When a search is a clear question, Google often answers it right at the top with a short quoted passage, a list, or a table pulled from one page, with that page credited underneath. That box is the featured snippet, sometimes called position zero because it sits above the #1 result.
Snippets matter because they are won by structure, not just by rank: Google typically lifts the passage from a page that answers the question directly, in one or two clean sentences, right under a heading that matches how people ask. Pages ranked third or fourth regularly take the snippet from pages ranked first.
The same structure that wins snippets is what AI engines extract when they build answers, which is why writing question-shaped headings with direct answers underneath pays twice: once in Google’s answer box, and again in AI citations.
Search "how often should a furnace be serviced." The boxed two-sentence answer at the top, credited to an HVAC company’s page, is a featured snippet, and that company wrote the sentence to be liftable.
Go deeper: How to Get Your Business Cited by AI Search (2026).
This is part of our Local SEO work.