Google Confirms: Structured Data Remains Crucial in the AI Search Era
Google emphasizes the ongoing importance of structured data, even as AI-driven search features evolve. No special optimizations are needed for AI tools, but structured data still holds the key to better SEO.
At the recent Google Search Central Live conference in Madrid, Google shared new insights into AI-powered search and its implications for SEO. Here’s what we learned:
🤖 Google’s AI Search Strategy: No Extra Tweaks Needed
Google reassured SEO professionals that no special optimizations are necessary for AI-driven search features. Here’s the key takeaway:
- AI tools are still evolving, and user behavior with AI search is changing.
- AI data will appear alongside traditional search data in Google Search Console (GSC)—no separate breakdown for now.
- Stick to current SEO best practices; Google encourages reporting unusual issues but stresses that existing strategies are sufficient.
📊 Structured Data: Still Essential in an AI-Driven World
Despite the rise of AI, structured data remains a critical factor for search visibility. Google advises:
- Continue using supported schema types for better content understanding.
- Refer to Google’s documentation for the latest structured data guidelines.
- Even though AI can handle unstructured data, using structured data still gives a clear advantage in the SERPs.
🔧 Control AI-Powered Content Display
For those cautious about how AI might present their content, Google provided several options for control:
- Use the robots nosnippet tag to opt-out of AI Overviews.
- Use <meta name=”robots” value=”nosnippet”> or <div data-nosnippet></div> to limit AI-driven snippets.
- Apply <meta name=”robots” value=”max-snippet: 42″> to limit snippet length.
These settings work just like traditional snippet controls.
📈 AI Search Reporting & Analytics
Google shared how AI search data will appear in Search Console:
- AI data will be combined with traditional search data in GSC.
- Google has no current plans to break out AI features separately due to privacy concerns.
- While AI Overviews and related data are evolving, no special reporting for these features is planned at the moment.
📄 LLMs.txt and Future AI Standards
A potential new standard, LLMs.txt, was mentioned, which could function like the robots.txt file to control AI usage. However, since Google already collects substantial data about most websites, the need for LLMs.txt is unclear for now.
🔑 SEO Still Matters in an AI World
The core message from Google’s presentation was clear: SEO fundamentals remain crucial:
- Crawling, indexing, and content optimization are foundational tasks that AI won’t replace.
- AI tools enhance SEO efforts, rather than replacing them.
- SEO professionals can adapt to AI-driven changes without needing to overhaul their entire strategy.
🌐 Implications for the SEO Industry
Google’s message was reassuring for SEO professionals: focusing on delivering quality content and maintaining a solid technical foundation remains essential, even in the age of AI.
Although challenges such as a lack of separate AI reporting remain, as AI features mature, more precise data will become available. For now, continue using structured data, follow your SEO best practices, and stay updated on new developments.
