Match each control to its documented effect
Google's AI features guide distinguishes access from controls on “information shown from your pages in Search” and lists the three preview controls alongside noindex. That is the scope of this audit; content preparation remains a separate question in getting cited by ChatGPT. Google's AI features guide
| Provider and control | Documented effect and qualification |
|---|---|
Google nosnippet | Suppresses text snippets and video previews, including in AI Overviews and AI Mode, and prevents content serving as “a direct input” to those features. A static image thumbnail may remain visible. |
Google max-snippet | Sets a “maximum of [number] characters” for text snippets and limits direct input to AI Overviews and AI Mode. It does not affect image/video previews or separately permitted uses, including supplied structured data or licensing. Zero equals nosnippet. |
Google data-nosnippet | Marks text “not to be used as a snippet” on span, div or section elements. It is a boolean attribute: even a value of false still applies. |
Bing NOCACHE (2023 announcement) | Bing Chat answers may include the content, but “only display URL/Snippet/Title”. This is a limitation on the answer's displayed material, not a complete exclusion. |
Bing NOARCHIVE (2023 announcement) | Content “will not be included in Bing Chat answers” or linked in those answers, subject to the announcement's both-tags rule below. |
The Bing rows describe the September 22, 2023 announcement and retain its product name. They do not establish behavior for every current Bing AI product. This article examines serving controls; training controls require their own review.
Resolve conflicting rules by provider
Google says “the more restrictive rule applies”: nosnippet wins over max-snippet:50. An added permissive tag does not cancel the restriction. Its page rules can appear in meta tags or X-Robots-Tag response headers. Google's robots specifications
Bing's 2023 announcement gives a different combination rule: when both NOCACHE and NOARCHIVE occur, the content is treated as NOCACHE. Keep that exception beside the NOARCHIVE decision; do not carry Google's conflict rule across providers. Bing's 2023 announcement
For each affected URL, record the intended setting, every observed setting, the provider it targets and its location. A decision such as “show the public specification, exclude this paragraph from snippets” gives the review a concrete purpose. Decide which content belongs there using From Google Rankings to ChatGPT Answers, then inspect the controls on that content.
Audit for unintended restrictions
Use a small sample from each relevant page template and from each language version, if the site has more than one. The following is a proposed audit procedure, rather than a provider's certification checklist.
- Capture the original HTML response and the rendered HTML. Search both for robots and provider-specific meta tags; record the full name and content values, including duplicate tags.
- Capture the HTTP response headers for the final page URL. Search for every X-Robots-Tag entry and retain its value. A clean rendered page does not resolve a restriction found in this second location.
- Compare affected pages with their CMS settings and shared templates. Ask which default produced each observed restriction and whether it was intended for that page class. Inspect a second page using the same template before treating an isolated edit as a complete fix.
- Search the page's section attributes for data-nosnippet. Record the marked element and text within it, including nested paragraphs. Check whether a wrapper surrounds more content than intended; changing an attribute value to false does not remove it.
Keep before-and-after captures with the URL and check time. The site's own technical team should make the implementation changes.
Confirm delivery before closing the issue
Google Search Console's URL Inspection live test fetches and examines the URL in real time. Its help says View tested page shows additional response data, such as a screenshot of the rendered page, the raw HTML returned and the HTTP headers. These additional data are available only when the live test status is “URL is available to Google” or “URL is available to Google, but has issues.” Compare that HTML and those headers with the intended settings. A screenshot alone cannot show whether a hidden meta tag remains. Google URL Inspection help
Repeat the URL check in Bing Webmaster Tools and retain the available output alongside your own response capture. Check the affected template sample again, rather than relying solely on a CMS setting having changed.
Google's AI guide also recommends inspecting the HTML received during crawling and allowing time for changed preview controls to be recrawled and processed. A corrected response is evidence of delivery at the check time; it is not proof that a search feature has already adopted the change. Google's preview-control troubleshooting
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