We read Google's guidance on its AI search features, OpenAI's crawler documentation and Perplexity's crawler documentation on October 1, 2026. Google explains how its AI features find the pages they link to. The OpenAI and Perplexity crawler pages explain how to let their crawlers in, and they don't describe how sources are chosen among the sites those crawlers can reach.
Google says a page must be indexed and eligible for a snippet before its AI features can link to it. OpenAI and Perplexity each recommend allowing their search crawlers. None of the pages we read promises that any of this gets your business named.
Can you rank in an AI answer?
We don't treat a mention in an AI answer as a position you hold. We record whether the answer named your business, with the date and the platform, and no one can guarantee that it will.
Google explains which pages are eligible to appear as supporting links in its AI features guidance, updated December 10, 2025. Being eligible doesn't mean being shown. The same page says, "Indexing and serving isn't guaranteed."
How Google finds the links for AI Overviews and AI Mode
Google's generative AI guide, updated July 10, 2026, says these features rely on its core Search systems to retrieve relevant pages from its Search index. Its systems then review the information on those pages and show clickable links to the pages that support the response. By Google's description, a page has to be in its Search index before these features can link to it.
The guide also describes query fan-out. Google says it is a set of related searches its model runs at the same time to bring back more results for the question. Its example is someone asking how to fix a lawn that's full of weeds, where the related searches might include "best herbicides for lawns" and "how to prevent weeds in lawn".
Google warns that creating separate pages for every question variation primarily to manipulate search results or generative AI responses violates its scaled content abuse spam policy.
Google's guide says, "Creating content that people find unique, compelling, and useful will likely influence your website's presence in generative AI search in the long run more than any of the other suggestions in this guide." It also says its AI systems look at a variety of sources, so a unique viewpoint can help. When someone proposes rewriting your pages, you can judge the rewrite by what a customer would learn from it.
What Google requires before AI Overviews and AI Mode can link to your page
Google's December 10, 2025 guidance says the best practices for SEO still apply, and that there are "no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, nor other special optimizations necessary." It says a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet before it can appear as a supporting link.
The same page lists SEO fundamentals that are still worth doing. Google recommends allowing crawling in your robots.txt file and through your hosting or content delivery network, and keeping important content available as text. If your services are only described in an image, write those descriptions out on the page.
Google's July 10, 2026 guide adds one more condition. Your site has to be included in Search generative AI features, which is a setting in Search Console. The help page for that control names the setting "Include my site's links and content in Search generative AI features" and says it is the default for all properties. A note on that page dated August 31, 2026 says the control has rolled out to all websites worldwide.
Google describes two other settings. Its robots documentation, updated March 24, 2026, says a robots setting called nosnippet prevents content from being used as a direct input for AI Overviews and AI Mode. Its crawler documentation, updated July 14, 2026, says, "Google-Extended does not impact a site's inclusion in Google Search nor is it used as a ranking signal in Google Search."
Google describes each of these settings as doing a different thing. When someone tells you AI access is turned on for your site, ask which of these settings they mean and which Google document describes it.
What OpenAI and Perplexity say about letting their crawlers reach your site
The crawler documentation we read on October 1, 2026 describes the access OpenAI and Perplexity recommend. Neither page shows a last-updated date. Neither page explains how sources are chosen or ordered among sites its crawler can reach.
OpenAI separates ChatGPT search access from GPTBot
OpenAI's crawler documentation says OAI-SearchBot is used to surface websites in ChatGPT's search features. It is plain about what blocking that crawler does: "Sites that are opted out of OAI-SearchBot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers, though can still appear as navigational links." OpenAI recommends allowing OAI-SearchBot in your robots.txt file and allowing requests from its published IP ranges.
GPTBot has a different job. OpenAI says it crawls content that may be used in training its generative AI foundation models, and that the two settings are independent. A site can allow OAI-SearchBot while disallowing GPTBot. If your company blocked AI crawlers over training concerns, ask which crawlers were blocked.
OpenAI also describes ChatGPT-User, which may visit a page when someone asks ChatGPT or a CustomGPT a question. OpenAI says, "ChatGPT-User is not used to determine whether content may appear in Search."
Perplexity describes its search bot and visits requested by users
Perplexity's crawler documentation says PerplexityBot is designed to surface and link websites in search results on Perplexity, and that it is not used to crawl content for AI foundation models. Perplexity recommends the same two steps for PerplexityBot: allow it in your robots.txt file, and allow requests from its published IP ranges.
Perplexity separately describes Perplexity-User, which may visit a page to help answer someone's question and include a link to it. Perplexity says it generally ignores robots.txt rules on those visits, because a user asked for them.
Perplexity also says a web application firewall may need to explicitly allow its bots. If your site sits behind a firewall, ask whoever manages your hosting whether PerplexityBot is getting through.
What Google says about llms.txt, special markup and rewriting pages for AI
Google's generative AI guide says you don't need new machine readable files, AI text files, markup or Markdown to appear in Google Search, including its generative AI features, because Google Search doesn't use them. It says adding a file like llms.txt will neither harm nor help your site's visibility in Google Search. Google also says it's fine to keep such files for other services or systems that use them.
The OpenAI and Perplexity crawler pages we read on October 1, 2026 say nothing about whether llms.txt affects how they use a site. We can't tell you from those pages whether the file affects your business's appearance in answers on ChatGPT or Perplexity.
Google's guide says, "You don't need to write in a specific way just for generative AI search." It also says there's no requirement to break your content into tiny pieces for AI to better understand it.
When we write a page, we state the customer's question plainly, answer it near the top and keep the facts in text. We write that way to help the person reading the page.
Google says structured data isn't required for generative AI search and there's no special schema.org markup to add. It still recommends structured data as part of SEO because it helps with eligibility for rich results. We keep your structured data accurate, so it says the same thing the page does.
How Google treats your Business Profile and mentions on other sites
Google's generative AI guide says Merchant Center and Google Business Profiles can help your products and services be visible in both AI responses and other Google Search results. Its AI features page lists keeping that information up to date among the SEO fundamentals.
The same guide also says Google's generative AI features can show what's being said about products and services across the web, including in blogs, videos and forum discussions. Google cautions that seeking inauthentic mentions "isn't as helpful as it might seem."
We check your business name, services, locations and contact details across your website, your business profile and relevant listings, and we correct the conflicts. We do that so customers get an accurate description of what you offer and the right details for reaching you. For a medical practice the same checks apply to providers and locations, as we set out in how we market medical practices.
What Google, OpenAI and Perplexity each document about getting cited in AI answers
Google's Search guidance and help pages describe how its AI features find links, what you can skip and how to check. The OpenAI and Perplexity crawler pages describe which crawlers to let in.
| OpenAI | Perplexity | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| What lets your site be used | Google requires an indexed page that is eligible for a snippet (December 10, 2025), plus inclusion in Search generative AI features in Search Console (July 10, 2026). | OpenAI recommends allowing OAI-SearchBot and its published IP ranges. It says sites opted out of OAI-SearchBot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers, though they can still appear as navigational links. OpenAI crawler documentation. | Perplexity recommends allowing PerplexityBot and its published IP ranges, and says a firewall may need to allow its bots. Perplexity crawler documentation. |
| What the company says about how sources are picked | Google describes retrieving pages through its core Search systems, reviewing their information and generating related searches for more results. | Not described in the documentation we read | Not described in the documentation we read |
| What it says you do not need | Google says new AI text files, special schema.org markup, content broken into tiny pieces and writing in a specific way for AI are not needed. | Not described in the documentation we read | Not described in the documentation we read |
| How you can check | Google points site owners to the Generative AI performance report in Search Console. Help page, note dated August 31, 2026. | Not described in the documentation we read | Not described in the documentation we read |
How to check whether AI Overviews and ChatGPT name your business
Google's Generative AI performance report in Search Console covers AI Overviews and AI Mode and counts an impression when a link to your site is shown to a user in a generative AI feature on Google Search. Google's generative AI guide adds a caution about tools that claim inside knowledge: "No third-party tool has access to our internal ranking or AI systems."
We keep the answers themselves. We put your customers' questions to a set of platforms we agree on with you at the start, and we record the question, the date, the platform, the answer, whether your business was named and which sources the answer used. Each month we ask the same questions again and compare. The platforms we review are ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode.
You can use the same method yourself with a spreadsheet. Keep the full answer next to its sources, so you can read what it says about your business as well as whether it names you.
Why an AI answer names you one day and not the next
In the checks we run, results vary by platform, by question and by location, and they change over time. We also see individual answers vary from one search to the next. One missing mention doesn't by itself identify a problem with your website, which is why we compare the same questions over time.
Google documents one source of difference between its own features. Its AI features page says AI Mode and AI Overviews may use different models and techniques, so the responses and links they show will vary. It also says AI Overviews are only shown when its systems determine they add to classic Search, and that they often don't trigger.
Google says optimizing for AI search is still SEO
Google's generative AI guide says optimizing for its generative AI search is still SEO, and it names AEO and GEO as other terms for the work. Our AI search work builds on your SEO, and our AI search and AEO services page explains those terms and how we handle the work.
Find out what AI answers say about your business
Our free visibility report checks whether AI answers name your business, what they say and which sources they draw on. We also check where the facts about your business contradict each other and where you stand on Google and in the map pack.
Where you rank on Google for the searches that matter
We audit your site and your search results first. The work and the price come to you in writing.
Built in-house by our U.S. team, doing this since 2011.