Direct Answer
A featured snippet is the boxed answer Google shows above the first organic result. To win one, answer the question in the first 40–60 words of the page in a paragraph, list, or table format that matches the query intent. Pages already ranking on page 1 win 99% of featured snippets.
Voice answer (≤30 words)
“A featured snippet is the boxed answer at the top of Google. Win one by answering the question in forty to sixty words at the top of a page-one ranking page.”
Three formats Google extracts: paragraph (definition queries), numbered list (how-to queries), and table (comparison queries). Match the format to the query type.
Ahrefs' 2023 featured-snippet study found 99.58% of snippet-winning pages already ranked in the top 10. Featured snippets are an upgrade, not a shortcut.
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