Google in a recent blog has shared some advice for people who run websites. The goal is to help them do well in the new AI-powered search results.

As Google search has stopped showing simple links – instead they give detailed answers, often pulled out from different websites.

In a blog post, Google’s John Mueller explained what website owners should do to keep up. He said the most important thing is to focus on helping real people, not just search engines.

Curious about AI in Search and your website? We just launched two new documentation pages and a blog post with some general tips on what to think about with regards to these new Search experiences. Check out the blog post at https://t.co/fYaVOfICmL

— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) May 21, 2025

AI Is Changing the Way People Search

AI has changed how people used to search for their queries. Now they ask longer questions with a follow up question ready. So if a website owner wants his website to rank first and take answer from their website. Then need to provide clear, helpful, and complete answers.

Google says this change is both a challenge and an opportunity. If your website offers useful content, you can reach more people. But if your site is full of thin or copied content, it might not show up in results.

Good Content Still Matters the Most

Google in their recent blog post has made it very clear: “content is still king”. If you want your website to show up in AI-powered search results, your content must be original and helpful. It should not be copied from somewhere else. It should answer real questions that people have.

Don’t try to trick the system with keywords or shortcuts. Instead, focus on writing helpful and interesting articles. Think about what your readers want to know. Try to be clear and detailed with your articles.

For example, if someone searches for “how to bake a cake,” then your article should explain the steps to bake a cake in simple terms. You can even include a photo or short video to show the process.

Your Site Must Work Well

Besides publishing high quality content, you need to focus on making your website work properly. Google gave some tips on the technical side:

• Make sure your site doesn’t block Googlebot.
• Check that all your pages load without errors.
• Make sure your content can be found and read by Google.
• Make sure your website offers good user experience and loads properly on phones and tablets.
• Pages should load quickly.

Even if you write great content, users won’t stay if the page is slow or the information on the page is confusing.

Control What Google Shows

You can still control as to what appears in Google search by using simple tags, such as “noindex” or “nosnippet”, if you want to hide parts of your content from showing up.

This also works for the new AI features. So, if you don’t want your content to appear in AI Overviews, you can use these same tags.

Add Images and Videos

Google also talked about how search is becoming more visual. This means photos and videos are becoming more important. You can now search by uploading an image and asking a question about it.

So, if your content includes helpful pictures or videos, that’s a big plus. For example, a cooking blog with step-by-step images will likely perform better than one with just text.

If you run an online store, keep your product images and business info up to date. Make sure your store looks good on Google Shopping and in search results.

Look at Better Metrics

One more thing: Google says site owners should think differently about success. Don’t just count how many people click your links. Pay attention to what they do after they visit your site.

Are they staying longer? Are they buying something? Are they signing up for your newsletter? These actions show your content is working.

Google says people who come from AI search results often spend more time on websites. They seem more interested, and that can be better than just having more clicks.