:
- “emergency plumber austin”: ads at the top, then a local pack, then organic results. Ranking first organically is good, but the local pack gets a lot of the attention, so the Google Business Profile matters as much as the website.
- “why is my water heater leaking from the top”: an AI Overview, People Also Ask, then organic results and videos. A page ranking third might be cited in the AI Overview and still earn clicks, or might be pushed far down the screen.
Looking at the SERP also tells you the search intent. If the top results are all product pages, a blog post probably won’t rank there.
SERPs vary
The same search can show different results depending on:
- Location: especially for local searches, even a few miles apart
- Device: mobile and desktop layouts differ
- Language and country settings
- Time: news and trending topics change hourly
- Personal history, to a smaller extent
That’s why rank tracking tools check from a set location and device, rather than relying on what you see in your own browser.
Common mistakes
- Checking rankings by searching from your office, where your location and history skew the results
- Treating position one as the only goal without checking what sits above it
- Ignoring SERP features entirely when deciding which keywords to target
How to check your own listing
Use the free SERP Preview tool to see how your title and description will look in Google’s results before you publish them. To see where you rank on real SERPs over time, from a fixed location and device, use RankThat’s Rank Tracker.