AI Overviews: what should a small business do?

Google now shows AI Overviews, and for a small business the honest answer is: change very little. Google itself says there are no extra requirements to appear in them.

That's not a brush-off. It's the actual guidance, and it's worth walking through, because a lot of people are selling you something that Google says you don't need.

Here's the plain version. If your pages are good, indexed and eligible to appear in Google Search, you're already in the running for AI features. If they aren't, no clever trick fixes that.

So the work isn't new work. It's the same work you should have been doing anyway: clear pages, useful content, a site Google can read. Nothing more exotic than that.

To be fair, it feels like it should be harder. A shiny new box at the top of the results looks like it needs a shiny new strategy. It doesn't.

This post is about Google only. Other AI assistants have their own rules, and Seracu's guides cover those, and they are linked below.

Google's page on AI features and your website (updated 10 December 2025) says this, and I'll quote it because it's blunt: "There are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, nor other special optimizations necessary."

Read that twice. No extra requirements. No special optimisations.

There is one condition, and it's the foundation of everything. A page must be "indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet" to be a supporting link in AI features. That's it. If Google can index the page and show a snippet from it in normal search, the page can be a supporting link.

One more thing from Google is worth knowing. AI Overviews are "only shown when our systems determine that it is additive to classic Search". So they don't appear on every search.

This is the bit that could save you money. Google's guide to optimising for generative AI (updated 10 July 2026) is clear about what you can skip.

It says you don't need to create new machine readable files, AI text files, markup or Markdown to appear in Google Search. It adds that Google Search itself doesn't use them. So if someone's pitching you a special file for AI, that's one to leave on the table.

It also says there's no requirement to break your content into tiny pieces. You don't have to chop every page into bite-sized fragments for a robot. Write for the person reading.

What you should do instead is "continue prioritizing foundational SEO best practices". Dull? Yes. Correct? Also yes.

You do have some control, and it's worth knowing where it stops.

If you'd rather limit what Google shows from your pages, you can use nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet or noindex. Google's wording is that these limit the information shown from your pages in Search.

The catch is the trade. Showing less of your page means giving readers less reason to pick it, and Google makes eligibility depend on a page being shown with a snippet. For most small businesses that is a poor deal, because you want to be found. Limiting snippets makes sense only if you have a specific reason, such as content you genuinely don't want excerpted.

On content itself, Google's guide says to "create the content yourself based on what you know about the topic" and to focus on "unique, expert-led content that provides value beyond common knowledge". You're the expert in your trade. That's your edge. A page that says what everyone already says gives Google no reason to prefer yours.

One plain disclosure, since we're on the subject of content: Seracu sells AI-assisted articles. Google's helpful content guidance (updated 5 October 2026) asks creators to explain how automation or AI was used, and says content should be created primarily for people. So if you use AI to help you write, say so, and make sure the piece is for your readers first. That applies whoever's tools you use.

Don't guess. Check.

Sites that appear in AI features are included in your overall search traffic in Search Console, and reported in the Performance report. So you won't find a separate hidden pile of numbers; it's folded into what you already look at.

Google's guide also points to a Generative AI performance report in Search Console. It shows how people find your content through generative AI features, covering Search and Discover. That's the one to open if you want to see the AI side specifically.

Look at it, note what you see, and don't panic over a single week. The point is to know where you stand, not to chase a number.

If you want the wider picture beyond Google, Seracu's guides on answer engine optimisation and how to get found by ChatGPT and AI search cover the other assistants, which don't all play by Google's rules.

For Google, keep it small and doable:

1. Check your key pages are indexed and can be shown in Google Search with a snippet.
2. Leave out the extra AI files, markup and Markdown; Google says you don't need them.
3. Review your most important pages and add what only you know, from your own work.
4. Open Search Console and look at the Performance report, then the Generative AI performance report.
5. If AI helps you write, say how you used it, and write for people first.

That's the lot. It's boring, sure, but at the end of the day, boring and correct beats clever and expensive.