Google AI Search Readiness Audit (AI Overviews + AI Mode)

<!-- Updated: 2026-06-10 -->

This skill audits strictly against Google's own guidance: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide and https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features. For multi-engine GEO (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Bing Copilot), use /seo-geo; for llms.txt generation, use /seo-llms-txt — but note Google's position below.

Core Facts (from Google's docs — anchor every finding here)

• No special markup is needed. "There are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, nor other special optimizations necessary."
• Eligibility = indexed + snippet-eligible. A page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet (Search technical requirements). Nothing more — and inclusion is never guaranteed.
• How the features work: RAG (grounding on the Search index) + query fan-out (concurrent related queries). Core ranking and quality systems decide what gets retrieved and cited — SEO is still the lever.
• "AEO"/"GEO" = SEO, per Google. Optimizing for generative AI search is optimizing for the search experience.
• Snippet controls govern AI features: nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet, and noindex limit what appears in AI Overviews/AI Mode.
• Google-Extended controls Gemini training and grounding in OTHER Google systems — it does NOT control appearance in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Googlebot in robots.txt is the Search-access control.
• Measurement: AI Overviews/AI Mode clicks are inside the Search Console Performance report under the "Web" search type (no separate report).

Inputs

• URL (page-level audit) or domain (site-level audit)
• Optional: a local content draft (Read tool) for content-quality checks only

Execution

1. Indexability & snippet eligibility (eligibility gate)

curl -sL <url> -o /tmp/ai-audit-page.html -w "%{http_code}\n"
curl -sL <origin>/robots.txt -o /tmp/ai-audit-robots.txt

Check, in order:

• HTTP 200 and not blocked for Googlebot in robots.txt (also CDN/WAF blocks)
• No noindex (meta robots or X-Robots-Tag)
• Snippet/preview controls: nosnippet, max-snippet:[n] (a low value restricts AI feature usage), data-nosnippet spans wrapping main content
• Google-Extended in robots.txt — report it, but state explicitly: this affects Gemini training/grounding elsewhere, NOT AI Overviews appearance
• Canonical sanity (page not canonicalized away)

Any failure here = NOT ELIGIBLE for AI features; stop and report the fix.

2. Content value checks (the biggest lever per Google)

Heuristics on the fetched main content:

• Unique point of view / non-commodity test: first-hand evidence, original data, named experience ("we tested", photos, case numbers) vs. commodity listicle patterns ("7 Tips for...") that restate common knowledge
• People-first organization: clear paragraphs, sections, descriptive headings that aid navigation
• Multimodal support: relevant high-quality images/video supporting the text (AI features can surface them)
• Important content available as text (not locked in images/canvas/video only)
• Fan-out coverage WITHOUT page proliferation: flag many near-duplicate pages targeting query variations — Google warns this violates the scaled content abuse spam policy and doesn't work
• If AI-assisted content: must meet Search Essentials + spam policies (see /seo-helpful-content)

3. Technical structure

• Internal links make the content findable
• Page experience basics: renders on mobile, main content distinguishable, reasonable latency
• JavaScript: critical content present in served HTML or properly rendered
• Duplicate content reduced
• Semantic HTML where easy — human readability over perfect code

4. Business data consistency (where applicable)

• Structured data matches the visible text (consistency, not extra schema — Google: "no special schema.org markup you need to add")
• Ecommerce: Merchant Center feed current; Local: Business Profile current

5. Mythbusting pass

Flag (as wasted effort, per Google's own mythbusting list) if the site is:

• Relying on llms.txt or "AI text files" for Google visibility (no special treatment — note this when cross-referencing /seo-llms-txt)
• "Chunking" content into fragments for AI
• Rewriting copy "for AI" / stuffing long-tail variants (AI systems understand synonyms and meaning)
• Buying/seeking inauthentic mentions
• Over-investing in structured data purely for AI features

Output

## Google AI Search Readiness — <URL or domain>

### Eligibility Gate
| Check | Status | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Indexed / indexable | PASS/FAIL | ... |
| Googlebot allowed (robots.txt + CDN) | PASS/FAIL | ... |
| No noindex | PASS/FAIL | ... |
| Snippet controls (nosnippet/max-snippet/data-nosnippet) | PASS/WARN | ... |
| Google-Extended present? | INFO | affects Gemini training, NOT AI Overviews |

### AI-Readiness Scorecard (0-100)
| Pillar | Weight | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indexability & snippet eligibility | 30 | XX | hard gate |
| Unique, non-commodity content | 35 | XX | biggest long-run lever per Google |
| Technical structure & page experience | 20 | XX | ... |
| Multimodal + business data consistency | 15 | XX | ... |

### Wasted-Effort Flags (Google mythbusting)
- ...

### Top 3 Actions
1. ...

Close with: track AI feature traffic in Search Console Performance report ("Web" search type); clicks from AI Overviews tend to be higher quality (longer time on site), per Google.

Cross-references

• /seo-geo — broader multi-engine GEO (ChatGPT/Perplexity); this skill is specifically Google's official guidance and will sometimes disagree with generic GEO advice — when it does, say so explicitly
• /seo-llms-txt — llms.txt generation (useful for other AI crawlers; Google states it is not needed for Google AI features)
• /seo-helpful-content — people-first content gate referenced throughout Google's AI guidance
• Controls reference: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/robots-meta-tag and https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/google-common-crawlers
• Technical requirements: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/technical