Google published new documentation to help websites optimize for generative AI features in Search, including AI Overviews and AI Mode. The guide, titled "Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search," provides Google's most explicit guidance yet on what marketers should and should not do for AI search visibility.
On the terminology debate that has occupied the marketing industry for two years, Google is direct. The guide defines AEO as "answer engine optimization" and GEO as "generative engine optimization," then states: "From Google Search's perspective, optimizing for generative AI search is optimizing for the search experience, and thus still SEO." This mirrors positions Google representatives had delivered at conferences but marks the first time the statement appears in official published documentation.
A "Mythbusting generative AI search" section names specific tactics Google says are unnecessary for its systems. On llms.txt files, Google says site owners do not need to create machine-readable files, AI text files, markup, or Markdown to appear in generative AI search. On content chunking, Google says its systems can "understand the nuance of multiple topics on a page" and there is no requirement to break content into smaller pieces. On structured data, the guide confirms no special schema.org markup is required for generative AI features, and seeking inauthentic mentions across blogs and forums is "not as helpful as it might seem."
The positive optimization advice centers on what Google calls "non-commodity content," distinguishing generic tips articles from pieces that provide unique insight or firsthand experience no other source can replicate. Technical requirements remain similar to standard SEO: content must be indexed and eligible for snippets, pages must follow core web vitals guidelines, and JavaScript SEO best practices apply.
A new section on agentic experiences describes browser agents that access websites by analyzing screenshots, inspecting the DOM, and interpreting the accessibility tree. Google references the Universal Commerce Protocol, co-developed with Shopify, as an emerging standard for agent-friendly commerce interactions.
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