01What Google actually published
The guide is called “Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search”, and it sits on Google Search Central, the site Google keeps for people who run websites. It covers AI Overviews, the summary at the top of some results, and AI Mode, the chat-style search.
Its central point is plain: these features draw on the same search index and the same ranking and quality systems as ordinary Google results. What people are calling GEO, or answer engine optimisation, Google treats as part of SEO, not a separate trade.
02The things it says you can skip
This is the useful part, because it is a list of things people are currently being charged for.
- llms.txt and other new files written for AI. Google says Google Search ignores them.
- Special schema for AI. Structured data is not required for Google’s AI features, though it still helps with rich results.
- Cutting your pages into small chunks. Google says there is no ideal page length.
- Rewriting with special wording or piles of long-tail keywords. Its systems understand synonyms and meaning.
- Chasing mentions of your business around the web. Google says inauthentic mentions do not help.
03The one it warns against
Google says that mass-producing pages to catch every variation of a question, to manipulate rankings, can break its scaled content abuse policy. In plain terms: a hundred thin pages written by a machine is now a risk, not a shortcut.
A page earns its place by saying something real about the thing it is for. If you could swap the town or the product name and nothing else would need to change, it is probably on the wrong side of that line.
04What it says does matter
Content that is original and comes from first-hand experience, rather than repeating what every other site says. Clear headings and paragraphs. Pages that Google can find, crawl and show with a snippet. A site that works well on a phone.
And, for local businesses, the Google Business Profile. Google says Business Profiles and Merchant Center product feeds can help your services and products appear in AI answers. Accurate hours, the right category, your service area, real photos and a full list of services all feed in.
Search Console now has a report for how your site performs in these AI features, so you can see it for yourself rather than taking anyone’s word for it.
05Where I have changed my own advice
I have told people llms.txt was worth half an hour. For Google, it is not. I am keeping the one on my own site because some other assistants may read it, but it is now the last item on any list I give, and my free report has been changed to say so.
I still add business schema to every site, because it is how rich results and assistants outside Google pick up your name, address and hours without guessing. But it is not a switch that turns Google’s AI on, and I would not want anyone to think I said it was.
06What to do this week
None of this needs a specialist. Most of it is an afternoon.
- Check in Search Console that your important pages are indexed.
- Fill in every field of your Google Business Profile: category, hours, area, services and photos.
- Read each main page and ask whether it says anything only you could say.
- Politely decline anyone selling you AI files or AI-only markup.
Sources and further reading
Written by Morgan Loughton at Ferris Creative in Forest Row. If something here does not match what you are seeing on your own site, email me and I will take a look.