Watch: AI Mode, Content & Search Index
Tests suggest Google’s AI Mode uses a proprietary content store rather than retrieving live web content from the search index during the query fan out process.
Transcript
Our tests show that Google's AI Mode does not retrieve page content from the live web during its search process. Instead, the artificial intelligence pulls information from a proprietary content store completely separate from the main search index.
We discovered this by testing a specific webpage. First, we deleted the page and confirmed it returned a four-oh-four error. Then, we put the page back online. When we tried to fetch it again, the AI still reported a four-oh-four error instead of a successful connection.
Crucially, we checked and found that the page was still indexed and ranking in standard Google search results. This directly contradicts the common assumption that if a page is indexed, it will be automatically accessible to Google's Gemini AI.
It appears that simply being in the search index does not guarantee your content is available to Google's AI. This suggests a real gap between what Google Search crawls and what its artificial intelligence actually sees.