Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode build their answers from pages in Google's search index. Google says there are no special requirements to be included: a page needs to be indexed and eligible to show a snippet. What helps is ordinary good SEO, plus content that answers specific questions clearly enough to be quoted.
Where the sources come from
AI Overviews and AI Mode don't crawl the web separately. They draw on Google's existing search index. Google has also described a technique it calls ‘query fan-out’: the system runs several related searches behind the scenes and pulls supporting pages from across them. That is why a source can appear for a question it doesn't exactly rank for.
In practice this matters in the UAE already. When we checked Google's UAE results in October 2026, three of the eight queries we tested opened with an AI Overview before the first link.
What Google says you need
Google's own guidance for site owners is short: to be eligible as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode, a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Search with a snippet. Google says there are no additional technical requirements and no special markup needed. The same SEO best practices apply.
That means the usual basics carry more weight, not less:
- Crawlers can reach the page, and robots.txt doesn't block Googlebot.
- The page is in the index (check with the URL Inspection tool in Search Console).
- The important content is in text, not only in images or in JavaScript that crawlers may not run.
- Internal links make the page easy to discover.
- The page offers a good experience on mobile.
The controls you have
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| noindex | Removes the page from Search entirely, including AI features |
| nosnippet | Stops Google showing a snippet, which also stops the page being used in AI Overviews and AI Mode |
| data-nosnippet | Excludes a specific section of a page from snippets and AI features |
| max-snippet | Limits how much text can be shown |
| Google-Extended (robots.txt) | Controls use of your content for Gemini apps and model training. It does not affect inclusion in Search or AI Overviews |
A common mistake: blocking Google-Extended to ‘stay out of AI’ and expecting AI Overviews to stop using your pages. They are separate. Blocking Google-Extended doesn't remove you from Search features, and nosnippet doesn't only affect AI.
What helps a page get used
Google doesn't publish a selection formula, so treat anyone claiming one with caution. What we see consistently is that the pages used as sources tend to:
- Answer the question directly in the first lines of a section, then expand. A two-sentence answer under a question-style heading is easy to lift.
- Be specific. Numbers, names, locations and dates beat general statements.
- Cover the follow-up questions. Because of query fan-out, a page that also answers the next three questions a reader would ask has more chances to be pulled in.
- Come from sites Google already trusts on the topic. Topical depth across several related pages helps more than one long page.
- Use clear structure. Descriptive headings, lists and tables make passages easier to extract.
How to see if it's working
Search Console counts clicks and impressions from AI Overviews and AI Mode in its normal Performance report, but doesn't separate them out. So track two things: whether your target questions show an AI Overview at all, and whether your site is among its links. Check the same list on a schedule, and note the date, because the answers change. See how to measure AI visibility.
Questions people ask
Do I need special markup to appear in AI Overviews?
No. Google says there is no special markup or file required. Structured data still helps Google understand your pages, but it isn't a requirement for AI features.
Can I opt out of AI Overviews but stay in Google Search?
Only partly. The nosnippet and data-nosnippet controls stop content being used in AI Overviews, but they also remove normal snippets for that content. There is no switch that removes you from AI Overviews alone.
Does ranking first guarantee being in the AI Overview?
No. Sources are often pages that rank well, but the overview can pull from pages lower down, or from related searches it ran in the background.
See what AI says about your business
The free Ghost Audit shows how ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google's AI Overviews describe you today, and who they recommend instead.