# AI Search Landscape

How each major AI search platform selects, weights, and cites sources. Use this to calibrate your optimization strategy per platform.

Last updated: 2026-03 — this landscape changes fast. Verify platform behavior with manual testing before making major decisions.

---

## The Fundamental Model

Every AI search platform follows the same broad pipeline:

1. **Index** — Crawl and store web content (or use a third-party index)
2. **Retrieve** — For a given query, retrieve candidate documents
3. **Extract** — Pull the most relevant passages from those documents
4. **Generate** — Synthesize an answer, often citing the sources
5. **Present** — Show the answer to the user, with or without sources visible

Your leverage points are steps 1-3. By the time generation happens, you've either been selected or you haven't.

---

## Platform-by-Platform Breakdown

### Google AI Overviews

**What it is:** AI-generated answer boxes appearing above organic search results. Rollout expanded globally in 2024-2025.

**How it selects sources:**
- Uses Google's own index (you must rank in traditional Google search first — this is NOT optional)
- Strongly prefers pages that already rank in the top 10 for the query
- Favors content with structured data (FAQPage, HowTo schemas)
- The featured passage is typically lifted from a page's most extractable paragraph — usually a definition or a direct answer near the top
- Recency matters more here than elsewhere for news-adjacent queries

**Citation behavior:**
- Shows 3-7 source links typically
- Cited sources don't always correlate with position 1-3 in organic results
- Pages that had featured snippets before AI Overviews launched tend to appear in AI Overviews

**What to prioritize for Google AI Overviews:**
1. Rank in traditional search first (prerequisite)
2. Add FAQPage schema
3. Put a direct answer in the first 200 words
4. Get backlinks from high-authority sites (still matters)
5. Set `Google-Extended` to Allow in robots.txt

**Monitoring:** Google Search Console → Performance → Search type: AI Overviews

---

### ChatGPT (with Browsing / Search)

**What it is:** OpenAI's ChatGPT has web browsing capability (via Bing) plus its own live search product. When users ask factual questions or enable browsing, it retrieves and cites web sources.

**How it selects sources:**
- Uses Bing's index (Microsoft partnership) — Bing crawl and indexing quality matters
- GPTBot also crawls independently for training data (distinct from search citations)
- For search-backed answers: pulls several sources, synthesizes, cites inline
- Prefers authoritative domains — news outlets, Wikipedia, academic sources, established company blogs
- Content with clear, extractable answers wins over dense narrative

**Citation behavior:**
- Inline citations in the answer ("according to [Source]")
- Sources panel at the bottom
- Not all cited sources get equal weight in the synthesis

**What to prioritize for ChatGPT:**
1. Ensure Bing has indexed your pages (submit to Bing Webmaster Tools)
2. Allow `GPTBot` in robots.txt
3. Structure content with explicit definition and step patterns
4. Author attribution with credentials helps — include author bylines
5. Original data and research get preferential citation

**Bing indexing check:** Bing Webmaster Tools → URL Inspection

---

### Perplexity

**What it is:** AI-native search engine built on real-time web retrieval. Every answer cites sources with a numbered reference panel. Among the most transparent about citation.

**How it selects sources:**
- Has its own crawler (PerplexityBot) plus access to third-party indexes
- Real-time retrieval for every query — very current
- Strongly rewards structural clarity: numbered lists, definition blocks, tables
- Tends to pull from multiple perspectives on a query (shows variety in citations)
- Recency bias is strong — old content competes poorly against recent content on current topics

**Citation behavior:**
- Numbers every cited source
- Shows the exact passage it pulled from (if you inspect carefully)
- Citations appear inline and in a source panel

**What to prioritize for Perplexity:**
1. Allow `PerplexityBot` in robots.txt (critical)
2. Use numbered lists, definition blocks, and tables extensively
3. Keep content current — update pages when information changes
4. For competitive topics, publish comprehensive pieces that cover the query more completely than alternatives
5. Include specific data with dates ("In Q1 2025, X% of...") — Perplexity responds strongly to timestamped specifics

**Tracking:** Perplexity doesn't offer a publisher dashboard. Manual testing is the only method currently.

---

### Claude (Anthropic)

**What it is:** Claude.ai now has web search capability. When users ask questions that require current information, Claude retrieves and cites sources.

**How it selects sources:**
- Uses a third-party search index (search partnership)
- ClaudeBot crawls for training purposes — separate from search citations
- Prefers clearly structured, credible content
- High-authority domains get preference
- Technical and expert-authored content performs well given Claude's user base

**Citation behavior:**
- Inline citations in responses
- Source list at end of response
- Tends toward fewer, higher-quality citations vs. showing many sources

**What to prioritize for Claude:**
1. Allow `ClaudeBot` and `anthropic-ai` in robots.txt
2. Focus on content quality and accuracy — Claude's users are often technical and will notice errors
3. Expert authorship and institutional credibility matter here
4. Long-form, well-researched pieces tend to perform better than thin listicles

---

### Google Gemini

**What it is:** Google's AI assistant, separate from Google Search but increasingly integrated. Uses Google's web index.

**How it selects sources:**
- Full access to Google's index
- Similar selection criteria to Google AI Overviews but different interface
- Schema markup influences what Gemini can understand about your content type
- Prefers content that directly answers conversational queries

**What to prioritize for Gemini:**
- Same fundamentals as Google AI Overviews (they share the index)
- Conversational phrasing in your content helps — Gemini handles voice/chat-style queries
- Allow `Google-Extended` in robots.txt (covers both AI Overviews and Gemini)

---

### Microsoft Copilot

**What it is:** Microsoft's AI assistant integrated into Bing, Windows, Office 365, and Edge. Uses Bing's index.

**How it selects sources:**
- Bing index (same as ChatGPT browsing)
- Integrated into productivity contexts — Office documents, business queries
- B2B and professional content performs particularly well
- Bing's relevance signals apply

**Citation behavior:**
- Source cards in the Copilot interface
- Inline citations in longer answers

**What to prioritize for Copilot:**
- Ensure strong Bing indexing (submit to Bing Webmaster Tools, build Bing-friendly signals)
- For B2B companies: professional tone and industry-specific expertise matters more here
- FAQ and definition patterns work well for business query types

---

## Cross-Platform Summary

| Signal | Google AI Overviews | ChatGPT | Perplexity | Claude | Copilot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Must rank in traditional search | ✅ Yes | Bing only | No | No | Bing only |
| Bot to allow | Google-Extended | GPTBot | PerplexityBot | ClaudeBot | (via Bing) |
| Schema markup impact | High | Medium | Low | Medium | Medium |
| Content recency weight | High | Medium | Very high | Medium | Medium |
| Original data advantage | High | High | High | High | High |
| FAQ pattern extraction | Very high | High | High | Medium | High |
| Numbered steps extraction | High | High | Very high | High | High |
| Author attribution impact | Medium | High | Low | High | Medium |

---

## What No Platform Does (Yet)

Things that are widely assumed but not confirmed:

- **Direct "opt-in to citations" programs**: None of the major platforms have a verified publisher program that guarantees citation
- **Predictable citation ranking**: Even with perfect structure, citations are non-deterministic — the same query on the same platform can produce different citations on consecutive days
- **Real-time citation tracking**: No platform offers publishers a dashboard showing when they're cited and for which queries (Google Search Console for AI Overviews is the closest, and it's limited)

Plan your AI SEO strategy for influence, not for guaranteed outcomes. Maximize your signal quality, then track and iterate.
