Short definition

SERP — the page a search engine shows after someone runs a search, combining organic results, ads, and enriched results.

Also known as: Search Engine Results Page.

SERP stands for search engine results page: the page a search engine such as Google shows after someone runs a search. It combines organic results with ads and enriched results such as FAQ dropdowns or review stars.

How is a SERP structured?

Paid results usually appear first, marked with an ad label. Below them come the organic results: pages that rank on content and technical quality, without paying per click. Depending on the query, the search engine adds extra blocks such as a map with local businesses, a set of related questions, or a product carousel. The exact layout varies by search, country, and device.

Why measure per SERP?

Positions on a SERP are temporary: they differ by country, device, and day. To track performance, you record which results appeared at a given moment on a given version of the search engine, including each result’s position. That is also how benchmarks are run: participants are measured at the position where they were found on the measurement date, so every comparison uses the same snapshot.

What are rich results?

Rich results are organic listings with extra visual information drawn from structured data: review stars, prices, an FAQ dropdown, or a breadcrumb trail. They make a result stand out on the SERP and can increase clicks without changing the organic position itself.

How it relates to other website choices

SEO is the broader practice of getting pages to rank higher in the organic results. Structured data enables rich results, and a clear canonical URL tells the search engine which version of a page to show in the results.