# How to appear in Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews > What each AI assistant needs before it will cite you: Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Claude and Copilot, with the rules for each. By Reece Chown, Agent SEO HQ. Published 11 November 2026. Canonical URL: https://agentseohq.com/articles/how-to-appear-in-perplexity-gemini-ai-overviews **The short answer:** The assistants share one foundation and differ in the details. Google's AI Overviews, AI Mode and Gemini use Google's index, so ordinary Google SEO is the entry ticket. Copilot uses Bing. Perplexity and Claude run their own search crawlers, which you must not block. Get those access points right, then the same content work serves all of them. ## One foundation, five front doors Every assistant has to do the same three things: find your page, read it, and judge it worth citing. What differs is which index and which crawler stand at the door. | Assistant | Finds pages through | Crawler to allow | Has its own reporting? | |---|---|---|---| | Google AI Overviews and AI Mode | Google's search index | Googlebot | Yes: Search Console's generative AI report | | Gemini | Google's index, via grounding | Googlebot; Google-Extended controls training and grounding use | No separate report | | Microsoft Copilot | Bing's index | Bingbot | Yes: Bing Webmaster Tools' AI Performance report | | Perplexity | Its own index, plus live fetches | PerplexityBot | No | | Claude | Its own search crawler, plus live fetches | Claude-SearchBot and Claude-User | No | | ChatGPT | Search providers including Bing, plus its own crawler | OAI-SearchBot | No, but it tags the visits it sends | ChatGPT has [its own guide](https://agentseohq.com/articles/how-to-get-recommended-by-chatgpt). This article covers the rest. ## Google AI Overviews and AI Mode Google is unusually clear about this, so I will mostly quote it. **What it takes.** "There are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, nor other special optimizations necessary." To be shown as a supporting link, a page must be indexed and eligible to appear in Google Search with a snippet. That is the whole technical bar. **What you do not need.** Google's guide to generative AI features lists them: new machine-readable files such as llms.txt, special schema, content chopped into small chunks, or rewriting for AI. It says there is "no ideal page length". **How it works.** Both features can use what Google calls "query fan-out": running several related searches across subtopics, then building one response. The practical effect is that pages answering a specific sub-question can be cited even if they would never rank for the broad one. **What helps, by Google's account.** - Content you created from what you actually know, not a restatement of what is already online. - Pages that can be crawled, with text in the HTML. - Structured data that matches the visible page. - For businesses and shops, an up-to-date Google Business Profile and Merchant Center feed. **Controls.** There is no switch for AI Overviews alone. The ordinary snippet controls apply: `nosnippet`, `data-nosnippet`, `max-snippet` and `noindex`, each of which affects your normal listing too. **Measuring.** In June 2026 Google added reports to Search Console showing impressions from generative AI features, by page, country, device and date. Google's post says they reached all sites by the end of August 2026. They count impressions and group AI Overviews and AI Mode together. ## Gemini The Gemini app and Gemini inside Google's other products draw on the same Google index when they look things up, a process Google calls grounding. So the entry requirement is again to be well indexed by Google. One name causes confusion: **Google-Extended**. It is not a crawler. It is a label you can use in robots.txt to say whether content Google has already crawled may be used to train Gemini models and for grounding in some Google products. Google states it "does not impact a site's inclusion in Google Search" and is not a ranking signal. So the choice is this. Leave Google-Extended alone and your content can be used by Gemini. Disallow it and you opt out of that use, with a possible cost to how well Gemini can draw on your site, while your Google Search listing and AI Overviews are unaffected. ## Perplexity Perplexity is a search engine that answers in prose and shows its sources prominently, which makes it the easiest assistant to study: you can see exactly which pages it used. **Access.** Perplexity runs two agents. - **PerplexityBot** builds its search index. Perplexity says it does not use it to collect training data, and recommends allowing it in robots.txt. - **Perplexity-User** fetches a page when a user's question calls for it. Perplexity says this agent "generally ignores robots.txt rules", because a person triggered the visit. Perplexity publishes the addresses its crawlers use, and recommends allowing those in your firewall. It also warns that Cloudflare's Bot Fight Mode can challenge its bots regardless of your other rules. If you use Cloudflare, check that setting. **What gets cited.** Perplexity has not published ranking rules, and I have not run a structured test on it, so I will not guess. You do not need to: it lists its sources for every answer. **A useful habit.** Ask Perplexity your customers' questions and open every source it lists. Those are the pages you are competing with, in plain view. ## Claude Anthropic documents three agents: - **Claude-SearchBot** analyses pages to improve the quality of Claude's search results. Anthropic says blocking it "may reduce your site's visibility and accuracy in user search results". - **Claude-User** fetches pages when a Claude user asks a question that needs them. Blocking it stops Claude retrieving your content in response to a user's query. - **ClaudeBot** collects content that may be used for training. Blocking it keeps your future content out of training data and does not block the other two. Anthropic says its bots honour robots.txt, and that it supports the non-standard `Crawl-delay` line if you need to slow one down. Which search provider sits behind Claude's web search is not something Anthropic states in that documentation. You will see confident claims online. I would treat them as unconfirmed, and make sure you are indexed broadly instead of chasing one engine. ## Microsoft Copilot Copilot is built on Bing, so Bing indexing is the requirement. Microsoft has also published the most specific content advice of any of these companies. - Use headings that say what the section answers. Microsoft says they act "like chapter titles". - Pair direct questions with clear answers. - Use lists and tables for steps and comparisons. - Add schema markup to label what the content is. - Do not hide key information in tabs or expandable menus, in images without text, or in PDFs. - Avoid long unbroken blocks of text, and unsupported claims such as "cutting-edge". For measurement, Bing Webmaster Tools has had an AI Performance report since February 2026. It shows how often your pages are cited in Copilot and Bing's AI summaries, and the "grounding queries" behind those citations. It is the closest thing any platform offers to seeing why you were cited. [Setting up Bing](https://agentseohq.com/articles/bing-indexnow-chatgpt-search). ## The work that serves all of them Do these once and every assistant benefits. 1. **Allow the crawlers.** Googlebot, Bingbot, OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, Claude-SearchBot and the user-triggered agents. Check your firewall as well as robots.txt. [The full list](https://agentseohq.com/articles/ai-crawlers-robots-txt). 2. **Be indexed in both Google and Bing.** Submit a sitemap to each. 3. **Put real text in the HTML.** Not behind JavaScript, tabs or images. 4. **Answer specific questions.** One clear page per question, with the answer first. 5. **State your facts.** What, who for, where, how much. In text and in structured data. 6. **Publish comparisons.** They match how people ask. 7. **Keep it current.** Date your pages and update them. Stale facts get repeated. 8. **Earn mentions.** Reviews, directories and write-ups on sites the assistants already cite for your field. ## Where to put the effort first This follows from what each company documents, not from a league table of my own. My structured testing so far has been on OpenAI's search. - **Google's AI features** draw on the ordinary Search index, so if Google already ranks you, start there: you are closest to being a supporting link. - **Copilot** follows Bing, where many small sites have never submitted a sitemap. That is a cheap gap to close. - **Perplexity and Claude** depend on their own crawlers reaching you. If a firewall turns them away, nothing else you do will count. - **All of them** show or link their sources. Reading those is the fastest way to learn what each one wants. **Which assistants mention you today?** Send me your website and I will ask all of them your customers' questions, and tell you who each one names. It is free. [Get a free Agent SEO check](https://agentseohq.com/contact) or [try the instant checker](https://agentseohq.com/check). ## Frequently asked questions ### How do I get into Google AI Overviews? Be indexed by Google and eligible for a snippet. Google says there are no additional requirements or special optimisations. Beyond that, the usual things help: original content that answers the question, pages that can be crawled, and accurate structured data. ### Do I need to do anything different for AI Mode? No. Google treats AI Overviews and AI Mode the same from a site owner's point of view. Both draw on the Search index and both can run several related searches to build an answer. ### How do I get cited by Perplexity? Allow PerplexityBot in robots.txt and in your firewall, then publish pages that answer specific questions directly. Perplexity shows its sources, so ask it your customers' questions and study the pages it cites. ### Does blocking ClaudeBot remove me from Claude's answers? Not by itself. ClaudeBot collects training data. Claude's search uses Claude-SearchBot, and live lookups use Claude-User. Anthropic controls the three separately, so you can block training and remain visible in search. ### Is there one thing that works for every AI assistant? Yes: a page that can be crawled, sits in the search indexes and answers a specific question clearly with true facts. Every assistant needs that, whatever else differs. ### Can I opt out of AI Overviews but stay in Google Search? Not cleanly. There is no separate control for AI Overviews. Snippet controls such as `nosnippet` limit what Google can show from your page everywhere, including your normal listing. Google-Extended does not affect AI Overviews. ## Sources - Google Search Central, [AI features and your website](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features). Checked 10 November 2026. - Google Search Central, [Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide). Checked 10 November 2026. - Google Search Central, [Google's common crawlers](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/google-common-crawlers). Checked 10 November 2026. - Google Search Central Blog, [Introducing Search generative AI performance reports in Search Console](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/06/gen-ai-performance-reports), 3 June 2026. - Perplexity, [Perplexity crawlers](https://docs.perplexity.ai/guides/bots). Checked 10 November 2026. - Anthropic, [Does Anthropic crawl data from the web, and how can site owners block the crawler?](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8896518-does-anthropic-crawl-data-from-the-web-and-how-can-site-owners-block-the-crawler). Checked 10 November 2026. - Microsoft Advertising, [Optimizing your content for inclusion in AI search answers](https://about.ads.microsoft.com/en/blog/post/october-2025/optimizing-your-content-for-inclusion-in-ai-search-answers), 8 October 2025. - Bing Webmaster Blog, [Introducing AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools](https://blogs.bing.com/webmaster/February-2026/Introducing-AI-Performance-in-Bing-Webmaster-Tools-Public-Preview), 10 February 2026.