As a regular internet user, you must have experienced an ‘AI Overview‘ response at the top of search results, after a quick Google search and as an online publisher or website owner, you must have worried about loosing traffic and not doing enough to attract or retain visits to your site, especially after finding summaries of content — seemingly or definitely — originating from your site in Google’s AI Overview but without any mention of or any credit given to your blog or website.
What is AI Overview? How does AI Overview work?
QuestionsEveryday.com believes that Google’s AI Overview is simply summarised answers to search queries which are generated by AI tools, such as Gemini, from content that appears mostly on top-ranking websites on Google search results.
It turns out that your website is more likely to be mentioned in generative AI summaries and responses like, AI Overview and ChatGPT, if your website content are deemed more relevant, well structured, more trustworthy, clearer or more direct by machine learning technologies that power generative AI.
However, the best way to achieve the aforementioned conditions and to position your website as a source for AI Overview is through Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).
What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?
GEO — also called AI Search Optimization — is the process of optimizing your website and structuring its content to be more understandable and easily summarised by machine learning and generative AI, so that they get included and credited in AI-generated summaries and answers.
READ ALSO: How do I get my website or blog to appear first on Google search?
The following steps are Generative Engine Optimization techniques or strategies for your website and its content:
1. Adding llms.txt to the root of your site:
This first step is a very crucial strategy in GEO, in fact GEO is also referred to as ‘LLM Seeding’. Apparently, when llms.txt are included in your sitemap, important or relevant content and pages, your site links are more likely to be included in AI-generated answers.
What is llms.txt?
llms.txt is a markdown-written file format which helps large language models (LLMs) to discover the most relevant content on your website; by pointing them to helpful or useful posts and pages on your site, which can be included in AI-generated summaries.
Note: llms.txt are different from robot.txt files which allow crawlers to index specific URLs.
You can manually add llms.txt to the root directory of your website but this method could be very stressful. Therefore, an easier method of adding llms.txt to your site is by using a plugin; hosting providers such as Hostinger have tools that help to automatically generate llms.txt files, so that LLMs find your website’s content. SEO plugins such as All in One SEO (AIOSEO) also offer llms.txt generators that are turned on by default.
2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Another step to take, in a bid to make your website content mentioned in AI Overview or generative AI responses, is to ensure that your website is optimized for search engines. Search engine bots determine the indexing and ranking of your website content on SERPs.
However, low-ranking web content and pages could also appear in AI-generated answers or summaries, as long as they are clear, well structured and useful.
3. Clear and concise language
Machine learning technologies favour clear, easy-to-understand, direct language to complex words or vocabulary. Ensure that your content is written in simple vocabulary, aside from technical words to help AI models find them quickly.
4. Prompt framing and question-styled headings
When website content provides direct answers to searchers’ questions, it is more likely to be picked up and mentioned in AI search results, responses and summaries.
What is prompt framing?
Prompt framing simply refers to a process by which website content is framed in such a way that it provides direct and clear answers to questions or that it matches prompts or questions that are asked in generative AI.
Making prompt-framed website content is easier for online publishers that use AI to write their content; you only need to tweak your prompt so that it writes your content in form of summaries. Alternatively, an online publisher or blogger may include a short summary of their web content at the top of each post.
Meanwhile, you can frame the headings of your articles in form of questions but make sure your headings and subheadings are clear and relevant to the content.
5. Schema markup
Adding the right Schema markup signals to your website helps AI models to determine what your content is about, so that they can select the most relevant sections of your content that they can cite in AI summaries. Examples of Schema formats are Step-by-step guides or lists Schema, Q & A (FAQs) Schema, etc. SEO tools help to generate Schema, especially for those who do not have the tech expertise to code them.
6. E-E-A-T signals
E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. Sometimes, it is called E-A-T (with the ‘E’ representing Expertise). E-E-A-T is a standard that helps search engines and generative AI to consider your website content as trustworthy, relevant and credible in your industry or niche. A well structured website with policy pages, an ‘About’ page and website content that cites sources, includes authors’ names and publishing dates, could boost your E-E-A-T signals.
Sources:
Search Labs. AI Overview and more. Google.
Yaqoob, N (2025). Beginner’s Guide to Generative Engine Optimization for WordPress. WPBeginner. https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/beginners-guide-to-generative-engine-optimization-for-wordpress
