Websites and public experiences
What is generative engine optimization?
Generative engine optimization, or GEO, describes efforts to make useful content understandable and discoverable in AI-assisted search. It cannot guarantee that a system will cite a page.
How it works.
AI-assisted search can summarize information and link to sources. Publishers can help readers and search systems by providing clear, original answers, accessible pages and reliable evidence. Formatting and structured data should accurately describe the visible content. They do not provide control over ranking or citation decisions.
Begin with the question a person actually needs answered. Give a direct explanation, useful detail and a source for factual claims. A practical example or original observation contributes more than repeating an answer across many nearly identical pages.
- Write for people with a real question.
- Keep pages accessible and internal links useful.
- Treat citations and rankings as outcomes you cannot guarantee.
What this looks like.
- A guide explains an import workflow with a checked example and its limitations.
- A comparison links to current product documentation for each factual claim.
- A help article explains an error and shows a tested recovery path.
The pieces that matter.
Useful evidence
Show what you know, how you checked it and where a reader can learn more.
Clear structure
Use descriptive headings, readable text and links that reflect the page’s actual topic.
Technical accessibility
Check response status, canonicals, indexability and whether essential information is available to readers.
Before you begin.
Avoid invented search guarantees
No badge, schema field or writing formula guarantees an AI citation.
Keep search guidance current
Google no longer displays FAQ rich results. Its guidance says llms.txt is not required for Google Search and has no ranking effect.
In your App Cloud.
Apps and public websites created in Your App Cloud need useful content appropriate to their audience. Keep public learning pages separate from private app information, and verify the search behavior of the pages you publish.
Explore the capabilities or find an app or agent to create. Plan allowances and usage are explained on Pricing.
A few useful distinctions.
Does FAQ markup guarantee more visibility?
No. FAQs can help readers, but Google stopped displaying FAQ rich results in 2026. Use structured data only where it accurately describes the page.
Do I need llms.txt for Google Search?
Google says it is not required and does not affect rankings. You may maintain machine-readable descriptions for other consumers, but they are not a substitute for useful accessible pages.
Further reading
Google: helpful, reliable content ↗Google Search documentation updates ↗Keep learning.
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