Get cited in Google AI Overviews

AI Overviews cut. They do not take “about us”. They take the paragraph that hits the sub-question. If your answer waits until paragraph four, Google cites the site that put it in the first sentence. I see that every week on landings that open with “our mission”.

What I keep seeing: the question in an H2, the answer right under it. A number or a source, not “research shows”. FAQ schema helps extraction. It is not a ticket in. Noindex or Disallow and you are gone, however pretty the copy is. A 302 to the answer is the same: a weak source.

llms.txt does not steer Search. HTML a person can read comes first. The root file is optional after that. If the page is thin, the overview has nothing to cite. Then the site with one sharp paragraph wins, even if your homepage looks nicer.

Three things I check before we ship: the main question in the opening, three supporting points at most, author and date on the page. Internal links to the deeper URL, not five landings that say the same thing. Update the date when the content changes, not every month for show.

Citations vanish too. Last week’s overview is not a promise. If your fragment goes vague or the page 404s, you are out. Keep the URL stable. Duller than a new landing. Works more often.