AI-search readiness field guide
Be a source AI answers can find, read and cite, without chasing gimmicks.
What's actually different (less than you'd think)
AI answers in search are built from pages the search engine has already crawled and indexed. For Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, the requirements are the same as for appearing in Search with a snippet.
There are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, nor other special optimizations necessary.
You don't need to create new machine readable files, AI text files, or markup to appear in these features.
So treat "AI SEO" offers with care. Being indexable, useful and accurate is the work. Being eligible still doesn't guarantee a page will be shown or cited.
Make sure you can be read
- robots.txt, your CDN and your hosting allow the search crawlers you want
- Important pages are indexed (check with URL Inspection in Search Console)
- Key information is in text, not only inside images or video
- Pages are reachable through internal links
- Any structured data matches what's visible on the page
- Business Profile and Merchant Center details are current
Firewalls and bot-protection settings sometimes block crawlers by accident. If a page never appears anywhere, check access before rewriting content.
Decide what AI systems may use
Search visibility and model training are separate choices, controlled by different tokens. You can stay visible in search while opting out of training.
| User agent | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Googlebot | Google Search, including AI Overviews and AI Mode. |
| Google-Extended | Use of your content to train future Gemini models and for grounding. Google says it doesn't affect inclusion or ranking in Search. |
| OAI-SearchBot | Showing your site in ChatGPT search answers. Opting out keeps you out of those answers. |
| GPTBot | Crawling content that may be used to train OpenAI's models. |
| ChatGPT-User | Pages a user asks ChatGPT to visit. Because a person starts it, robots.txt rules may not apply. |
User-agent: *Allow: /User-agent: Google-ExtendedDisallow: /User-agent: GPTBotDisallow: /Sitemap: https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml
To limit how much of a page appears in Google's results, including AI features, use the nosnippet, data-nosnippet or max-snippet controls. noindex removes a page from Search entirely. Changes take effect only after the page is recrawled, which can take days to months.
Write passages worth citing
- Answer one question per section, in plain sentences near the top.
- Name things specifically: your service, the area, the conditions that apply.
- Keep facts identical across your website, Business Profile and listings.
- Back numbers and comparisons with a source on the page.
- Show who you are and why you know this.
None of this is new. It's what makes a page useful to a person, and the same qualities make it easier for any system to quote accurately.
Observe results honestly
In Search Console, traffic from Google's AI features is included in the Performance report under the Web search type, so it is counted alongside your other search clicks.
For other AI assistants, run a small set of real customer questions and record each check: the date, the prompt, the provider, the location if relevant, whether you were mentioned, and whether your page was cited.
Your working sheet
Sources
Checked on 4 November 2026. Platform guidance changes, so follow the links for the current wording.
- AI features and your websiteGoogle Search Central
- Google's common crawlers (Google-Extended)Google Search Central
- Overview of OpenAI crawlersOpenAI
- Creating helpful, reliable, people-first contentGoogle Search Central
Original CrawlrSEO working guide. Examples use a fictional business. Search outcomes vary; no ranking, indexing, traffic or AI inclusion is guaranteed.
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