Rich snippets and featured snippets both enhance search results, but they serve different purposes, appear in different places, and are created in different ways.
Contrary to rich snippets that enhance a single search result with extra details, featured snippets extract and display a direct answer to a query, often above all results.
What featured snippets are
A featured snippet is a special result that appears at the top of the search results page, sometimes called position zero. It tries to answer the user’s question immediately. So they are placed before the link to the page and not after, as with usual search results, rich snippets included.
You see a paragraph answer, or/and a numbered or bulleted list, often but not always accompanied by an image.
Featured snippet content is pulled directly from a webpage, often with a link to the source underneath.
Key point: Featured snippets are chosen based on content quality and relevance, not structured data.
How do they differ from rich snippets?
Rich snippets appear within the normal list of results, not above them.
Featured snippets, on the other hand, appear above the first organic result.
Their purpose is different. Featured snippets answer a question immediately while rich snippets add context to help users decide whether to click or not.
Featured snippets extract their data from visible page content. Rich snippets from structured data markup.
Last but not least, they differ on the level of control we are able to exercise regarding their display. With featured snippets with have limited control. Search engines decide. We can influence this decision to some degree by answering common questions people have regarding our query.
With rich snippets, we do have a low level of control, provided that we implement correct markup and formatting.
Conclusion
Featured snippets build authority and visibility by positioning content as the direct answer. They are focused on presenting a recap of the answer.
Rich snippets, on the other hand, increase click-through rate by making your listing more informative and distinct. They are focused on explaining the reasons why you should click a particular listing.
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