Google has published an official guide on optimizing websites for generative AI features such as AI Overviews and AI Mode. The headline message for marketers is reassuring and disciplined at once: SEO still matters, because those AI features are rooted in Google’s core Search ranking and quality systems.
The guide explains that generative features use techniques like retrieval-augmented generation (grounding) and “query fan-out” — issuing related sub-queries to pull more relevant pages from the Search index. In practice, that means useful, crawlable, people-first pages remain the foundation for being eligible to appear in AI answers on Google.
Google also asks publishers to create non-commodity content: unique viewpoints, first-hand experience, clear structure for human readers, and supporting images or video where they help. It warns against scaled pages written mainly to capture every query variation, which can violate spam policies.
What Google says you can ignore (for Google Search)
- Special
llms.txtor other AI-only markup files — Google Search does not use them - Artificial “content chunking” just for AI
- Rewriting every page purely for machine phrasing
- Chasing inauthentic brand mentions
- Over-focusing on schema as a magic AI switch (structured data still helps rich results overall, but is not required for generative AI features)
Google frames “AEO” and “GEO” as industry labels for AI-visibility work, while stating that from Search’s perspective this is still optimizing for the search experience — i.e., SEO. It points site owners evaluating third-party GEO/AEO vendors back to its guidance on vetting SEO advice, and reminds readers that no third-party tool has access to Google’s internal ranking systems.
Why it matters for AiGEO users
SMBs do not need a separate “AI SEO” stack of gimmicks. Keep Business Profile and Merchant Center details accurate, publish non-commodity content with a real point of view, maintain clean technical access, and measure AI impressions in Search Console. Treat GEO as an expansion of good SEO and local/social presence — not a replacement for them. That keeps budgets focused on work that compounds across Google Search, Maps, and everyday marketing tools.
Source: Google Search Central — Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search