“Featured” is a really special feature and touches almost every addon and and element so it can take some time to wrap it all up.
Of importance is to make sure you have added the featured field to your CPT, and that you can included it in the appropriate price packages.
Make sure you have one or two listings using those packages. Edit them, apply the package, save.
Then make a GD Listing shortcode using the shortcode builder and choose “Featured only” from the advanced options.
https://wpgeodirectory.com/docs-v2/places/custom/#featured
https://wpgeodirectory.com/docs-v2/geodirectory/shortcode-builder/
[gd_listings post_type="gd_place" sort_by="az" title_tag="h3" layout="4" post_limit="5" show_featured_only="1" view_all_link="1" bottom_pagination="1"]