Snippet
The description or summary shown beneath a result's title in Google Search, usually generated automatically from the page's content.
Definition
A snippet is the description or summary shown as part of a search result on Google, beneath the title link. Google usually generates it automatically from the page's content, sometimes drawing on the meta description tag.
Because Google generates snippets to match the query, the same page can show different snippets for different searches. Sites can influence snippets in several ways: providing a clear meta description, using the nosnippet directive to suppress a text snippet, max-snippet to cap its length, or the data-nosnippet attribute to exclude specific sections. A snippet differs from a featured snippet, which is a larger answer block shown at the top of some results.
Examples
Auto-generated snippet
For the query 'return policy', Google pulls two sentences from a shop's returns page to form the snippet, even though the page's meta description is more general.
Limiting snippet length
A publisher adds `<meta name="robots" content="max-snippet:50">` to cap the snippet at 50 characters for a page it wants to keep terse in results.
Sources
Related terms
- Meta DescriptionA short HTML attribute summarising a page, often used by search engines as the snippet shown beneath a result's title.
- Featured SnippetA search result that surfaces an answer extracted from a single web page in a highlighted box at or near the top of Google's results page.
- Rich ResultsSearch results enhanced with visual or interactive elements — review stars, prices, FAQs, recipe images — generated from a page's structured data.
Where QueryCatch uses this
Last updated: 07/07/2026