TL;DR: On June 18, 2026, at Google's Search Central Live event in Milan, the Search team said chopping your content into small blocks ("chunking") to please AI is useless: their systems already understand a whole page and surface the relevant passage. Google also confirmed clicks from pages with an AI Overview are higher quality, and that it is hardening its stance against commodity content. The takeaway for businesses: writing for humans is still the best GEO strategy.
On June 18, 2026, at the Search Central Live event Google hosted in Milan, Search representatives dismantled the idea that you should break your content into small blocks to make it readable by artificial intelligence, according to the detailed recap published by Barry Schwartz on Search Engine Roundtable. The message fits in one sentence: forcing "chunking" is pointless, because Google's systems can already understand multiple topics on a single page and show the user the passage that answers their question.
For the SEO and marketing leads who spent a year rewriting their pages into two-sentence blocks "for the AI," this is a clear rebuttal straight from the source. Google says the same thing in its official "AI Features and Your Website" documentation: there is no AI-specific technical optimization for AI Overviews or AI Mode beyond standard SEO best practices.
The key takeaways from Milan
Beyond chunking, several announcements deserve attention. Google said clicks coming from a results page with an AI Overview are higher quality: users spend more time on the site, even though the company did not share a precise figure. The team also reminded the audience that quality signals are assessed at the whole-site level: a URL does not exist in isolation, it inherits the domain's overall reputation. That is exactly the authority logic at play when AI Overviews cite and recommend recognized sources.
Why it matters
"Chunking" had become a 2025 GEO reflex: people believed fragmenting their text would help AI engines cite it. Google says the opposite. Its models do not reward mechanical formatting, they reward the ability to answer an intent clearly. This position aligns with its official guide reminding everyone that GEO and AEO are still SEO: no parallel channel, no hidden recipe.
Another strong signal: Google confirmed it is hardening its reading of "commodity" content, meaning mass-produced text with no proprietary data or firsthand experience. Content that stands out rests on an original viewpoint and verifiable expertise. On that terrain, structure cannot rescue an empty page.
The real lever hasn't changed. If your content answers a question precisely, with named data and genuine expertise, AI will extract it on its own. If your content is hollow, no block-chopping will make it citable. Form follows substance, never the reverse.
What it changes for small businesses
The event was held in Europe, and the practices described apply directly to markets where AI Overviews are rolling out. Three concrete consequences:
- Stop sabotaging your readability. Cutting an argument into micro-paragraphs "to feed the AI" tires your readers for no visibility gain. Write for the human first.
- The AI click is worth more, but stays rare. When a visitor lands via an AI Overview, they are more engaged. The goal is still to be the cited source, not just to rank, in a context of zero-click search topping 68% of queries.
- Steer your AI presence in Search Console. Google now includes impression and click data tied to generative search, plus a setting to allow or refuse your site's participation.
What to do now
Concretely, three actions to start without waiting. First, go back to pages written for readers: each section answers a clear question, with a first sentence that contains the answer. Second, track your presence in AI answers through the new Search Console reports dedicated to generative search, not just your Google positions. Third, reinforce the signals AI cannot fabricate on its own: named sources, proprietary data, field experience. That is what moves your content closer to a pivot format like the Open Knowledge Format Google is promoting for AI visibility.
The Cicéro method: GEO audit + editorial production + automated semantic internal linking. Agency-quality work, software-grade productivity, from €250 to €1,800 / month.
Our take
Google just closed a false trail that cost entire teams hours of work. GEO is not about plumbing or calibrated blocks: it is the substance of the content, the site's authority and the clarity of the answer that decide who gets cited. Good news for serious businesses, bad news for content farms.
Sources
- → Search Engine Roundtable, Search Central Live Milan recap: chunking, site signals, content, AI Overview clicks (Barry Schwartz, June 2026)
- → Google Search Central, official "AI Features and Your Website" documentation
- → Search Engine Journal, "Google's New AI Search Guide Calls AEO And GEO 'Still SEO'"
Growth and SEO content strategist, I founded Cicéro to help businesses build lasting organic visibility, on Google and in AI-generated answers alike. Every piece of content we produce is designed to convert, not just to exist.
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