AI Mode

AI Mode is Google's fully conversational search, where the whole results page is an AI answer you can ask follow-up questions of.

It's a separate mode rather than a box on the normal results page, so someone has to choose it.

It goes further than AI Overviews by breaking your question into several related searches behind the scenes, which Google calls query fan-out, and combining what it finds.

Its sources appear as links alongside the answer.

Google's guide says a page has to be indexed to be eligible, and that no special file, AI text file or markup is needed.

Google also says meeting those requirements doesn't guarantee a page is shown.

What this means for you

Worth tracking rather than chasing, because the work that ranks a page is the same work that makes it eligible for AI Mode.

This one sits under AI search.

Related terms

AI Overview

An AI Overview is the AI-written answer Google places at the top of the results page, above the normal links.

Answer engine citation

An answer engine citation is ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews, Gemini, Perplexity or Copilot quoting your site as a source in an answer.

llms.txt

llms.txt is a proposed file you place on your site to tell AI models how to read it, and Google Search ignores it.

Want to know how this looks on your account?

I'll look at what you've got and tell you where it stands, in the same plain terms.

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