Search Central LiveDeep Dive Europe 2026

Knowledge base v2.13.0 · Community edition · data through 2 October 2026

Topic · The state of Search

How AI Search links to websites

Google listed eight features meant to send people from AI answers to websites, including in-line quotes, rich linking, 'Highly Cited' labels, preferred sources and Search profiles; the list was shown on a Day 1 slide and is not in Google's docs. Google's AI features guide states the entry requirement: to appear as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode, a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Search with a snippet, with no additional technical requirements. Day 3 repeated the requirement: AI Overviews and AI Mode are standard search features, not rich results, that work with the normal text results from Google's index and need no structured data; Google said elements such as recipes would need markup only if AI Mode showcased them. Google also presented Web Guide, a Search Labs experiment, as an alternative to AI Mode that groups web results into categories with short summaries while keeping the classic text results. The second recording of Day 1 added the keynote's figures: Google said it sends billions of clicks to the open web every day, more than a billion a week from AI Overviews and AI Mode alone, and cited Sundar Pichai as saying Google is the biggest contributor of clicks to the open web and wants to remain so.

Based on D1-C023, D2-C074, D3-C325, D3-C326, D3-C327, D3-C707, D3-C712, D1-C154, D1-C156, D1-C155

10 claims · raised in 4 sessions · said or shown on Day 1 and Day 3

Open in Reef mapOpen in Graph

Things in this topic 7

Counts are claims that name the thing. All things

What to do

  • Keep pages that should be cited in AI answers indexable and allow snippets; there is no extra technical requirement.
  • Where eligible, claim a Search profile, and invite loyal readers to mark the site as a preferred source, two of the listed routes from AI answers to sites.

Day 1: Crawling 4

Shown on screen 1

SlideNot in docsD1-C023

Google listed eight ways AI Search helps users find and visit websites: preferred sources expansion, fresh perspectives and prominent links, subscription content, in-line quotes in AI Mode and AI Overviews, rich linking and embedded web, context on content sources, 'Highly Cited' labels and Search profiles.

Speaker Gary IllyesIn Day 1, 11:35 · What's new in the world of SearchEvidence slide photo, transcript

Things

Said on stage 3

Day 2: Indexing 1

What Google's documentation says 1

DocsSourceD2-C074

Google's AI features guide says a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet to appear as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode, with no additional technical requirements.

Publisher Google Search CentralAnnotates Day 2, 10:30 · Controlling indexing

Things

Used byrequirements DEV-AIF-01, DEV-IDX-05glossary term AI Overviews

  • Extends D1-C038 Day 1: AI Mode and AI Overviews use the same crawling and the same index as Search. At serving they add grounding on…

Day 3: Serving: Ranking, Search Console, and Performance 5

Said on stage 3

StageConfirmed by docsD3-C325

AI Mode and AI Overviews are not rich results but standard search features: they need no structured data to function and work with the normal text results from Google's index.

“AI Mode and AI Overviews are not rich results.”

Speaker Gary IllyesIn Day 3, 13:25 · How Search results are bornEvidence transcript

Things

Used byrequirement DEV-AIF-02glossary terms Rich results, Search features

  • Extends D2-C726 Day 2: AI Overviews and AI Mode use the same index structures and token-based snippets as classic web results, a…
StageConsistent with docsD3-C327

Google said that if AI Mode one day showcases images, recipes or similar elements, those parts would need structured data, but in their current form AI Mode and AI Overviews require pretty much nothing extra.

Speaker Gary IllyesIn Day 3, 13:25 · How Search results are bornEvidence transcript

Things
StageConsistent with docsD3-C707

Google presented Web Guide as an alternative to AI Mode: it groups the search results into categories with a short summary for each, while the classic text results remain.

Speaker Gary IllyesIn Day 3, 16:00 · Wrapping all up: AI, Search, and making sense of everything.Evidence transcript

Things

Used byglossary term Web Guide

What Google's documentation says 1

DocsSourceD3-C326

Google's AI features guide says there are no additional requirements, and no special schema.org structured data, needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode; a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown with a snippet.

Publisher Google Search CentralAnnotates Day 3, 13:25 · How Search results are born

Things

Used byrequirement DEV-AIF-02

Analysis by the author 1

Across days and sessions 2

  1. Docs D2-C074 Day 2 · Controlling indexing

    Google's AI features guide says a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet to appear as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode, with no additional technical requirements.

    extends
    Slide D1-C038 Day 1 · How Search works and where's AI?

    AI Mode and AI Overviews use the same crawling and the same index as Search. At serving they add grounding on the Search index and query fan-out.

  2. Stage D3-C325 Day 3 · How Search results are born

    AI Mode and AI Overviews are not rich results but standard search features: they need no structured data to function and work with the normal text results from Google's index.

    extends
    Stage D2-C726 Day 2 · How does the index look like?

    AI Overviews and AI Mode use the same index structures and token-based snippets as classic web results, a point Google called important but not obvious.

Built on these claims 3

Developer requirements 3

Sources 4