The top 5 SERP features of 2026 and how to appear in them

After the dust of 2025 settled, which SERP features have come out on top in 2026? We analyzed 200,000 SERPs over three years to find out.

The Google SERP rarely stands still for long, and 2025 was no exception. AI-generated results had already been appearing on the SERP, but last year their numbers exploded.

The continued growth of AI Overviews had a pronounced impact on top-of-funnel SEO — contributing to a substantial downturn in clicks and a sizable spike in impressions. Meanwhile, the newly-introduced AI Mode became a hot topic of discussion.

So, how should these changes shape your approach to SEO and ranking on the SERP? Which SERP features are now the most valuable to target — and how can you appear in them?

To answer these questions and more, we analyzed 200,000 SERPs over three years — on smartphone and desktop devices across the US and UK markets — and packaged our findings into a handy white paper. One slice of our research looked at the five features that appear most frequently in position one, which we’ll cover here.

#1 AI Overviews

Given the relentless expansion of AI Overviews, it’s no surprise that this feature claims the largest share of position one. AIOs are highly visible and dominate the SERPs they appear on.

They primarily show up on SERPs returned for queries with informational intent, where searchers can often find the information they need without clicking through to a site — leading to the now familiar pattern of high impressions and low clicks.

In January 2026, AIOs in our dataset had a 21.1% share of position one, compared to only 6.9% the year prior — highlighting how rapid their growth has been.

When you do your own tracking, you might see different numbers for your site depending on the intent of your keywords. If you include a high number of informational keywords, AIOs are more likely to have a greater share of position one.

To appear in AIOs, you should focus on GEO tactics rather than traditional SEO. Traffic is less likely, so your goal should be to have your brand mentioned in AI-generated responses, not necessarily featuring in the list of URLs they cite.

Ensure your content is crawlable and well-structured so that AI agents can easily ingest it. If it isn’t, it’s unlikely to appear in an AIO.

#2 Knowledge Graphs

Knowledge graphs are another feature that typically take up a lot of SERP real estate. However, they come in many shapes and sizes — including weather results, currency conversions, dictionary definitions, sports results, and the humble Google calculator.

They often show up when a searcher is looking for information about people, places, organizations, movies, books, or events.

Knowledge graphs have grown steadily over the last few years and peaked in July 2025, with a 14% overall share of position one results. This year, as AI Overviews compete for more of their territory, they have experienced a slight downturn.

Out of all the features on this list, knowledge graphs are the most difficult to influence, and there is not much you can actually implement on your site to increase your chances of appearing.

#3 Images

Images usually appear as a carousel, with the source of each individual image cited beneath them.

Searches for visual examples of products, objects, and places are all likely to trigger position one image results.

Images dominate smartphone SERPs more than desktop SERPs, which have historically been less visual. However, desktop SERPs are becoming increasingly image-focused, and the gap is narrower than before.

As you might expect, adding high-quality, relevant images to your site is key to ranking in this feature.

Google’s best practices documentation provides helpful guidelines to follow when optimizing your images.

#4 Local Packs

A long-standing staple on many SERPs, local packs continue to hold a significant share of position one results, placing fourth this year.

They are primarily surfaced when a searcher is looking for a product or service, especially if the query has local intent and includes modifiers like “near me,” “in my area,” or a specific place name.

Local packs held a 4% overall share of position one in January 2024, 4.6% in January 2025, and 5.7% in January 2026 — showcasing their increasing prominence year-on-year.

If you’re a brick-and-mortar business, local packs are a winnable feature that can drive traffic to your site and foot traffic to your location.

Google has outlined three key factors that determine rankings: relevance, distance, and prominence.

#5 Popular Products

While they may look like sponsored results on the SERP, popular products are in fact an unpaid organic feature.

They consist of horizontal rows of product suggestions that Google considers most relevant to a query. Product images are accompanied by price information, product specifications, the source site, and ratings — often with additional details about delivery, availability, or the distance of a nearby store.

In January 2024, popular products only had a 1.5% share of position one. That figure has now more than doubled, reaching 4% overall (and 5.3% in the US).

Popular products are powered by Google Merchant Center, so optimizing your product feeds there is key to appearing in this feature.

The trends to capitalize on in 2026

Now that we’ve looked at this year’s top five SERP features, it’s time to examine the key trends behind their prominence.

The visibility of SERP features continues to grow

Four of the five features on this list now hold a greater share of position one than in January 2024, which indicates a widespread increase in SERP feature prominence over the past two years vs. traditional organic results.

The SERP is becoming more visual

Images are now more prevalent on the SERP than ever before — whether that’s within image results, popular products, knowledge graphs, or other features. Optimizing a site with high-quality images should be a key consideration for any SEO strategy.

Local search remains a reliable opportunity

The more things change, the more they stay the same when it comes to local search. The need for relevant, localized results isn't going away anytime soon, and as such, local packs remain a feature you can rely on.

AI-generated results are strengthening their grip on the SERP

The AI takeover of the SERP is only likely to continue at pace, meaning SEOs will have to keep adapting their tactics to account for further changes.