AI search and your website: what Google says, and what to check first
Updated
Short answer
First, check that robots.txt is not blocking AI search crawlers. Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode need no special optimization, so make sure you can appear in normal search and that your pages answer clearly before creating any new files.
Google's AI features need no special file
Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode need no special optimization, and no AI text files such as llms.txt or special structured data. There are two conditions. A page must be indexed and eligible to appear in normal search with a snippet, and your site must not be excluded in the Search generative AI setting in Search Console (sites are included by default). Meeting these conditions does not guarantee that it will be shown.
Appearances in these AI features are included under the Web search type in the Search Console performance report. The Generative AI performance report shows impressions for these features alone. It may not show data for sites with few impressions.
Check robots.txt
Add /robots.txt to your site address and open it. These are the crawlers that matter for search.
- OAI-SearchBot surfaces sites in ChatGPT search. Blocking it keeps you out of ChatGPT search answers, though your site can still appear as a navigational link
- PerplexityBot surfaces sites in Perplexity search results
GPTBot is different: it collects content that may be used for AI training, and blocking it is a separate choice from appearing in search.
Google treats its AI features like normal search, so do not block Googlebot either. Even when robots.txt allows crawling, a CDN or server setting may still block it.
Answer clearly on the page
This part is our opinion, not an official requirement. We think pages that are easy for people to read are also easy for AI to cite. Say in plain text who you serve, what you offer, your prices, and your service area, and do not leave them only inside images.
Ask about your own business
This is our own suggestion, not an official requirement. Ask ChatGPT or a similar tool for recommendations in your field and area, and see how you are described. Answers can change from one try to the next, so do not judge from a single result. If anything is wrong, use it as a cue to review how your site explains things.