Google has published its first official guide on how websites can show up in its generative AI search experiences, namely AI Overviews and AI Mode. For business owners trying to keep up with the rapid updates and announcements in search, this is a sort of a big moment. It’s the first time Google is giving some advice on what works (and what doesn’t) when it comes to AI search visibility.
In our earlier piece on Google’s 2026 updates, we looked at how the year’s core and spam updates were quietly nudging websites back toward the fundamentals a.k.a E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). This new guide from Google picks up where those updates left off with the message being consistent: the fundamentals that win in regular Google search are the same things that win in AI search.
Here are a few key takeaways:
AI Search Is Still Search
Here’s the bit that surprises a lot of people: Google’s AI features are built on top of the same search engine that’s been ranking websites for all these years. When the AI generates a summary, it’s pulling information from web pages that Google has already crawled, indexed, and ranked.
In Google’s own words, the foundations of good SEO are exactly what helps your site appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode. The technical groundwork, the quality of your content, the structure of your pages, all of it still matters. Possibly more than ever.
What Actually Helps Your Site Show Up in AI Answers
1. Write content only your business could have written.
AI models are very good at summarising generic information. What they can’t easily replicate is your first-hand experience, the case study from a job you completed last winter in Whangaparaoa, the lesson you learned the hard way on your second installation, the specific question a customer in Tauranga asked you last week and how you addressed it. That kind of content stands out because it can’t be found anywhere else on the internet.
Google specifically calls out the difference between “commodity content” (generic listicles anyone could write) and “non-commodity content” (the unique, expert-led stuff that only someone with real experience could produce). Think of it this way: if a competitor could publish the exact same article, it’s probably too generic to be useful.
2. Use images and video to your advantage.
While AI Overviews pull text, they also surface relevant images and video. For most New Zealand businesses, this can be a valuable win. Real product shots, project photos, behind-the-scenes images of your team, short explainer videos, before-and-afters, all of this content gives your site more brownie points to appear in AI search. Stock photos that anyone could use don’t carry the same weight as genuine, original visuals from your own business.
3. Make sure the technical aspects of the website are in place too
Does your page load quickly, especially on a phone, and is it free of broken links, and uses a clear page structure (proper headings, a logical menu, no important content hidden behind weird JavaScript)? These are some important technical bits to look into to ensure Google can crawl your site easily.
4. Keep your local and product information up to date.
For tradies, retailers, hospitality, professional services, anyone with a physical location, your Google Business Profile and product listings (via Google Merchant Center) can help with the AI experience too. An out-of-date address, missing opening hours, or no product photos can quietly cost you visibility.
What You Can Safely Ignore
There’s a lot of noise out there, and some of it isn’t worth your money or time. Google has been pretty clear that you don’t need to:
- Add special “AI-readable” files to your site (like the much-talked-about llms.txt)
- Chop your content into tiny chunks just for AI to digest
- Rewrite your existing content in a robotic, “AI-friendly” voice
- Chase fake mentions or shoutouts across random blogs and forums that aren’t related to your business.
- Obsess over schema markup purely for AI search, though it’s still worth using for regular Google rich results
If anyone is selling you these as the secret to AI search visibility, treat it with a healthy dose of scepticism.
Why SEO foundations still matter
AI search hasn’t rewritten the rulebook, if anything it has reinforced it. Sites that are technically sound, genuinely useful, and speak of the real work done by real experts are the ones ultimately to be valued.
So the big takeaway? If your SEO foundations aren’t in place, AI search visibility won’t be either. It’s worth making sure the basics are sorted, a crawlable site, clear page structure, healthy Google Business Profile, and content that actually reflects what your business knows and does. Without those building blocks, no amount of “AI optimisation” will move the needle.
Want to Know Where Your Site Stands?
At Harper Digital, we run SEO and AI visibility audits that show you exactly where you are and where we can take you to next. Book a free chat with our team and we’ll walk you through it.
