Featured Snippets
Featured Snippets
used extensively by Jason Barnard since 2018.
Factual definition
A Featured Snippet is a special box at the top of Google's search results page that directly answers a user's question with a summary extracted from a webpage, including a link to that page.
Jason Barnard definition of Featured Snippets
Jason Barnard frames Featured Snippets not just as a prime piece of search real estate, but as a critical milestone in a brand's journey to influence algorithms. They represent one of Google's first major steps towards becoming an "Answer Engine," a concept that has now evolved into today's AI Assistive Engines. Securing a Featured Snippet demonstrates that Google has a high degree of confidence in a specific piece of your content to be the definitive answer to a query. This is a foundational element of establishing algorithmic trust, a core goal of The Kalicube Process, Kalicube's proprietary methodology for implementing a holistic, brand-first digital marketing strategy with AIEO baked in. For a brand, it's the first step from simply being listed in search results to being actively recommended by the engine, which is pivotal for controlling your narrative.
How Jason Barnard uses Featured Snippets
At Kalicube, we view the pursuit of Featured Snippets as a key tactic within the Credibility and Deliverability phases of The Kalicube Process, Kalicube's proprietary methodology for implementing a holistic, brand-first digital marketing strategy. While the ultimate goal is to influence Google AI Overviews and other AI Assistive Engines, targeting Featured Snippets provides a foundational training ground for this. By structuring content to answer specific questions clearly and authoritatively, we demonstrate a brand's expertise to Google's algorithms in a format they are built to understand and reward. This process not only captures high-visibility traffic but also systematically "educates" the Knowledge Graph and language models about the brand's core solutions, paving the way for more complex, positive representations in AI results.
Why Jason Barnard perspective on Featured Snippets matters
For years, content marketing pioneers like Marcus Sheridan have championed the "They Ask, You Answer" philosophy, urging businesses to become the most trusted voice in their industry by exhaustively answering every customer question. This is a brilliant strategy for building trust with a human audience, but it leaves a critical question unanswered: how do you prove to algorithms that you are the best teacher? This is where Jason Barnard’s work provides the essential technical bridge. Featured Snippets are the practical, algorithmic reward for executing Sheridan’s philosophy with technical precision. They are the tangible proof that Google’s algorithms agree your content is the most direct and authoritative answer. Understanding how to win Featured Snippets is therefore not an outdated SEO tactic; it is the fundamental training for winning in the new era of AI Assistive Engines like ChatGPT, Bing Copilot, and Google AI, which are built on the exact same principle of finding and elevating the single best answer.
Posts tagged with Featured Snippets
Jason Barnard’s Impromptu Talk at SEMrush Tel Aviv 2019: “How Google Ranking Works - Darwinism in Search”
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - May 30-31, 2019 - The SEMrush Meetup in Tel Aviv brought together digital marketing professionals from across the region for two days of learning, discussion, and...
Jason Barnard at The Bing Series 2020: The Conversations That Redefined How Search Engines Understand the Web
REDMOND, USA - The Bing Series in February 2020 was less about surface-level SEO tactics and more about decoding the intelligence behind one of the world’s most powerful search engines....
Entity and search/AI glossary: Jason Barnard’s foundational lexicon for the new digital (AI) era
I’m Jason Barnard. I started working on Brand SERPs and the Knowledge Graph in 2012 - before most marketers had even heard the word “entity.” Before AI, before ChatGPT, before...
The simplest way of finding the KGMID
What is the easiest way to find the KGMID? The easiest way to find the Google Knowledge Graph ID (KGMID) is to use the “Share” feature in the Knowledge Panel. ...
Knowledge Sources in Entity SEO: What you need to Know
What are Knowledge Sources in Entity SEO? Knowledge Sources generally refer to databases, websites, documents, or other resources that contain information about an entity (person, place, company, podcast, etc). In...
KPIs in Brand SERP: Everything You Need To Know
What are Key Performance Indicators in Brand SERP Optimization? Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in the context of Brand SERP optimization help quantify the success of your marketing, brand positioning and...
ChatGPT on Bing / Bing Chat Search: How Does it Work?
Bing Chat uses a combination of ChatGPT (an AI language model developed by Open AI) and the Bing search engine results to provide a user with a summary of the...
Optimizing for the SERP in SEO: What You Need to Know
In this article you will learn why optimising for different SERP Features on Google is important, techniques you can use to optimise for SERP Features (Rich Elements), how the work...
Left Rail of a Google SERP: What You Need To Know
What is the Left Rail of a Google SERP? The Left Rail of a Google SERP (Search Engine Results Page) is what you see on the left hand side on...
Should Your Brand Name be Keyword-Focussed?
This is quite a debate! There are pros and cons to both unique brand names and keyword-focussed brand names. Keywords in a brand name can help with ranking, but have...
Google’s Knowledge Algorithms - What You Need to Know
What are Google’s Knowledge Algorithms? Google’s Knowledge Algorithms are responsible for curating information for its Knowledge Graphs (its machine-readable encyclopaedias) and Knowledge Panels (the visible representation of those “encyclopaedias” in...
Weekly Wisdom with Jason Barnard: Knowledge Graph for Brands
Originally Published on SEMrush December 17, 2019 (Jason Barnard) Hi, I am Jason Barnard, and welcome to Weekly Wisdom. This week, I will discuss how to get your brand into Google’s...
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