Pages that appear in answers from Google, ChatGPT, or Seznam AI (the Czech search engine's AI assistant) are those a search engine can crawl and display—and that answer clearly, specifically, and with backed-up facts. You do not need "GEO tricks" for AI search optimization: Google states in its documentation that AI Overviews and AI Mode require nothing beyond standard SEO.

Still, AI search changes traffic: sometimes people get an instant answer, other times they click a cited source. Here we explain what has changed in Czechia since 2025, how AI picks sources, what works, how to manage AI bots, common myths, and a 30-day plan for your website.

What changed in AI search in Czechia

Over 18 months, three ways to search with AI arrived in Czechia. On May 20, 2025, Google launched Czech AI Overviews—summaries with links above search results. Starting October 7, 2025, it rolled out AI Mode, a separate tab for conversational queries that gives longer answers and follow-up suggestions.

Seznam, the main Czech search engine, introduced Seznam Asistent in November 2025 and opened it to all signed-in users in May 2026. As of October 2026, it is called Seznam AI and draws on Seznam search, news sites, Zboží.cz, Firmy.cz, TV listings, and newly Sreality.cz. Data from October 15, 2026, shows high hundreds of thousands of weekly users. If Seznam cannot find your site in its search index, you will not appear in its answers. We cover Seznam's market share and ad impact in Google Ads or Sklik.

The third way is assistants like OpenAI's ChatGPT or Google's Gemini, where people ask in full sentences. According to Google, AI Mode queries are two to three times longer than traditional searches.

What does this mean for you? Customers increasingly get a summary pulled from several sites. If you are missing from it, some buyers will never hear about your business—even if you have great services and reviews.

Fewer clicks, different visitors

People click roughly half as much when an AI summary appears. A Pew Research Center study (March 2025, 900 US adults) found that when an AI summary appeared (18% of searches), clicks on standard results dropped from 15% to 8%. Only 1% clicked a link inside the summary, and 26% ended their session altogether, versus 16% without a summary. This is US data, though the trend is clear.

Google's Head of Search Liz Reid stated in August 2025 that total click volume is stable year over year, with more high-quality visits where users do not bounce right back. Still, she acknowledged some sites lose traffic while users click more on forums, videos, and podcasts.

What this means for businesses:

• For broad questions ("what is…"), a summary is enough for the reader.
• For buying queries, people need a specific vendor, price, and lead time. If AI mentions you, you have a shot.
• Visitors from AI already know the basics. Show them pricing, case studies, your process, and contact details right away.
• Track leads and orders alongside traffic.

How AI picks sources

An AI answer does not come from a single page. Google uses query fan-out: it breaks a question (like "what flooring to put in a kitchen") into subtopics (durability, care, cost, installation), searches them in parallel, and builds an answer. Sites outside the top spots for the main query still have a chance.

Technical requirements to be cited:

• Google requires an indexed page with snippets allowed (no noindex or nosnippet tags) and, from 2026, not opted out of AI features in Search Console (included by default).
• ChatGPT uses OAI-SearchBot. According to OpenAI's crawler documentation, blocking it keeps you out of ChatGPT answers.
• Seznam AI pulls from Seznam search via SeznamBot.

Nobody outside these companies knows the exact selection algorithm, and Google states no external tool has access to its systems. It recommends first-hand expertise, original content written for people, and clear structure: claim, number, date, and source.

We write this blog the same way: each heading tackles a specific question, and every number has a source and date. Use this approach on service pages, pricing pages, and FAQs too.

What the data says works

Being a brand people write about helps most. In a December 2025 study, Ahrefs compared 75,000 brands across ChatGPT, AI Mode, and AI Overviews. Visibility correlated strongest with mentions on YouTube (around 0.74) and across the web (0.66 to 0.71), and only weakly with backlinks. Correlation measures parallel growth (1 = full, 0 = none).

Correlation is not causation: AI also mentions big brands because they are well known. Google warns in its AI search guide that unnatural mentions help very little. Do not buy them—earn them through media interviews, original cited data, and honest Google reviews.

What else helps your site get into AI answers:

• Original facts: "from" prices, lead times, processes, and dated numbers from your work.
• Text instead of images: put price lists and comparisons in HTML tables, not images.
• Brief definitions: define a term in one sentence the first time it appears; AI readily quotes it.
• Author and update date: a bylined article with a verification date is more credible.
• Structured data (schema.org): not required for AI, and no special AI markup exists; it helps with rich results and must match visible text.
• Up-to-date profiles: fill out Google Business Profile, Merchant Center, and Firmy.cz (linked to Seznam AI).

We cover writing for customers and SEO basics in:

• Content marketing: what to write about
• What you can do for your company's SEO

Allow or block AI bots?

For most businesses, it pays to allow search bots and handle training bots separately. You control each by name in robots.txt at your site root (e.g., vasweb.cz/robots.txt), and blocking them has different effects.

Google-Extended is not a crawler, just a token in robots.txt: Googlebot fetches the site, and the token only governs Gemini training and answers. It does not change search indexing or rankings, and it will not remove you from AI Overviews.

To opt out of those, use the Search generative AI control ("Search generative AI") in Search Console, available since August 31, 2026. Turning it off removes your impressions and visits from AI Overviews, AI Mode, and generative features in Discover. It does not affect standard rankings or model training, and takes effect in 1 to 2 days. Older directives like nosnippet, data-nosnippet, and max-snippet also restrict regular search snippets.

Watch out for ChatGPT-User: it opens pages on a user's request, and OpenAI notes robots.txt may not apply to it. OpenAI reflects robots.txt changes in search within roughly 24 hours.

Blocking makes sense if you sell the content itself (paid courses, databases, paywalled articles). For a typical company site or online store, blocking search bots only cuts visibility. Blocking training bots keeps visibility intact—it just stops future models from learning on your copy.

Myths and wasted spend

AI search has sparked plenty of unfounded promises. Before paying anyone, compare their pitch with what Google explicitly states:

GEO (generative engine optimization) and AEO (answer engine optimization) refer to tweaks aimed at getting cited in AI answers. If someone pitches a standalone "GEO package," ask to see the work plan and how it differs from solid SEO.

Put your budget instead into clearer answers on existing pages, original data, honest reviews, and a fast, technically sound mobile-friendly site.

How to measure AI search optimization: a 30-day plan

Track your AI search visibility in three ways:

1. Search Console. Google counts clicks from AI Overviews and AI Mode inside the standard Performance report ("Web" search type), not separately. Since August 31, 2026, every site also has a standalone generative AI performance report. It shows impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode by page, country, device, and date, without click data. If you do not see the report, your site does not have enough impressions yet.
2. Google Analytics 4. In traffic acquisition, look for sources like chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com, and copilot.microsoft.com. Group them into an "AI assistants" channel so you can track trends and leads.
3. Manual checks. List your customers' ten most common questions. Once a month, ask them in Google, AI Mode, ChatGPT, and Seznam AI. Log in a spreadsheet whether the answer mentions you—or who it cites instead.

After 30 days, you have baseline numbers, fixed site fundamentals, and a question list for ongoing work. AI results take time to shift, so repeat your check monthly. If you want to review an audit and plan with us, see our marketing campaigns or get in touch.

Frequently asked questions