How to Control your Content in Google’s AI Overviews

When Google introduced AI Overviews in the US search results, it caught the attention of SEOs and content creators. Many were eager to learn how they could prevent their content from appearing in these AI-driven summaries. Thankfully, there are Google Search controls that let you manage this.

Glenn Gabe, an expert in this field, tested the ‘nosnippet’ control/tag, and it proved effective. He shared his experience in a case study, explaining how adding a ‘nosnippet’ meta tag to the sections of his content removed them from the AI- driven features. However, this also led to the removal of descriptions from the normal search listings, which could be a drawback.

Experimenting with variations of the nosnippet tag, such as 'max-snippet' and 'data-nosnippet,' can also help manage how content appears. But this requires a lot of trial and error with each URL featured in the AI Overviews, which can be time-consuming.

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Choosing whether to appear in AI Overviews is a tough decision, especially since Google does not provide related data through Google Search Console. To help, Google has set up a separate page for AI Overviews on their website and has updated the pages concerning robots meta tags and documentation for subscription and paywalled content.

In the screenshot from Twitter, Glenn Gabe mentions his success with these controls. He highlights the process of removing content and links from Google’s AI Overviews by using preview controls like ‘nosnippet’, ‘data-nosnippet’, and ‘maxsnippet’. This case study provides a practical example of controlling how content is featured in Google’s new search tools.

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by Mahrukh Shahid via Digital Information World