What did Google say about optimizing for AI search?
On May 15, 2026, Google published a guide to optimizing for its generative AI features. It says AI Overviews and AI Mode are rooted in Google's core ranking and quality systems, that there are no extra requirements to appear in them, and that normal SEO best practices still apply.
The guide also lists things not to do, and on June 15, 2026 Google clarified that llms.txt files are not needed for Google Search. The primary sources are Google's guide to optimizing for generative AI features and the documentation updates log.
What does Google say not to do for AI search?
Google says you do not need to create llms.txt files, special AI markup or Markdown copies of your pages, do not need to break content into tiny chunks, and should not rewrite content specifically for AI or create separate pages for every query variation, which can violate its scaled content abuse policy.
Google's AI search guide: do and don't
| Common advice | What Google's guide says |
|---|---|
| Add an llms.txt file | Not needed for Google Search |
| Add special schema for AI | No special schema.org markup is needed |
| Chunk content into short blocks | No requirement to break content into tiny pieces |
| Make a page for every keyword variation | Can violate the scaled content abuse policy |
| Rewrite pages for AI | Not recommended |
What does Google recommend instead?
Google recommends content that is valuable and not a commodity, with a unique point of view and real expertise, pages that are crawlable and indexable, good images and video where they help, an up-to-date Business Profile for local businesses, and measuring results in Search Console's Generative AI report.
What Google recommends for AI search
- Say something only your business can say: your prices, your process, your results.
- Make sure every important page can be crawled and is not blocked.
- Use real screenshots and diagrams, not only stock photos.
- Track AI impressions; see our note on the new report.
What does this mean for a service business website?
For a service business, it means there is no AI shortcut: the pages that rank in Google are the ones that appear in AI answers. Spend time on clear service pages, honest pricing, real case studies and fast replies to the leads those pages bring in, not on AI-only files or mass-produced articles.
Other AI answer engines follow their own rules. ChatGPT search, for example, needs its OAI-SearchBot crawler to be allowed in robots.txt. For the evidence on clicks, see how AI Overviews change clicks, and for what happened to FAQ snippets, see Google retires FAQ rich results. When the traffic arrives, lead automation makes sure it turns into booked calls. More on the news page, or talk to us via the contact page.
Related: the Search Console Generative AI report, local SEO automation, and what a lead system does with the traffic in the dental case study.
