Nhi Phan
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Bing adds a separate AI grounding control for publishers, with a March 2027 deadline
Microsoft will let publishers set AI training and AI grounding preferences separately. Sites relying on NoArchive or NoCache must act by March 1, 2027, to keep their restrictions.
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Google, OpenAI and Microsoft back a shared robots.txt signal for AI training
OpenAI and Microsoft say they will honor a shared robots.txt signal for AI training preferences, and Google plans to. It covers training only and rests on an IETF draft with no formal standing.
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Where you ask changes which sources OpenAI and Gemini API models cite, a preprint finds
In 31,200 API answers, a University of Toronto preprint found OpenAI’s model followed a declared location and Gemini’s followed the network’s country. Monitoring from one city missed most near-me recommendations.
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OpenAI reports 185.6 million average monthly EU recipients for ChatGPT search in its DSA disclosure
OpenAI’s Digital Services Act disclosure puts ChatGPT search at about 185.6 million average monthly active recipients in the EU. OpenAI says the figure is for DSA compliance only.
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Google opens a preview platform for brands to plug their apps into Search and Gemini
Google’s Connected Apps Platform preview lets developers submit apps for Search and the Gemini app, with traffic, latency and error tracking. Access is phased, and Google has not said how connected apps are surfaced.
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Google expands ads in AI Mode to Australia and nine other countries, and adds ads on follow-up questions in the US
Google says it is scaling ads in AI Mode to 10 more countries, including Australia, and launching multiturn ads on follow-up questions in the US. It says sponsored and organic click-through rates are similar but gives no figures.
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Brand mention (AI answer): what it is and what the evidence says
AVJ defines a mention as a brand or organization named in an AI answer’s text, with or without a link.
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Citation (AI answer): what it is and what the evidence says
AVJ defines a citation as a linked source URL attached to an AI answer, separate from a brand name appearing in its text.
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Grounding: what it is and what the evidence says
Google uses grounding to describe supplying retrieved information for an AI response, including content from its Search index at prompt time.
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Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG): what it is and what the evidence says
RAG combines a language model with retrieved information; Google documents its use of the technique to retrieve relevant pages for AI search responses.