Meta Description
Meta Description sits in <meta name="description"> and shows beneath the SERP blue link, about 160 characters. It doesn't directly affect ranking but materially affects CTR. Google rewrites it from body content roughly 70% of the time.
Category: SEO
What is Meta Description?
Meta Description sits in <meta name="description"> and shows beneath the SERP blue link, about 160 characters. It doesn't directly affect ranking but materially affects CTR. Google rewrites it from body content roughly 70% of the time.
How do you apply it in practice?
Structure: sentence 1 summarises content, sentence 2 states USP or social proof, sentence 3 issues a CTA.
Why does it matter for AI search citations?
Generative search engines tend to extract sentences that are clearly defined, consistent and quotable on their own. Writing concepts like "Meta Description" as one consistent definition across your site, backed by structured data and verifiable sources, lowers the chance of being misread. This improves readiness only; it does not guarantee citations or ranking gains — measure actual citations to know.
Which related terms should you know?
Title Tag
The Title Tag lives inside <title> and shows on the SERP blue link and browser tab. Google displays about 60 characters, truncating beyond. Best structure: 'main keyword | value prop | brand'. As of 2026, Google still rewrites titles ~60% of the time.
CTR (Click-Through Rate)
CTR = clicks / impressions. In GSC, slice by position: position 1 healthy CTR ≈ 28%, position 5 ≈ 6%, position 10 ≈ 2.5%. Below the industry baseline means Title / Description need a rewrite.
Meta Description at a glance
| Term | Meta Description |
|---|---|
| Category | SEO |
| Last reviewed | 2026-10-06 |
References
- Google Search Central: SEO documentation
- Schema.org structured data vocabulary
- W3C JSON-LD 1.1 Recommendation
- GEO: Generative Engine Optimization (arXiv paper)
These documents support the definitions and methods, not ranking or citation promises; reviewed as of 2026-10-06.
By the 23SEOGEO team · Last updated: