From CNET: Google is testing a new option that lets website owners manage how their content and links appear in the company's generative AI Search features, the company announced in a Keyword blog post early Wednesday morning.
The test offers publishers more insight and control over how they show up in AI-powered search results as Google appears to be leaning more and more toward chatbot-like interfaces as opposed to the traditional "10 blue links" results pages. At its I/O developer conference in May, the company showed off changes like an expanded AI Mode and a search box that adjusts to fit the context of your query.
This general trend toward AI-powered search has caused consternation among publishers in part out of fear that readers will stay on the search page instead of venturing to the websites themselves, despite the fact that those publishers often provide the information relayed by the AI search tool. Publishers also have limited visibility into how their content appears in AI Overviews or AI Mode results.
In the test launching this week with a small group of publishers in the UK, the website owners will be able to decide whether their site will be used for and appear in AI Search.
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