GEO / AI search

Google Gemini

Q: What is Google Gemini?

Google Gemini is Google's multimodal family of AI models, in place since 2024. It replaced Bard and the older LaMDA and PaLM models and comes in Nano, Flash, Pro and Ultra variants. It is integrated into Google Workspace, Android, Chrome and Google Search through AI Overviews.

Q: Is Gemini better than ChatGPT?

It depends on the task. Gemini is strong on multimodal work such as image and video analysis and on Google Workspace integration. ChatGPT is strong on dialogue, coding and creative work. For GEO neither is simply better — both need to be covered.

Also known as: Gemini, Bard (former name), Google Bard, Gemini Advanced

Google Gemini is Google's family of large language models, publicly available since December 2023. It succeeded Bard and now underpins both the standalone chat platform at gemini.google.com and the AI features inside Google Search, namely AI Overviews and AI Mode. Gemini matters twice over for GEO: once as a chat engine with citation mechanics of its own, and once as the model layer behind the AI Overviews that are reshaping the classic Google results page.

Gemini and AI Overviews are not the same thing

Many accounts conflate the two. Gemini chat is the separate conversational platform, with a question-and-answer format, longer answers and file upload. AI Overviews are the answer element built into classic Google Search. Both run on Gemini models, but their citation logic differs: AI Overviews show linked sources prominently, whereas Gemini chat often cites more compactly or only behind an expandable sources footer.

What Gemini cites

Access to the Google index — Gemini draws directly on it, so a classic ranking is the precondition.
Structured data — Schema.org markup with Article, FAQ and HowTo is preferred.
A place in the Knowledge Graph — brands, people and organisations that exist there as entities are cited more often.
Brand authority within Google Search — established names gain more visibility.
Currency — fresh content with date markup is favoured.

Google-Extended and control over training

Google uses the user agent Google-Extended to gather training data for Gemini. Blocking it in robots.txt keeps a site in the Google index for classic search but excludes it from future Gemini training. For GEO visibility, allowing Google-Extended is essential — otherwise the model does not know the domain as a source worth citing.

Example from practice

Example: An advice site held solid top-five rankings in Google for 18 core topics but had no Schema.org markup and no visible update dates. After adding Article schema with an author byline, Wikidata sameAs references for the topic entities and a visible update date on every article, its domain became measurably visible in Gemini chat answers for 11 of the 18 prioritised queries within ten weeks — and its appearance as a source in AI Overviews rose from roughly 25 per cent to 58 per cent.

Frequently asked questions

What is Google Gemini?

Google Gemini is Google's multimodal family of AI models, in place since 2024. It replaced Bard and the older LaMDA and PaLM models and comes in Nano, Flash, Pro and Ultra variants. It is integrated into Google Workspace, Android, Chrome and Google Search through AI Overviews.

Is Gemini built into Google Search?

Yes — Gemini produces the AI Overviews on the Google results page, as well as the core of Google Assistant's answers. For GEO that means anything cited in AI Overviews has passed through Gemini. Google-Extended is the training crawler; Googlebot handles live retrieval.

How do you get into Gemini's answers?

Through the same signals as classic SEO, plus GEO structure. Gemini builds on the Google index, so strong SEO signals remain the foundation. On top of that come a clear answer structure, FAQ sections and structured data. Google-Extended in robots.txt decides whether the content is used for training.

Is Gemini better than ChatGPT?

It depends on the task. Gemini is strong on multimodal work such as image and video analysis and on Google Workspace integration. ChatGPT is strong on dialogue, coding and creative work. For GEO neither is simply better — both need to be covered.

Used in Rankmio for

Gemini citation tracking in Rankmio

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Last updated: 2026-06-17 · Browse all glossary entries