To rank in Gemini, keep your pages in Google's search index, its store of web pages. Do not block Google-Extended, the setting that controls whether Gemini may use them. Answer your buyers' questions in plain text, and get your brand named on the websites Gemini cites. Then check many answers, because Gemini's list changes between runs.
Gemini is Google's AI assistant, at gemini.google.com and in the Gemini mobile app. Google's documentation says the app can be grounded. That means it is given content from the Google Search index while it writes an answer (Google crawler documentation, checked 7 Oct 2026). Ranking in Gemini means being part of that content, or being a brand the answer names.
Google documents the controls a site owner has. We found no Google page that explains how Gemini chooses which brands to recommend. So statements from Google below link to its own pages, and Depra AI's measurements are labelled as observation.
How does Gemini use Google Search to answer?
Gemini can draw on the Google Search index while it writes. Google calls this grounding. It defines grounding as giving the model content from the Google Search index when a question is asked, to improve factuality and relevancy (Google crawler documentation, checked 7 Oct 2026).
Google lists the steps in its documentation for developers who build on the Gemini API, the interface that software uses to call Gemini (Grounding with Google Search, checked 7 Oct 2026).
- 1. The model reads the prompt. It analyses the question and decides whether a Google Search can improve the answer.
- 2. It searches. If needed, it writes one or more search queries and runs them.
- 3. It writes from the results. It processes the search results and forms a response grounded in them.
- 4. It can show sources. Google lists citations as a benefit of grounding, because they show where a claim came from.
What these steps do and do not tell you
The steps describe the developer tool. We found no Google page that lists them for the consumer Gemini app. In the app, sources are not guaranteed: Google's help page says not all responses include related links or sources (Gemini Apps Help, checked 7 Oct 2026).
What does Google-Extended do, and what does it not affect?
Google-Extended is a name you can write in robots.txt to tell Google how Gemini may use your pages. Disallowing it opts your content out of training future Gemini models and out of grounding in the Gemini app. Google says it does not affect your inclusion or ranking in Google Search (Google crawler documentation, checked 7 Oct 2026).
The robots.txt file is a plain text file at yourdomain.com/robots.txt that tells bots which pages they may fetch.
| Area | Effect of disallowing Google-Extended |
|---|---|
| Training of future Gemini models | Your content is opted out |
| Grounding in the Gemini app and on Vertex AI, Google's AI platform for developers | Your content is opted out |
| Inclusion in Google Search | No effect |
| Ranking in Google Search | No effect. Google says it is not a ranking signal |
| AI Overviews | Not controlled by Google-Extended. Google says rules for Googlebot are the control for AI features in Search |
| Crawling | No bot visits under this name. Google crawls with its usual bots |
What to do about it
Open robots.txt and search for Google-Extended. A Disallow rule under that name opts your site out of grounding in the Gemini app, not only out of training. On Google's crawler page, the one name covers both uses. Remove the rule, or keep it knowing what it costs.
Depra AI's AI crawler checker shows whether your robots.txt allows or blocks Google-Extended, for your site and your competitors' sites.
How is Gemini different from Google AI Overviews?
They are two products with two sets of controls. Gemini is a chat assistant you open on its own. An AI Overview is the AI summary Google shows above some search results. Because the controls differ, a site can be open to one and closed to the other.
For the Search side, read how to rank in Google AI Overviews and see the Google AI Overview tracker.
| Question | Gemini app | Google AI Overviews |
|---|---|---|
| Where its web content comes from | The Google Search index, through grounding | Pages retrieved from the Search index by Google's core Search ranking systems |
| robots.txt control | Google-Extended | Rules for Googlebot, Google's search crawler |
| What a page needs | No published checklist found | To be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet, the preview text under a result. No additional technical requirements. The site must stay included under the Search generative AI control in Search Console, Google's tool for site owners. Included is the default |
| Sources shown | Not on every response | Supporting links to web pages |
Which sources does Gemini cite, and how often?
Google does not say. We found no Google page that names the sites Gemini prefers. What follows is observation from Depra AI's own study, not a rule from Google.
We asked 10 buying questions about skincare and fashion on ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity from India on 14 Aug 2026. Each ran 8 times in English and 8 times in Hinglish, which is Hindi and English typed in English letters. That made 480 answers, with Gemini captured from its web app. The study did not establish the cause of these numbers. Full method: the Hinglish vs English AI shopping study.
- Sources depended on language. Gemini attached at least one source to 90.0% of English answers (72 of 80) and 41.3% of Hinglish answers (33 of 80). The average per answer fell from 9.4 sources to 5.2.
- The brand list moved between runs. On average, two Gemini answers to the same question in the same language shared 51.2% of the brands they named.
How do you rank in Gemini? A 5-step plan
Work in this order: access, your own pages, other sites, consistent facts, then measurement. Step 1 follows Google's documentation. Steps 2 to 5 are our recommendation. How to get ChatGPT to recommend your brand covers the same four steps in more depth. No step guarantees a recommendation, because Gemini decides what to name.
Step 1: Stay in Google's index and leave Google-Extended allowed
Google defines grounding as content from the Google Search index (Google crawler documentation, checked 7 Oct 2026). So start by getting your pages into that index. Check that robots.txt does not disallow Googlebot, the bot that reads pages for Google Search. Then paste the address of a key page into the URL Inspection tool in Search Console, Google's tool for site owners. A status of "URL is on Google" means the page is eligible to appear in Search results (Search Console Help, checked 7 Oct 2026). Last, check Google-Extended as described above.
Google's basics for AI Overviews and AI Mode, its AI features in Search, are sound practice here too. Allow crawling in robots.txt and at your CDN, the service that delivers your pages, and keep important content in text (AI features and your website, checked 7 Oct 2026). Google did not write that list for the Gemini app.
Step 2: Answer the buying question in text on one page
Pick one buying question, such as "best running shoes under ₹3,000", and give it one page. Put the question in the heading and the answer directly under it. Add the price, the buyer it suits and the buyer who should choose something else.
Keep the facts in visible text. Google's list of basics says structured data, the code that labels a page as a product or an FAQ, should match the visible text (AI features and your website, checked 7 Oct 2026).
Step 3: Earn mentions on the sites Gemini cites
Ask Gemini your top 10 buying questions and open the Sources button on each answer that has one. Note the pages that name your competitors and not you. Write to the authors of list articles with your product's facts. Answer open forum threads from a named brand account, and create or claim your marketplace listings. Depra AI's citation gap analysis lists the sites cited in stored answers that name a competitor while your brand is missing. The pricing page lists it on Growth and above.
Step 4: Keep your facts consistent, including on Google's own surfaces
Use one product name, one price and one description across your site, marketplaces and profiles. Google's list of basics also includes up-to-date Merchant Center and Business Profile information (AI features and your website, checked 7 Oct 2026). Those hold your product feed and your business listing.
Step 5: Measure many answers
Count the share of answers that name you on a fixed schedule. The next section gives the method. One answer proves little. In our study, two Gemini reruns of the same question shared 51.2% of their brands. If you sell in India, measure English and Hinglish separately. How to measure AI visibility explains how many answers you need.
How do you check Gemini by hand?
You can sample Gemini yourself with a sheet. The spreadsheet method for tracking brand mentions in AI answers has the columns and scoring rules.
- 1. Write 10 buying questions. Leave brand names out, and use the words your buyers use.
- 2. Ask each one 3 times. Open a new chat at gemini.google.com each time.
- 3. Log what matters. Named or not, your position, the tone, and every site under the Sources button when it appears.
- 4. Repeat weekly. Keep the wording fixed and compare the share of answers that name you.
How does Depra AI track Gemini?
Depra AI captures the answer served in the gemini.google.com web app, asked from inside your chosen country, once a day. It stores each answer in full with your position, the tone of the mention and any websites Gemini cited.
Depra AI records each answer as the app serves it, so some stored answers carry sources and some do not. Location is set by country, in any of 40 markets, with no city targeting. Questions can be tracked in English and Hinglish.
Google AI Overviews are tracked as a separate engine with separate scores. Google AI Mode is not tracked. The Gemini visibility tracker page shows what the report holds.
Depra AI does not write your pages, change your site or promise a recommendation. Plans start at ₹1,999 a month plus GST, and Gemini is included in every plan. See Depra AI pricing.
Does the same work help on ChatGPT and Perplexity?
Mostly yes. Clear answer pages, mentions on cited sites, consistent facts and repeated measurement carry over. Access differs, because each engine has its own crawler.
- ChatGPT: read how to get ChatGPT to recommend your brand. If you are missing there, start with why ChatGPT does not mention your brand.
- Perplexity: how to rank in Perplexity covers PerplexityBot and Perplexity-User.
- All engines: the AI SEO guide puts the steps in one plan, and AI visibility explains the number you are tracking. Brand monitoring in AI answers covers what to log.