How to Optimise Your Website for Google's AI Overviews and AI Search

Your hotel still ranks on page one for “family stay in Chakrata”, but fewer people are clicking through. Then you try a guest’s actual question: “Where can I stay in Chakrata with elderly parents?” Google shows an AI Overview. Another property gets a link. Yours doesn’t. If you’re working out how to optimise for Google AI Overviews, open the page a guest would land on. Can they tell whether a parent will have to climb stairs from the car park to the room?

Check that Google can index the page, show a snippet and include the site in its AI features. Then answer the visitor’s question with details your team can verify.

What Are Google AI Overviews and AI Mode?

An AI Overview gives you a generated answer within Google’s search results, with links to pages supporting that answer. AI Mode lets you explore a question conversationally and ask follow-ups. Both draw on Google’s existing Search systems.

Two terms explain why this matters to a website owner. Retrieval-augmented generation means Google looks up relevant pages in its index and uses information from them to compose an answer. Query fan-out means it can run several related searches at once. The words a customer types are the starting point. Google may look for evidence that answers individual parts of the question.

Illustrative example we wrote. These are hypothetical searches, not Google data. Suppose someone asks, “Where can I stay in Chakrata with my elderly parents in December?” Possible follow-up searches include:

• Which hotels have a drop-off point close to reception?
• Can guests reach a bedroom and dining room without climbing stairs?
• Which properties offer room heating in December?
• Can a taxi reach the entrance if there’s snow on the approach road?

A hotel owner reading that list might spot a problem straight away. Their website says “ideal for families” six times. Nowhere does it say that the ground-floor rooms are down a flight of steps from reception. That one detail could decide the booking.

Is SEO Still Relevant for AI Search?

Yes. If Google can’t index your page, polishing the opening paragraph won’t make it eligible for an AI Overview. Google treats answer engine optimisation (AEO) and generative engine optimisation (GEO) for its own search features as part of SEO.

Where traditional rank tracking falls short is in telling you which page gets cited. In March 2026, Ahrefs analysed around four million URLs cited in AI Overviews. When its researchers compared those URLs with standard organic results for the same query, 37.1% ranked in the top ten and 36.7% were outside the top 100. Those percentages describe where cited pages ranked. They don’t tell you the odds that your page will earn a citation.

So which page should you work on first? I’d pick one that already attracts relevant searches and leaves a genuine customer question unanswered. For the Chakrata hotel, that might be the room page visitors read just before they ring reception to ask about stairs. You have a reason to improve that page even before you know whether Google will cite it.

How to Optimise for Google AI Overviews: 7 Steps

Step 1. Check whether the page is eligible

Start with the exact URL you want Google to reference. Inspect the room page itself if that’s where the access information lives. Checking the homepage tells you little about a room page that was left out of the index after a redesign.

Google sets requirements at two levels. At page level, Google must be able to crawl the content, the URL must be indexed, and the page must be eligible to appear in Search with a snippet. Look for a crawl block, an unintended noindex instruction or a nosnippet directive. Each calls for a different fix.

At site level, check the Search generative AI control in Search Console. Google includes sites by default, though a property can inherit an exclusion from a parent property. The control determines whether the site can participate. The performance report serves a separate purpose: it helps you measure appearances.

How to check it: Inspect the exact URL in Search Console, review its snippet directives and confirm the effective generative AI setting for the property.

Step 2. Put the answer where the reader expects it

If someone opens a page titled “Can I change the date on my workshop booking?”, they’re looking for a yes or no, a deadline and the next step. A paragraph about how much you value flexibility makes them keep looking.

Before and after. We wrote both openings below for a fictional workshop.

Before: “We understand that plans can change. Our team wants every participant to enjoy their workshop experience, so we offer a flexible approach to booking amendments. Please see our policy below for further information.”

After: “Yes. You can move your booking to another available workshop if you email us at least 48 hours before it starts. Include your booking reference and the date you’d like to attend.”

The second version gives someone enough information to act. The rest of the page can cover exceptions, such as what happens if the new session costs more.

Google's guide doesn't set a rule for where on the page the answer has to sit, and nobody outside Google can promise that moving a sentence earns a citation. But putting the answer early costs you nothing, helps the reader, and is easy to test on one page.

How to check it: Read only the heading and opening paragraph. Could a customer answer their question correctly, including any condition that would change the answer?

Step 3. Give genuine follow-up questions their own headings

Before adding an FAQ, ask the person who handles calls or WhatsApp enquiries what customers ask after hearing the first answer. A guest who hears “Yes, we have ground-floor rooms” might immediately ask, “Can my father reach breakfast without using the stairs?” That second question tells you what the first answer left out.

On the room page, a heading such as “Are there steps between the car park, bedrooms and dining room?” gives the hotel space to describe the whole route. Add a photograph of the entrance if it helps a guest judge the approach. If access differs by room, name the rooms. A blanket “senior-friendly” label leaves the guest to discover the exception at check-in.

Keep closely related answers on the page where someone needs them. Publishing a separate article for every variation of “hotel with fewer stairs” creates more pages for the guest to piece together. Google also warns that producing pages at scale primarily to manipulate rankings or AI answers can violate its spam policy.

How to check it: Take one recent enquiry and follow it through the page. Mark the first question that would still make the customer pick up the phone.

Step 4. Publish details only someone with first-hand experience could provide

Take the Chakrata hotel page. “Ideal for elderly guests” leaves a family guessing. A photograph taken from the drop-off point, with the route to reception marked, lets them judge the approach for themselves. A second photograph might show something the first one misses, such as the steps between reception and the dining room.

To get that material, ask the person who handles check-ins to walk the route with a phone. Which entrance do they use when a guest asks for the shortest walk? Is that entrance open after dark? Publish what the team can confirm, including any inconvenience a guest ought to know about before paying a deposit.

That’s what Google means by non-commodity content. Another writer could produce a list of things to consider when booking a hill hotel. They’d need direct knowledge of this property to explain which room to request and why. Google’s guidance specifically values that kind of first-hand contribution.

How to check it:Highlight one passage a writer couldn’t have produced by reading competing websites. If there isn’t one, ask the team what customers usually learn only after they arrive.

Step 5. Show who wrote the page and who checked the facts

Put a name beside advice where the reader has reason to ask, “How do you know?” For a guide to staying at the property in winter, that could be the manager who coordinates arrivals. If an agency writer interviews the manager, credit each person for what they actually did. A short note such as “Arrival details checked by [name], front-office manager” tells a prospective guest whom the information came from.

Match the source to the claim. The hotel team can confirm whether it provides room heaters. For a claim about a public road closure, link to the relevant authority’s dated notice. A staff byline alone won’t tell a traveller whether that notice is still current.

The same principle applies to the date on the article. If the hotel changes its entrance and you replace the old directions and photographs, add the updated date. If someone merely opens the page for a routine check, leave the publication history accurate.

How to check it: Pick the claim a customer is most likely to rely on before paying. Can they see who verified it, where it came from and whether it still applies?

Step 6. Check what Google and a mobile visitor can actually see

Before you commission more copy to optimise your website for AI search, open the existing page on a phone and try to use it. Can you read the room details without dismissing a full-screen offer? Does tapping “View amenities” reveal the information? Can you get back to the room you were considering after opening a photograph?

Then compare that experience with the page Google can render. Google can process JavaScript, but a blocked script or content that fails to load can leave the search engine with a different page from the one your team approved. Check that a distinctive sentence from the room description appears in the rendered HTML.

Look for duplication while you’re there. If the same room appears under an old URL and a new one, check which version Google treats as the main page before updating either. Give useful photographs descriptive captions. If a video shows the walk from reception, put the essential directions in text for someone who can’t play it.

For a local business, compare the website’s address and phone number with its Google Business Profile. For a retailer, check a product’s price and availability against its Merchant Center listing. A customer who finds two different prices still has a problem, however well the product description reads.

How to check it: Choose one commercially important URL. Compare its mobile page, Google’s rendered version and the relevant business or product listing. Record the first discrepancy someone needs to fix.

Step 7. Build a reputation people can verify elsewhere

Ask guests for an honest review in their own words. If someone asks about your property in a travel forum, reply openly as a member of the team and answer the question they asked. A precise answer about parking or heating gives the reader something they can use even if they never visit your website.

There’s a reason off-site mentions come up in discussions about how to optimise for Google AI Overviews. Ahrefs found a 0.664 correlation between branded web mentions and brand visibility in AI Overviews. The study measured how often brands appeared. It didn’t establish that acquiring a mention causes Google to cite a particular page. Google also advises against manufacturing mentions.

How to check it: Search for your business name alongside a service customers ask about. Open the results. Which ones give a prospective customer information they could independently check?

Myths: What You Don't Need to Do to Optimise Your Website for AI

How to Measure Your AI Overview Visibility

Start with the page you changed. In Google Search Console’s Generative AI performance report, select a date range and look up the URL under Pages. An impression means someone was shown a link to your site in AI Overviews or AI Mode. You can examine impressions by page, country, device or date. For the Chakrata hotel, a useful first check is whether the room page is gaining impressions from searches in India.

If the report is missing, Google says the usual reason is insufficient impressions. You can also check whether the site has been excluded through the Search generative AI control.

For a monthly review, answer three questions:

There’s a reason to watch CTR. In a February 2026 study of 300,000 keywords, Ahrefs estimated that the top organic result’s average desktop CTR was about 58% lower when an AI Overview appeared than its model predicted without one. That observational finding gives context for a traffic review. It can’t explain an individual hotel’s lost clicks.

How to Optimise Your Website for AI Search Beyond Google

Start with a question customers ask in their own words. If your guests use ChatGPT or Perplexity to plan a stay, try the question there and inspect any sources the answer provides. Does it point travellers to your current room page, an old listing or a third-party travel guide?

Try the question about elderly parents in a platform your guests use. Open its sources. If a travel guide describes an entrance the hotel no longer uses, send the publisher the corrected information and a current photograph. That fixes a real problem for travellers regardless of which service they consult.

AI Overview Optimisation Checklist

When deciding how to optimise for Google AI Overviews, run this checklist on one priority page.

• Choose a question customers have actually asked.
• Confirm Google has indexed the intended URL.
• Check snippet eligibility and the site’s generative AI inclusion setting.
• Read the opening on a phone. Is the main answer visible?
• Include any condition that changes the answer.
• Give the next genuine customer question a clear heading.
• Add first-hand evidence and identify who checked it.
• Confirm Google can render the important text.
• Check relevant business or product listings for conflicting details.
• Record the edit date and baseline impressions, clicks and qualified enquiries.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Checking only the homepage. Inspect the URL containing the answer. The room page can have an indexing problem even when the homepage ranks.
• Putting the exception in the small print. If only one room has step-free access, say which one beside the claim.
• Publishing a page for every wording variation. Keep related questions together. Mass-producing pages to manipulate AI responses can breach Google’s spam policy.
• Reporting a brand mention as a citation. Open the source link before telling a client their page appeared. The answer might name the hotel and link to a travel publisher.
• Crediting an enquiry to AI based on timing alone. A booking that arrives after an impression spike still needs its own source evidence.

FAQs

1. Is there a guaranteed way to get cited in an AI Overview?

No. Meeting Google’s requirements makes a page eligible. Google still decides which sources to display for a particular search

2. Do I need schema to appear?

Google requires no special AI schema. Use accurate structured data where your page qualifies for a supported rich result.

3. Do I need an llms.txt file?

No. Google says its Search systems don’t use this file. If a priority page is missing, check its indexing and snippet eligibility first.

4. Does ranking first guarantee an AI Overview citation?

No. Ahrefs found that Google often cited URLs outside the organic top ten for the same query. Check the links in the Overview itself before reporting a citation.

5. How long does it take to see results?

There’s no guaranteed timetable for a citation. Record when you changed the page, check whether Google has picked up the revision, then review impressions over comparable periods.

Start with the question behind the next enquiry

The next time someone asks how to optimise for Google AI Overviews, open the last enquiry your website should have answered. For our imaginary Chakrata hotel, that might be a guest asking whether their father can get from the car to breakfast without climbing stairs. Walk the route, take the photograph and put it on the room page. The next family can use it today.

If you'd like a second opinion on where to optimise your website for AI, SAAR Asia, an SEO agency in Dehradun, can help you pick the first page and plan how to measure it.