What does Google require for AI Overviews?
Google's documentation for site owners says a page is eligible to be shown as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode when it is indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet. It adds that there are no additional technical requirements. The underlying Search technical requirements are short: Googlebot is not blocked, the page returns an HTTP 200 status code, and the page has indexable content. Since 31 August 2026 there is one more condition. Search Console now has a Search generative AI control, and a site set to Exclude will not appear in these features. Include is the default, so most sites only need to confirm nobody has changed it.
- Indexed: the URL Inspection tool in Search Console reports the page as on Google.
- Snippet allowed: the page has no nosnippet rule and max-snippet is not set to 0.
- Crawlable: robots.txt and any CDN or firewall let Googlebot fetch the page.
- Included: Settings, then Search generative AI, shows Include or inherits it from a parent property.
How does Google choose which pages to link?
Google says its generative AI features are rooted in its core Search ranking and quality systems. It describes retrieval-augmented generation, also called grounding, where ranking systems retrieve relevant pages from the Search index and the response is written from them, with links to the pages that support it. It also describes query fan-out, where the model runs several related searches on subtopics of the question. Google's example is a question about fixing a weedy lawn that fans out into searches about herbicides, removing weeds without chemicals and preventing weeds. A page can therefore be linked for a sub-question it answers well, even when it does not rank for the exact words the person typed.
Google also says AI Overviews appear only when its systems judge them to add something to classic Search, so they often do not trigger, and that AI Mode and AI Overviews may use different models and show different links for the same question.
What does Google say you can ignore?
Google's guide to optimising for generative AI features has a section on what site owners do not need to do for Google Search. Read it before paying for any AI Overviews package, because several commonly sold items appear on it. Google states that Google Search does not use llms.txt files or similar AI text files, and that creating one neither helps nor harms a site's visibility in Google Search. The same section covers splitting content into small chunks, rewriting copy for AI systems, seeking inauthentic mentions and putting too much weight on structured data.
- llms.txt and other AI text files: Google Search ignores them.
- Chunking pages into small pieces: not required, and Google says there is no ideal page length.
- Rewriting for AI: not needed, because Google's systems match synonyms and general meaning.
- Inauthentic mentions: less helpful than they seem, and Google's spam systems apply.
- Pages made mainly to target every phrasing or fan-out query: Google says this breaches its scaled content abuse policy.
Can you keep your content out of AI Overviews?
Google gives site owners two kinds of control. The Search generative AI control in Search Console removes a whole property from AI Overviews, AI Mode and generative AI features in Discover. Google says exclusion generally takes a few days, that links and content then stop appearing in those features, and that the setting is not used as a ranking or inclusion signal for the rest of Search. Page-level preview controls (nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet and noindex) limit what Search shows from a page, and they also change how the page appears in ordinary search results. Google-Extended is a separate robots.txt token that Google points to for limiting AI training and grounding in some of its other systems.
For a business that wants to be found, exclusion removes a way to be seen. Google states that an excluded site receives no traffic or impressions from these features, while content from other sites remains available in them.
How do you check a page's eligibility?
Start with the pages that answer the questions buyers ask, usually your main service and location pages. For each one, run the URL Inspection tool and confirm the page is on Google and that crawling was allowed. Look at the HTML Googlebot received, because a rule added by a plugin or theme may not show in your page editor. Then check the response headers for an X-Robots-Tag, which can carry noindex or nosnippet without appearing in the page itself. Finally, open Settings, then Search generative AI, and confirm the property shows Include or inherits Include from a parent property.
If the site is verified as more than one property, for example a Domain property and a URL-prefix property, the control can be set at either level. Google says a property inherits the setting from its closest parent property that has been set manually.
What does Google recommend beyond eligibility?
Google's AI features guidance lists the same practices it gives for Search generally: allow crawling in robots.txt and by any CDN or hosting infrastructure, make content findable through internal links, provide a good page experience, keep important content in text, support it with good images and video where they help, make structured data match the visible text, and keep Merchant Center and Business Profile information current. Its newer optimisation guide puts most weight on non-commodity content. It contrasts a generic article such as 7 Tips for First-Time Homebuyers with first-hand material that goes beyond common knowledge.
For an Australian service business, first-hand material might be a page explaining how you quote a job, what you inspect on a first visit, which licensing or council rules apply in your area, or which jobs you decline. That information is specific to your business and is not already repeated across the web.