SERP Preview Tool
See exactly how your page title and meta description appear in Google - in real time, as you type. Score your snippet, detect CTR power words, and check your AI Overview likelihood. Free, forever.
How to use this tool
Paste your page title
Type or paste the title tag you have written (or plan to write) for your page. The preview updates instantly - you will see the pixel-width badge turn green when your title hits the ideal 400-600px range.
Add your meta description
Paste your meta description. Aim for 120-160 characters. Google does not count characters - it counts pixel width. Wider fonts (like capital W) take up more space. The tool accounts for this.
Enter your page URL
This populates the breadcrumb in the preview. Google uses your URL structure to generate breadcrumbs - a clean URL produces a readable breadcrumb, which improves perceived credibility.
Switch between Desktop and Mobile
Google truncates titles and descriptions at different pixel widths on desktop vs mobile. A title that looks perfect on desktop may be cut off on mobile. Check both views before publishing.
Review your scores and fix the tips
Work through the Live Feedback panel. Each tip is specific - not generic. Start with the red issues, then amber. Green means your snippet is optimised across all key signals.
What your results mean
Scores your title on pixel width. 80-100 (green) = ideal for Google. 50-79 (amber) = close - minor adjustment needed. Below 50 (red) = too short or too long. Title pixel width matters more than character count.
Scores your meta description similarly. A 100/100 description is in the 400-920px range on desktop - long enough to fill the space, short enough not to truncate. Truncated descriptions lose their CTA.
Words proven by click-through-rate testing to increase engagement in search results. "Free", "proven", "guide", "ultimate" are among the highest performing. Aim for 1-3 naturally placed - do not keyword-stuff.
"Good" means your snippet hits all three AI Overview signals: question-format title, answer-style description, and ideal description length. AI Overviews now appear in 15-20% of Google searches - higher than Featured Snippets.
Why it matters
Why your title and meta description are worth optimising
Most SEO advice focuses on getting your page to rank. But ranking and getting clicked are two different things - and a page that ranks #3 with a compelling, well-optimised snippet will often out-perform a page at #1 with a weak, truncated title.
Google's click-through rate data is clear: position 1 earns an average CTR of around 27%, while position 3 earns roughly 11%. But those averages hide an enormous range. A page at position 3 with a strong power-word title and a clear CTA in the description can match or beat the CTR of a position 1 result with a bland, auto-generated snippet.
Why pixel width matters more than characters
Google's SERP rendering engine doesn't count characters - it measures pixel widths. A title in all-caps using wide characters like "W" and "M" will truncate at far fewer characters than a title using narrow characters like "i", "l", and spaces. The industry-standard "60 characters" rule is a rough approximation that frequently fails.
This tool estimates pixel widths using per-character width heuristics that match Google's Arial-based rendering. The pixel badge you see is labelled ~490px (with a tilde) to be transparent about this approximation - Google's exact rendering varies by device and query, but this estimate is accurate to within ±30px in most cases.
The AI Overview opportunity
Google AI Overviews now appear in 15-20% of all searches, and they pull from pages that signal strong answer-readiness. A question-format title and a direct, structured description are two of the clearest signals. If your snippet is optimised for AI Overviews, it is also optimised for Featured Snippets - both reward the same underlying content clarity.
The AI Overview likelihood indicator in this tool is not a live API check - it calculates likelihood from three observable signals in your snippet. It is a fast, free first-pass assessment. For deeper GEO content analysis, use the GEO tools (coming soon).
Get GEO & AEO tips every week
The Layman SEO newsletter. Plain English updates on what is changing in search - SEO, AEO, and GEO - and what to do about it. One email a week. Unsubscribe any time.
No spam. No paywall content. Unsubscribe with one click.