{"title":"Google Search Surface Evidence Matrix 2026","version":"2026.1","evidenceCutoff":"2026-08-13","surfaces":["traditional-search","ai-overviews","ai-mode"],"records":[{"id":"G-AI-01","evidenceClass":"official_documentation","dimension":"eligibility","claim":"AI Overview and AI Mode supporting links require the page to be indexed and eligible for a Google Search snippet; there are no additional technical requirements.","surface":"ai-overviews-and-ai-mode","url":"https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features","caveat":"Eligibility does not guarantee crawl, index, selection or traffic."},{"id":"G-AI-02","evidenceClass":"official_documentation","dimension":"optimization","claim":"Google says no special schema, machine-readable AI file or other special optimization is required for these AI features.","surface":"ai-overviews-and-ai-mode","url":"https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features","caveat":"Ordinary Search fundamentals and accurate structured data remain relevant."},{"id":"G-AI-03","evidenceClass":"official_documentation","dimension":"fan-out","claim":"AI Overviews and AI Mode may issue multiple related searches across subtopics and data sources.","surface":"ai-overviews-and-ai-mode","url":"https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features","caveat":"Documentation does not expose the exact fan-out queries or frequency per answer."},{"id":"G-AI-04","evidenceClass":"official_documentation","dimension":"surface-variation","claim":"AI Overviews and AI Mode may use different models and techniques, so answers and supporting link sets can vary.","surface":"ai-overviews-and-ai-mode","url":"https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features","caveat":"No public model-to-ranking-weight map is provided."},{"id":"G-SEARCH-01","evidenceClass":"official_documentation","dimension":"discovery","claim":"Google describes Search as crawling, indexing and serving, with no guarantee that a compliant page completes every stage.","surface":"traditional-search-foundation","url":"https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/how-search-works","caveat":"The stages are a model of the system, not a service-level promise."},{"id":"G-RANK-01","evidenceClass":"official_documentation","dimension":"ranking","claim":"Google uses programmatic ranking systems with page-level and site-wide signals.","surface":"google-search","url":"https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ranking-systems-guide","caveat":"The complete factor set and weights are not public."},{"id":"G-MODE-01","evidenceClass":"official_documentation","dimension":"experience","claim":"AI Mode supports complex questions, follow-ups and multimodal inputs and divides questions into subtopics for simultaneous searches.","surface":"ai-mode","url":"https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/16011537?hl=en","caveat":"Availability and capabilities vary by account, location, language and product version."},{"id":"G-MODE-02","evidenceClass":"official_documentation","dimension":"fallback","claim":"AI Mode may return a set of web links rather than a generated answer when confidence in answer quality or helpfulness is insufficient.","surface":"ai-mode","url":"https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/16011537?hl=en","caveat":"Google does not publish a threshold for this fallback."},{"id":"G-AIO-01","evidenceClass":"official_documentation","dimension":"trigger","claim":"AI Overviews appear only when Google systems determine an overview adds value to classic Search and therefore often do not trigger.","surface":"ai-overviews","url":"https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features","caveat":"The trigger logic is not publicly enumerated."},{"id":"G-METRIC-01","evidenceClass":"official_documentation","dimension":"measurement","claim":"An outbound link click in AI Mode counts as a click; a follow-up question is counted as a new query.","surface":"ai-mode","url":"https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7042828?hl=en","caveat":"Search Labs experiment data is excluded."},{"id":"G-METRIC-02","evidenceClass":"official_documentation","dimension":"measurement","claim":"An AI Overview outbound click counts; a link impression requires visibility after scrolling or expansion; all overview links share one position.","surface":"ai-overviews","url":"https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7042828?hl=en","caveat":"A shared position is not the internal visual order of supporting links."},{"id":"G-CONTROL-01","evidenceClass":"official_documentation","dimension":"control","claim":"A subset-rollout Search Console control can include or exclude site links and content from listed generative AI Search features without acting as a ranking signal for other Search surfaces.","surface":"search-generative-ai-features","url":"https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16908024?hl=en","caveat":"The control is not yet available to every property and is distinct from noindex and Google-Extended."},{"id":"PEW-2025-01","evidenceClass":"observed_behavior","dimension":"clicks","claim":"In a March 2025 panel, traditional-result clicks occurred after 8% of visits with an AI summary versus 15% without one; summary-source clicks occurred in 1% of visits with a summary.","surface":"ai-overviews","url":"https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/22/google-users-are-less-likely-to-click-on-links-when-an-ai-summary-appears-in-the-results/","caveat":"Observed behavior from 900 US adults in one month; not randomized and not an AI Mode measure."},{"id":"V13-07-01","evidenceClass":"viton13_analysis","dimension":"measurement-framework","claim":"Eligibility, selection, exposure, visit and outcome should be tracked as separate stages.","surface":"all","url":"https://viton13.com/research/07-google-ai-search","caveat":"Editorial framework, not a description of hidden Google ranking systems."}]}