Google publishes AI search optimization guide

Google on May 15 published a new Search Central document that tells site owners how to optimize for generative search features, including AI Overviews and AI Mode. The guide says Google’s existing SEO practices still apply because its generative search features are “rooted in” the company’s core ranking and quality systems. Google also updated related documentation as marketers and publishers look for ways to measure and influence traffic from AI-driven search products. Search Engine Land first reported the new guide on Friday, describing it as a single help document that pulls together earlier Google advice on AI search. The document covers technical SEO, local and ecommerce details, “non-commodity” content, and “agentic experiences,” according to the Google page. ### What did Google actually publish? Google’s new page is titled “Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search.” The document says it is aimed at website owners seeking “official best practices” for appearing in Google Search’s generative AI features, naming AI Overviews and AI Mode as examples. (developers.google.com) The guide says the answer to whether SEO still matters for generative search is “In short, yes!” Google says those features rely on techniques including retrieval-augmented generation, which uses pages from Google’s Search index, and “query fan-out,” in which the model runs related searches to gather more information. (searchengineland.com) ### Does Google treat AEO and GEO as something different from SEO? (developers.google.com) Google’s document names two industry terms — “AEO,” for answer engine optimization, and “GEO,” for generative engine optimization. The company says those labels are used for work focused on improving visibility in AI search experiences, but from Google Search’s perspective, “optimizing for generative AI search is optimizing for the search experience, and thus still SEO.” (developers.google.com) Google’s guidance also says site owners should focus on foundational SEO practices, clear technical structure, and content that is useful rather than interchangeable. The page frames those steps as the way to improve visibility in both generative AI search experiences and Google Search more broadly. ### What changed in Google’s spam rules? Google’s spam policies say content must not violate the company’s overall policies or spam rules to remain eligible for web search results, including Google-owned properties. (developers.google.com) The policy page says Google can lower rankings or remove sites from results when it detects policy violations through automated systems or human review. Search Engine Land reported that Google clarified in the policy text that tactics aimed at manipulating placement in AI-generated responses are prohibited. (developers.google.com) Google’s published spam-policy page broadly defines spam as techniques used to deceive users or manipulate Search systems into ranking content highly. ### How can publishers measure traffic from AI assistants now? (developers.google.com) Google Analytics on May 13 added a new “AI Assistant” channel in Default Channel Group reports. Google says the feature lets users identify traffic from chatbots including ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, and assigns a new “ai-assistant” medium when the referrer matches a recognized AI assistant source. Google says the update is intended to help site owners track clicks from generative AI tools, watch which AI sources are sending traffic, and compare that traffic with channels such as organic search. (searchengineland.com) Search Engine Journal separately reported the analytics change in a roundup published on May 15. ### What happened to FAQ results in Google Search? Google stopped showing FAQ rich results in Search on May 7, according to Search Engine Journal’s report on changes to Google documentation. (support.google.com) The publication said Google will remove the FAQ search appearance filter, the rich result report and Rich Results Test support in June 2026, with Search Console API support ending in August 2026. Search Engine Journal said FAQ schema can remain on pages even though it no longer produces visible FAQ results in Google Search. Google did not publish a separate blog post explaining the removal, according to that report. Google’s next public reference points are already posted in its own documentation: the AI search optimization guide is live in Search Central, the AI Assistant channel shipped in Analytics on May 13, and FAQ reporting changes are scheduled for June and August 2026. (searchenginejournal.com) (developers.google.com)