Google says you need no special code for AI answers
Google published a guide on getting mentioned in its AI features and labelled four popular tactics as myths.
Google has published its own guide on getting your site mentioned in AI answers, and it names several popular tactics as myths. The article is called "Optimizing your website for generative AI features." It was spotted and summarised by Edward Sturm (@edwardeachday), who called it a long, deep article and said he was in shock that Google did it.
The four things Google says you do not need
According to Sturm's reading of the guide, Google lists over-focusing on structured data as a myth. Structured data is extra code that describes what is on your page, often called schema. Also listed as myths are llms.txt files and other special markup, chunking your content into blocks, and rewriting your content just for AI. On chunking, Sturm says the guide states plainly that there is "No requirement."
That matters because all four have been sold hard over the past year. If you have been quoted for an llms.txt file, or told your pages need to be restructured so AI can read them, this is Google saying the opposite.
Google's answer on whether SEO still counts
The guide has a section asking whether SEO is still relevant for generative AI search. Sturm says Google's answer is simply "Yes." The reason given is that the AI features sit on top of the same ranking and quality systems that power normal search results. Google's AI is using its own search index, Sturm says the article confirms.
Sturm adds that ChatGPT works in a similar way, running a web search and then pulling from what it finds. That part is his description, not a Google statement.
What to do
Nothing new, which is the point. If an agency or tool is charging you for llms.txt, AI-specific rewrites or content chunking, ask them to show you where Google asks for it. If you are a business owner, Sturm's advice is to look up the article from Google and read the whole thing yourself.
The work that earns you a mention in an AI answer looks like the work that earned you a ranking before. Pages that actually answer the question, written for the person asking. There is no separate code layer you are missing.
One caveat on certainty. Everything above comes from one SEO summarising the guide in a post, including the quoted lines. The guide is Google's own, so it is worth reading at the source before you change anything or cancel anything.
The best practices for SEO continue to be relevant because generative AI features on Google Search
LLMs . txt files and other special markup, another one of the myths.
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