Guide
AI Overviews for med spas: what actually helps
Google says there is no special trick: to be shown as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode, a page must be indexed and eligible to show a snippet, and the site must not be excluded from AI features in Search Console. The usual SEO basics apply. What a practice controls is clarity and accuracy: consistent facts and pages that answer real questions directly.
What does Google say about AI Overviews and AI Mode?
Google's guidance on AI features and your website and its guide to optimizing for generative AI search say the same foundational SEO practices apply, with no extra requirements. To appear as a supporting link, a page must be:
- Indexed in Google Search.
- Eligible to be shown with a snippet, so no nosnippet rule.
- On a site that is included in Search generative AI features in Search Console. Sites are included by default; owners can opt out in the property's settings.
Google also says what you don't need: no new machine-readable files, AI text files or special markup, no rewriting content into 'chunks' and no ideal length. Structured data isn't required for AI features, though it still helps search engines understand a page. Inclusion is never guaranteed.
What can a med spa actually control?
- Being indexable. Important pages are in Google's index, with no accidental noindex or snippet restrictions. Search Console shows this.
- Consistent facts. Your name, services, providers, locations and hours match across your site, Google Business Profile and directories.
- Answer-first pages. Each treatment page answers the obvious question in its first lines, then gives the detail patients need.
- First-hand substance. What your practice actually does, who performs it, what a visit involves and how pricing works. Generic text adds nothing an AI feature can't find elsewhere.
- Structured data that matches the page. Accurate organization, service and FAQ markup, describing only what visitors can see.
- A fast, readable page that works well on a phone.
What can't you control?
Whether an AI Overview appears for a given search, which sources it draws on and how it words the answer. Results also vary by location, time and the person searching. Anyone who promises a placement in AI Overviews is promising something nobody controls.
What about ChatGPT, Perplexity and other assistants?
Other AI assistants retrieve pages through their own search systems and crawlers, which identify themselves in your server logs and can be allowed or blocked in robots.txt. Crawlers that fetch pages to answer a question are different from crawlers that collect data to train models, and you can treat them differently. Blocking the answer crawlers means those assistants can't fetch your pages to cite them. Google's own training control, Google-Extended, doesn't affect whether a site appears in Google Search.
How do you track AI answers honestly?
Pick a fixed set of real questions patients and buyers ask, for example "best med spa for lip filler in Tampa" or "is semaglutide from a telehealth company safe". Check them on a modest schedule, and record everything, not just the good answers:
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Engine and mode | AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT and others behave differently |
| Exact question, date and location | Answers change over time and by place |
| The full answer | So the record can be checked later, not summarized from memory |
| Cited sources | Which pages the answer drew on |
| Mentioned, recommended, accurate | Three separate outcomes; don't merge them |
Google Search Console counts clicks and impressions from AI features in the regular Performance report under Web search. It also has a Generative AI performance report that shows impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode by page, country, device and date. It reports impressions only, so pair it with the Performance report for clicks.
What should you avoid?
- Paying for a 'GEO score' or guaranteed AI placement.
- Mass-producing pages to target AI answers. Google's spam policies treat scaled, low-value content as spam, however it is written.
- Fake reviews or planted mentions meant to sway AI answers. They break Google and FTC rules.
- Treating an llms.txt file as a fix. Google says Search ignores these files: they neither help nor harm.
Questions
Does FAQ schema get a page into AI Overviews?
No. Google says no special markup is needed for AI features, and it stopped showing FAQ rich results in Search in May 2026. Structured data still helps search engines understand a page, as long as it matches what visitors see.
Does llms.txt help with Google?
No. Google says Google Search ignores llms.txt files, so they neither help nor harm. Some other AI tools may read them, which makes one a small optional extra.
Should we block AI crawlers?
It is your choice. Blocking crawlers that fetch pages for AI search answers means those assistants can't cite you; blocking training crawlers doesn't affect search. We explain the difference and set robots.txt to your decision.
Sources
- Google Search Central: AI features and your website
- Google Search Central: Optimizing for generative AI search
- Google Search Console Help: Generative AI performance report
- Google Search Console Help: Search generative AI control
- Google Search Central: Spam policies for Google web search
- Google Search Central: Robots meta tag, data-nosnippet and X-Robots-Tag
- Google Search Central: Latest documentation updates (FAQ rich result removal, llms.txt clarification)