Google has published its first official guide for optimizing websites for AI-powered search, while debunking the supposed tricks of GEO and AEO. The document, included in Google Search Central, states that ranking in AI is simply traditional SEO. If content is not eligible for classic results, it will not be eligible for AI Overviews or AI Mode either.
Ranking systems don't change, they just get updated 🤖
The guide details that the search engine's AI features are based on the same core ranking and quality systems as classic search. This means that optimization techniques for artificial intelligence, such as entity markup or specific formatting for generated responses, have no effect if the content does not meet traditional E-E-A-T and relevance criteria. Google insists that AI-generated summaries only display content that would already be visible in conventional search results, eliminating any shortcuts.
Goodbye to the magic potion of GEO 💥
So all those gurus selling the secret elixir of GEO and AEO have received a cold shower straight from Mountain View. It turns out the trick to appearing in AI responses was not a 200-euro plugin or a secret formula with hidden keywords. It was the same as always: writing useful content that Google can understand. Well, who would have thought. Now it's time to explain to clients that their dropshipping website with texts translated using Google Translate will not appear in AI or anywhere else.