Your page has to be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet in Google Search. Google says there are no extra technical requirements and no special files or markup. Meeting the conditions makes you eligible, not selected, so the real work is useful, original content on a site Google can read.
What does Google actually require?
Google's page on AI features says a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Search with a snippet to appear as a supporting link. It adds that there are no additional requirements and no other special optimisations necessary.
There's one more condition. Your site must be included in the Search generative AI control in Search Console. Include is the default, so this only matters if someone changed it. Check it anyway, it takes a minute.
What can you ignore?
Google's optimisation guide is unusually clear about what isn't needed.
| Common advice | What Google says |
|---|---|
| Add llms.txt or another AI file | Not needed for Google Search. See what llms.txt is |
| Add special schema markup | No special schema.org markup needed. See schema for AI search |
| Cut content into small chunks | No requirement, and no ideal page length |
| Rewrite everything for AI | No need to write in a specific way |
| Collect mentions across the web | Seeking inauthentic mentions isn't as helpful as it might seem |
This applies to Google only. Other tools may behave differently.
What makes a page worth citing?
Google publishes no selection list for AI Overviews, but it does say what it values: non-commodity content, meaning experienced or expert takes that go beyond common knowledge. It also mentions query fan-out, where a system issues multiple related searches across subtopics. Our inference from that is practical: a page that deals well with the follow-up questions around a topic has more ways to be useful than one that just repeats the main keyword. Treat that as our reading, not Google's promise.
A checklist for one important page:
- Google has indexed it. Use URL Inspection in Search Console
- It carries no nosnippet or very low max-snippet rule by accident
- The main content is real text that Googlebot can see
- It contains something competitors can't copy: your process, your experience, your real conditions
- Structured data, if used, matches the visible text, as Google advises
- It's written to satisfy a visitor. Google's own test is whether visitors would find it satisfying
How do you measure it?
Use Search Console's Generative AI performance report. It shows impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode by page, country, date and device, and Google says it reached all websites worldwide as of 31 August 2026. If you don't see it, your site may not have enough impressions yet, or may be excluded from these features. Be careful with outside tools too. Google states that no third-party tool has access to its internal ranking or AI systems.
What if you don't want to appear?
You have several controls, and they do different things. Choose the narrowest one that solves your problem.
| Control | Effect |
|---|---|
| max-snippet | Limits how much text can be used as direct input |
| nosnippet | No text snippet, and no direct input for AI Overviews and AI Mode |
| data-nosnippet | Excludes marked parts of a page from snippets |
| Search generative AI control | Excludes the whole site from AI features, without acting as a ranking signal elsewhere |
| noindex | Removes the page from Search altogether |
Google-Extended is a separate token for AI model training and grounding. Google says it doesn't affect inclusion in Google Search and isn't a ranking signal. Don't use it as a switch for AI Overviews.
