Google’s AI answers no longer just copy page one.
AI Overviews are the AI-written summaries that now sit at the top of many Google searches. You may have noticed Google moved all of them onto its newest AI model, Gemini 3. Before then, only the hardest questions went to it. The same update lets people ask a follow-up question and keep chatting in AI Mode, Google’s chat-style search.
Since the switch, the AI quotes a wider mix of websites, and many of the sites it used to quote have been swapped out. We tested this ourselves and found that most pages quoted in AI Overviews no longer appear in Google’s top 10 results for the same search. A year earlier, most of them did. Other studies using different data found even less overlap.
Google has explained why. When someone searches, its AI also runs several related searches in the background to cover the whole topic. That means a page can be quoted in the answer without ranking on page one for that specific question.
Being on topic now matters more than ever.
A link from a website about your subject does more for you than a link from a famous site that has nothing to do with what you sell.
Two calls from Google this year.
Tricking AI answers now counts as spam.
Since May, Google’s spam rules also cover attempts to trick its AI answers.
On 15 May, Google updated its spam rules. Trying to manipulate what its AI says is now treated the same as trying to cheat your way up the rankings, and the punishment is the same: your site can be pushed down or removed from Google. Google didn’t create a new category or a separate appeals process for it. Examples reported so far include paying to be quoted, planting fake recommendations and publishing biased “best of” lists.
This year’s spam updates left links alone. (So Far)
A spam update is a change Google makes to catch sites that break its rules. There have been four in 2026: March, June, August, and September (launched 24 September and currently rolling out). Rather than dedicated link-spam overhauls, the previous updates focused on core content violations, like pumping out masses of low-value pages, showing Google different content from what visitors see, and keyword stuffing.
Links are still being watched and the September update may still attack these bad links. Google catches bad links in other ways as well, including reviews by its own staff, and buying links to game the rankings is still against the rules.
Quick snags from the plate.
Google now favours local sites in Discover.
Discover is the news feed in the Google app. Its February update shows people more articles from websites based in their own country, along with more in-depth, original articles from sites that know their subject. Good news for Australian businesses with real expertise.
Google wrote its own guide to AI search.
In May, Google published a guide to getting your content into its AI answers. Its main advice is to publish useful, original content nobody else has. It also busts a few myths about “AEO” and “GEO”, the new buzzwords for AI search optimisation.
Your social posts can now be tracked in Google.
Since July, Search Console can show how your Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube posts perform in Google Search, Discover and Google News. Anyone can add their accounts for free.
Searching with photos now shows up in your reports.
Since 24 September, Search Console shows when people find your site by searching with a picture, such as pointing their phone camera at something with Google Lens. If you sell products, it’s a good reason to use clear, original photos.
Prove you know your stuff.
Google wants to show people content they can trust. Its guidelines call this E-E-A-T, short for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. Put simply, Google asks four questions. Has the writer done this themselves? Do they know the subject? Do others in the field rate them? Is the page honest and accurate?
You can show this on your own pages. Put a real name and a short bio on each article. Share what you have actually done, such as photos, results or lessons from real jobs. Answer the follow-up questions a customer would ask next, because Google’s AI looks at the whole topic around a search.
Links help too. When websites that cover your subject link to you, it tells Google that people in your industry vouch for you. When you plan a campaign, choose sites by how relevant they are first and how big they are second.
Panic disavowing.
This year’s spam updates haven’t targeted links yet. If your rankings dropped, check your content before you touch your links.
Google’s disavow tool lets you ask it to ignore certain links pointing at your site. It’s meant for a specific problem, like a large number of paid or fake links that got your site penalised. If a spam update hit you, the fix is on your own pages: thin or mass-produced content, hidden text, showing Google something different from visitors, or keyword cramming. Where Google has already chosen to ignore spammy links, disavowing them won’t bring your old rankings back. Doing it in a panic can also throw away links that were helping you.
Google now shows when you appear in AI answers.
Search Console is Google’s free tool for website owners. On 3 June, Google added a report that shows how often your pages appear in its AI answers, and by 31 August every site had it. It covers AI Overviews, AI Mode and the AI features in Google Discover, and you can break the numbers down by page, country, device and date.
It doesn’t show clicks or the words people searched yet, so treat it as a way to see where you show up. One simple use: list the pages that appear in AI answers and the ones that don’t, then compare which websites link to each. The gaps show where your next links should come from.
Every link, cooked up by hand.
Every story in this issue comes back to one thing: Google rewards links that make sense. We’ve always worked that way. We contact real publishers ourselves, pair each article with an Australian writer who knows the industry, and check every site before it goes anywhere near a client.
No PBNs. No spun content. No risky shortcuts.
Talk to us about links