The checks array in the Google Organic SERP API may contain properties detected for the SERP element. This array is present only in the organic and paid Google SERP elements of the API response.

The purpose of this array is to tell whether the SERP element has specific properties assigned by Google. For example, if the is_image property is present in the array, it indicates that the element includes an image. When the checks array contains both the is_image and the is_featured_snippet properties, it indicates that the element is a featured snippet with an image. This can be helpful for filtering SERP results by content type or flagging elements that require special handling in your parsing logic.

The checks array may contain one or multiple properties at once, or return null if no properties are detected for the element.

Essentially, the checks array substitutes separate check fields, such as is_web_story, is_malicious, etc., in the organic and paid elements of the API response. The check fields remain in the response structure but don’t appear in SERPs and will eventually be removed on January 20, 2027.

List of possible values in the checks array

Here’s the list of all possible values that may be returned in the checks array:

• is_image – the SERP element contains an image.
• is_video – the SERP element contains a video.
• is_featured_snippet – the element is a featured snippet.
• is_malicious – the element is marked as malicious.
• is_web_story – the element is a Google web story.
• is_higly_cited – the element is a source that is frequently cited by other news organizations.
• amp_version – the element has the Accelerated Mobile Page (AMP) version.