Context
Google introduced featured snippets in January 2014, extracting an answer from a source page and presenting it prominently above conventional results.
What changed
A search result could become the answer itself, with the source page cited directly.
Why it matters
This is an important precursor to AEO: content structure and extractability became a visibility objective distinct from ordinary ranking.
Visibility OS interpretation
The practice predates modern AEO terminology, so the dataset records the observable product change rather than claiming a specific inventor of AEO.
What remains uncertain
No event-specific uncertainty note is recorded yet. This record may change as new evidence is reviewed.