AI Search News · issue 18
AI Search News: Week 45
A Shared AI Opt-Out Line, and Who Wins in AI Search
This was a week where the rules for controlling AI access to your site got clearer on paper, even though nothing changes in practice yet. Separately, new research showed exactly where small sites can still compete against big brands in AI answers, and OpenAI's own usage data showed how much people now use ChatGPT to look things up rather than just write. Add in a widening ChatGPT ad platform, and you have a week about both control and visibility.
This week's stories
What changed this week
One Robots.txt Line Could Opt You Out Of AI Training
Who it affects: any website with a robots.txt file
Google, Microsoft and OpenAI announced plans to honor a shared robots.txt line for AI training preferences, based on an IETF draft submitted by Anthropic's Kevin Kelley. A site could write one rule group instead of separate rules for each company's crawler. None of the three companies currently supports the line. Google plans to treat an opt-out as equivalent to a Google-Extended block, affecting both model training and grounding in Gemini Apps, targeting 2027. Microsoft is adding a separate AI Grounding preference and will phase out its NoArchive and NoCache tags by March 1, 2027, opening a temporary preference tool in Bing Webmaster Tools on December 15. OpenAI says it aims to honor the signal in the next few months but its current robots.txt policy still applies for now.
What this means for your website
Nothing in your robots.txt needs to change today since none of the three companies honors the new line yet, but if you use Bing's NoArchive or NoCache tags you should plan to move to the new preferences before March 2027. Check your robots.txt for existing Google-Extended and GPTBot rules now, since those still control AI training access in the meantime.
Big Travel Brands Dominate AI Search, But Leave Openings
Who it affects: travel businesses and niche content sites
Research from BrightEdge found that big, well known brands dominate ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews answers in travel categories: American Airlines, Royal Caribbean and Expedia lead their sectors on both engines, while hotels split between Hilton on Google AI Overviews and Marriott on ChatGPT. Booking platforms appear in 78% of budget related Google AI Overviews answers (versus 17% of other answers), with Expedia showing in 44% of those. But only 9% of tracked Google AI Overviews prompts are booking-intent at all, and inspiration and comparison queries make up most of the rest. For inspiration queries, which reward subjective, human-experience content, platforms like Reddit, YouTube and AAA show up more than the big brands do.
What this means for your website
If you run a smaller travel or niche site, don't try to outrank big brands on broad or budget-focused keywords, instead build content around inspiration and comparison queries where human experience and expertise win. Check which of your blog posts or pages address subjective, experience-based questions rather than just booking or pricing.
Looking Things Up Now Rivals Writing In ChatGPT
Who it affects: any site whose customers might ask ChatGPT about products
OpenAI's Signals data, released October 26, shows that seeking information made up 20.7% of consumer ChatGPT messages in August, almost matching writing at 20.6%, the first month in the series where information seeking came close to overtaking writing. Writing moved back ahead in September at 21.4% versus 20.2%. Seeking information covers requests for facts, questions about products and services for sale, and recipe or cooking help. Work-related information seeking rose from between 10.7% and 12.1% for most months up to 13.9% in August and 15.2% in September. OpenAI's release did not disclose how often ChatGPT accessed external sites or cited them in its answers.
What this means for your website
Your potential customers are increasingly using ChatGPT to look up facts and products rather than only to write things, so being accurately represented when people ask about your type of product or service matters. There is no public data yet on how often ChatGPT cites specific sites, so this is a visibility question worth watching rather than acting on immediately.
ChatGPT Ads Expand To 26 More Countries, New Formats
Who it affects: advertisers and Shopify merchants using ChatGPT Ads
OpenAI told advertisers that ChatGPT Ads are now live in 26 more countries, bringing total availability to 89 countries with over 100,000 advertisers. A new, wider standard ad card uses more of the conversation width on desktop and applies automatically to existing campaigns and creative, so no advertiser action is needed for that change. Multi-image ads are now in open beta for all advertisers, and Shopify integration is expanding internationally.
What this means for your website
If you already advertise on ChatGPT or sell through Shopify, check your ChatGPT Ads Manager account to see if multi-image ads and expanded country or Shopify availability now apply to your campaigns, since some of these features require no setup but others need opting in.
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