Google adds AI Mode to robots meta tag documentation
New meta tag option allows publishers to control content usage in AI search results.
Google has updated its robots meta tag documentation to include information about AI Mode, expanding publishers' control over how their content is displayed and utilized in search results. The documentation update, released on March 5, 2025, comes just four days before today's date, indicating Google's ongoing efforts to provide website owners with more granular control over their content's appearance in various search formats.
According to the official Google Search Central documentation, AI Mode has been added to the robots meta tags specifications, alongside the existing data-nosnippet and X-Robots-Tag options. This update coincides with AI Mode becoming available in Search Labs, Google's platform for testing experimental search features.
The documentation explicitly states that the "nosnippet" directive now applies to all forms of search results, including "web search, Google Images, Discover, AI Overviews, AI Mode" and will "prevent the content from being used as a direct input for AI Overviews and AI Mode."
This development follows a series of updates to Google's documentation throughout early 2025, including the removal of page annotations documentation on March 7, modifications to structured data guidelines for price encoding in February, and enhancements to the integration of Google Analytics and Search Console data.
Technical implementation details
The updated documentation provides specific guidance on how publishers can implement these controls. The robots meta tag must be placed in the <head> section of an HTML page, as shown in this example from the documentation:
<meta name="robots" content="noindex">
For those wishing to specifically address Google's crawlers, the documentation notes that two user agent tokens are supported:
- googlebot: for all text results
- googlebot-news: for news results
The documentation clarifies that when the "nosnippet" directive is applied, Google will not show a text snippet or video preview in search results, though a static image thumbnail may still be visible "when it results in a better user experience." Most significantly, this directive now extends beyond traditional search results to include AI-powered features.
Website owners can also implement more granular control over content sections by using the data-nosnippet HTML attribute on specific elements like span, div, and section. For example:
<p>This text can be shown in a snippet
<span data-nosnippet>and this part would not be shown</span>.</p>
For non-HTML resources such as PDF files or images, the X-Robots-Tag HTTP header can be used to apply similar rules.
Implications for publishers and content creators
The addition of AI Mode to the robots meta tag specifications represents a significant development for publishers concerned about how their content may be used in AI-powered search experiences. This update gives website owners more precise control over whether their content can be used as training data or directly referenced in AI-generated responses.
According to the documentation, limitations set via robots meta tags don't affect the use of structured data that publishers deliberately make available for search presentation, with the exception of article descriptions and certain other creative works descriptions. This distinction allows publishers to maintain visibility in rich results while controlling how their broader content is utilized.
For websites using content management systems (CMS) that don't allow direct HTML editing, the documentation notes that "your CMS might have a search engine settings page or some other mechanism to tell search engines about meta tags."
The timing of this update aligns with increasing industry concerns about content ownership and AI utilization of web-published materials. By explicitly addressing AI Mode in its documentation, Google acknowledges the evolving landscape of search technology and the need for publishers to maintain control over their content across different search formats.
Technical implementation across different server environments
The documentation provides examples for implementing these controls across different server environments. For Apache-based web servers, site administrators can use .htaccess and httpd.conf files to add X-Robots-Tag directives. NGINX users can accomplish similar results through .conf files.
For example, to add a noindex, nofollow X-Robots-Tag to all PDF files across a site running on Apache, the documentation suggests adding the following to the site's root .htaccess file:
<Files ~ "\.pdf$">
Header set X-Robots-Tag "noindex, nofollow"
</Files>
Similarly, to apply a noindex directive to image files:
<Files ~ "\.(png|jpe?g|gif)$">
Header set X-Robots-Tag "noindex"
</Files>
These server-level implementations allow site administrators to apply content controls broadly without modifying individual files.
Relationship to other search controls
The documentation clarifies the relationship between robots.txt rules and these meta tag controls, noting that "if a page is disallowed from crawling through the robots.txt file, then any information about indexing or serving rules will not be found and will therefore be ignored."
This important technical detail highlights the hierarchical nature of these controls: crawling permissions established in robots.txt take precedence over indexing or serving rules specified in meta tags or HTTP headers. For meta tag controls to be effective, the content must be accessible to crawlers.
The addition of AI Mode to these specifications complements other recent updates to Google's documentation, including changes to the site reputation abuse policy in January 2025 and modifications to breadcrumb markup display rules.
Emerging patterns in Google's documentation updates
The addition of AI Mode to robots meta tag specifications follows a pattern of regular documentation updates from Google Search Central. In the first three months of 2025 alone, Google has made at least six significant documentation updates, averaging two per month.
January saw three updates focused on breadcrumb markup display limitations, site reputation abuse policy clarifications, and recommendations for accepting ratings and reviews. February brought two updates related to structured data for price encoding and guidance on using Google Analytics with Search Console data.
The March updates—removing page annotations documentation and adding AI Mode to robots meta tags—continue Google's practice of aligning documentation with evolving search features and capabilities.
Timeline of Recent Google Search Documentation Updates
- March 7, 2025: Removed page annotations documentation
- March 5, 2025: Added AI Mode to robots meta tag documentation
- February 13, 2025: Added guidance for encoding various price types in structured data
- February 6, 2025: Added documentation for using Google Analytics and Search Console data together
- January 22, 2025: Updated breadcrumb markup feature availability
- January 21, 2025: Clarified site reputation abuse policy
- January 15, 2025: Added recommendations about accepting ratings and reviews