More myths have grown up around visibility in AI answers than around the whole of SEO over the last decade. Special files, magic tags, separate GEO strategies sold as a replacement for search engine optimisation. Meanwhile, in 2026 Google published specific guidance on how pages get into AI Overviews and AI Mode. It is surprisingly down-to-earth.

What Google officially says

• A page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in results with a snippet. This is a prerequisite without which it cannot become a link in an AI answer.
• There are no additional technical requirements designed specifically for AI features.
• The same basics apply as in classic SEO: accessibility for the crawler, useful content, descriptive titles and headings, logical internal linking, accurate business information.
• Google strongly emphasises the importance of unique content, rather than content that repeats what is already on hundreds of other pages.

Good news from recent months: Google has announced that it will show more links in AI Mode and AI Overviews, with a particular emphasis on original content and first-hand accounts.

Four myths not worth spending money on

Myth 1: you need a special file for AI

Google does not require any additional file in order to cite a page. If someone is selling the implementation of such a file as a guarantee of visibility in AI Overviews, they are selling an empty promise.

Myth 2: GEO replaces SEO

Visibility in AI is an extension of good SEO, not a separate discipline. A page that Google cannot index properly will not appear either in the results or in an AI answer.

Myth 3: it is enough to add an AI-generated FAQ

Questions and answers help, but only when they bring something new. Ten generic questions copied from a generator are exactly the kind of content Google already has in abundance.

Myth 4: small businesses have no chance

It is the other way round. A local business has something a large portal does not: its own projects, prices, photos, experience from a specific town. This is precisely first-hand content.

What unique content means in practice

It is information that cannot be found anywhere else, because it comes from your own work:

• figures from your own projects, for example the increase in enquiries after a change of strategy,
• photos and descriptions of completed projects with the name of the town,
• indicative price ranges and an explanation of what they depend on,
• answers to questions that customers ask over the phone,
• an expert opinion signed with a first name and surname.

This is how we build our own content. One example is the case study of Targ Rybny in Gdańsk, in which we show the journey from an unindexed website to the top of the results.

A list of 8 tasks for a business website

1. Check in Search Console whether your key pages are indexed.
2. Make sure you are not blocking snippets with directives such as nosnippet.
3. Write titles and headings so that they clearly say what is on the page.
4. On every service page, add facts: scope, area of operation, how pricing works.
5. Complete your business details: name, address and phone number identical on the website and in your Google Business Profile.
6. Add your own photos with alternative text instead of stock photos.
7. Connect related pages with internal links: service, case study, price list.
8. Remove or merge template pages that duplicate the same content.

Summary

The recipe for visibility in AI answers today is: solid SEO plus content that no one else has. If you want to check how your website performs in both areas, order a free SEO audit.

Sources: Google Search Central documentation on AI features in Search, industry summaries from September 2026.