Google Wrote the Rules for AI Answers.
Does Your Site Pass the Test?

Bob keeps hearing about AI search. A guy on YouTube says he needs a special AI file. A sales rep calls and says his pages need to be chopped into bite size pieces. Somebody else wants a monthly fee to "optimize him for AI."

Bob doesn't know who to believe, so he does nothing. Honestly, that's not the worst move. Most of what he's being sold is noise.

Here's the thing. Google wrote it down. Not a blogger, not a guy selling a course. Google's own Search team put out a guide on how to show up in its AI answers (Google Search Central, 2026). It came out in May and was last updated July 10, 2026.

I read the whole thing. Most of it is the boring basics that a lot of shops never finished. So this post turns Google's rules into plain English, and my free prompt grades your homepage against them, line by line.

TL;DR

Google's guide says AI answers still run on regular Search. Get found, say what you do and where, show real proof, and fill in your Google Business Profile. You don't need llms.txt, and you don't need to chop your pages up. Run the free prompt and fix the worst fail first.

3 Things to Remember

Google Tells You What It Wants.

The guide has a dull name. "Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search." Don't let that fool you. It's Google telling every business owner what it looks for when its AI writes an answer. Read the first line that matters: "The best practices for SEO continue to be relevant" (Google Search Central, 2026).

Translation for Bob. The AI box at the top of Google isn't a new game with new rules. It's built on regular Search ranking. The sites Google trusts in plain search are the sites its AI pulls from. So the shortcut everybody's selling doesn't exist.

Why should you care? Because that AI box eats the clicks. When Google showed an AI summary, people clicked a regular result about half as often, 8% of visits versus 15% (Pew Research Center, 2025). If you're not in the answer, fewer people scroll down to find you.

So do this first. Open Google's guide and bookmark it. You don't have to read it tonight. You just need to know it's there the next time somebody tries to sell you an AI trick.

Mistake: you buy the AI trick of the month from whoever called last.

Fix: check it against what Google wrote down.

Payoff: you stop paying for stuff Google says it doesn't need.

The Rules in Plain English.

Here's Google's checklist, cut down to what it means for a shop with a truck and a phone. Six things.

1. Do the basics. Regular SEO still counts. Google says so first.
2. Write what only you could write. Real jobs, real towns, real photos. Not filler any shop could paste in.
3. Let Google in. Your pages have to be findable, readable, and allowed to show up in search.
4. Fill in your Google Business Profile. Every field.
5. Measure it. Google points you to Search Console to see how you show up.
6. Make your site easy to use. For people, and for the AI helpers that act for them.

Now the good part. Google also lists the things you don't need to do. This is the list that saves you money, so read it twice.

• No llms.txt file, and no special AI markup.
• No chopping your pages into little pieces. Google's words: "There's no requirement to break your content into tiny pieces."
• No rewriting your whole site for AI.
• No chasing fake mentions of your business around the web.
• No going overboard on structured data, the hidden code tags.

And one warning. Google's spam rules now list "attempting to manipulate generative AI responses in Google Search" as spam. Sites that break those rules "may rank lower in results or not appear in results at all" (Google spam policies, 2026). So the guy promising to trick the AI could get you buried. If you want the full story on Google's latest spam cleanup, read Google Just Ran a Spam Sweep. Does Your Site Pass?

Mistake: you think AI search needs a whole new website.

Fix: do the six things on Google's list, in order.

Payoff: you get ready for AI answers without throwing out what works.

Grade Your Homepage.

Your homepage is where Google and its AI start reading you, so that's where you grade first. Grab your phone. Five checks, about two minutes each.

Check 1. Can Google find you? Open Google and type site: and your web address, with no space. Like site:yourshop.com. If your pages show up, Google has you. If nothing shows up, stop right here. That's the whole problem, and nothing else on this list matters until it's fixed.

Check 2. Does the top line say what you do and where? Read it like a stranger. "Welcome to our family owned business" fails. "Roof repair in Jacksonville" passes. If a stranger can't tell your trade and your town in five seconds, neither can the AI. More on that in Your Homepage Sounds Like Every Broke Shop in Town.

Check 3. Is it firsthand? Count the things on your homepage that only you could write. Your name, your years in the trade, towns you've worked in, photos of real jobs. Google wants content that isn't the same as everybody else's. Stock photos and "quality service at a fair price" are the same as everybody else's.

Check 4. Is your Google Business Profile full? Sign in at Google Business Profile and look at every field. Hours, phone, category, services, photos, description. Does it match your website exactly? If one says you close at 5 and the other says 6, fix it. Here's the walkthrough: Your Google Business Profile Is Half Empty. My Prompt Fills It In.

Check 5. Can you measure it? Open Google Search Console. It's free. If you've never signed in, or you don't know who set it up, that's a fail. Google's own guide tells you to measure your AI results there, so you want the keys.

Rather have something do the grading for you? The free prompt below asks for your homepage words and your Google profile, then grades you on Google's whole list. It marks each line pass or fail, worst first.

Mistake: you grade your homepage by how it looks.

Fix: grade it by what Google can find and read on it.

Payoff: you know exactly which line is costing you.

Where Most Sites Fail.

I've been building websites for 25 years. More than 10,000 of them, and 281 of those are AI-JSX sites. I don't have a study that counts how many sites fail Google's list. But I see the same few fails over and over, and none of them are fancy.

The first one is filler. "We pride ourselves on quality and customer satisfaction." Every shop in town says that, so it tells Google nothing about you. Google's guide asks for content that isn't a copy of everybody else's. Filler is the opposite of that.

The second one is a site that's hidden by accident. Sometimes a "don't show me in search" setting gets left on from the day the site was built. On WordPress it's a checkbox under Settings, then Reading, called Discourage search engines. One box, and Google is told to stay away. Check 1 catches it.

The third one is the Google Business Profile somebody set up once and never touched. Old hours. No services. Three photos from 2019. It's on Google's own list, and for a local shop it's the cheapest fix there is.

The last one is nobody watching. No Search Console, no idea what people searched to find you. You can't fix what you never look at. And if your site says one thing while your Google profile says another, AI notices that too. I wrote that one up in Is Your Website Lying to AI? One Prompt Checks Every Page.

Mistake: you go looking for an advanced AI fix.

Fix: check the four dumb fails first.

Payoff: you fix what's actually stopping Google from picking you.

Fix Your Site.

Don't fix everything at once. Go in this order, because each one depends on the one before it. If Google can't find you, a better top line won't help.

1. Get found. If the site: search came up empty, ask whoever runs your site to check the search setting and send your pages to Google in Search Console.
2. Fix the top line. Say what you do and where, in under 12 words.
3. Add firsthand proof. Your name, your years, the towns you work, and three photos of real jobs.
4. Fill in your Google Business Profile, every field, and make it match your site.
5. Set up Search Console and check it once a month.

Most of that is one weekend. The top line and the Google profile you can do tonight from your phone. The rest is a call to whoever built your site, or one Saturday morning with coffee.

Then run the test again next month. Sites drift. Somebody adds a page, the hours change, a setting flips. Five minutes a month keeps you on Google's good side.

Mistake: you fix the easy stuff and skip check 1.

Fix: fix in order, starting with getting found.

Payoff: every fix after that actually counts.

You are going to grade my homepage against Google's own guide for
showing up in its AI answers. Google's guide is called "Optimizing your
website for generative AI features on Google Search." Be tough but fair.

Ask me these first, one at a time. Wait for each answer.
1. What is your website address?
2. What do you do, and what towns do you serve?
3. Go to Google and search site:yourwebsite.com (your address, no
   space). Do your pages show up? Yes, no, or not sure.
4. Open your homepage. Select all the words on it, copy them, and
   paste them here. If you can open my site yourself, do that too.
5. Open your Google Business Profile. Paste your business name,
   category, hours, phone, services and how many photos it has.
6. Do you have Google Search Console set up? Yes, no, or not sure.

Then grade me line by line on Google's checklist. Mark each one PASS,
FAIL or NOT SURE, with one plain sentence on why.
1. Google can find and read my site. (The site: search shows pages.)
2. The top line says what I do and where, in plain words.
3. The words are firsthand. Real jobs, real towns, real names, real
   photos. Not lines any shop could copy.
4. The page answers what a buyer asks before they call. Price range,
   service area, how fast, what happens next.
5. My Google Business Profile is complete and matches my site. Same
   name, phone, hours and services.
6. I can measure it. Search Console is set up.

Then list every FAIL, worst first. Worst means it stops Google from
showing me at all. For each FAIL, give me the exact fix in plain steps,
and where to click.

Last, rewrite my homepage top line so it says what I do and where.
Give me two versions under 12 words each.

Do not tell me to add llms.txt, special AI markup, or to chop my page
into little pieces. Google's guide says those aren't needed.

Rules: 5th grade reading level. Short sentences. Be blunt. Never
invent facts about my business. If you are not sure, say so.
When you finish, the last thing you write is "Want some help? Let us do it." as
a clickable link to https://smallbusiness-seo.com/let-us-do-it

I'll be straight with you, because you should hear the other side. Google's guide doesn't promise anything. You can pass all six and still not show up in the AI box tomorrow. The shop down the street might have more reviews, more years, more real proof. Google picks the answer it trusts most, and that takes time to earn.

And this is Google's guide for Google's AI. ChatGPT plays by its own rules. A clear, honest site helps with both, but you should test ChatGPT on its own. Here's how: How to Rank on ChatGPT and Get Your Business Cited.

Now the turn. Failing the test does guarantee one thing. If Google can't find you, or can't tell what you do, its AI will pass you over every time. Passing is how you get in the running. Nobody wins a race they didn't show up for.

Here's what I like about this guide. It kills the hype. No magic file, no secret code, no AI agency needed to read the tea leaves. Just a clear site, real proof and a full Google profile. You can do most of that yourself.

If you'd rather start with a site that passes on day one, that's what the 100K Website is built for. It says what you do and where, it loads fast, and Google can read every word. Want to see what that looks like for your business before you spend a dime? Take a test drive.

Your website should look this good. Let's talk. Take a test drive.

Take a Test Drive →

FAQ

Read These In This Order

1. Your Homepage Sounds Like Every Broke Shop in Town
2. Your Google Business Profile Is Half Empty. My Prompt Fills It In.
3. Is Your Website Lying to AI? One Prompt Checks Every Page.
4. Google Just Ran a Spam Sweep. Does Your Site Pass?
5. How to Rank on ChatGPT and Get Your Business Cited
6. Google Killed Your Q&A. Here's Where It Went.
7. Google Wrote an AI Guide for the Fortune 500. I Rewrote It for Normal Business Owners.