What Google Sees When Crawling Your Website in 2025

🚫 Introduction: Why Your Content Might Be Invisible

Your website might look perfect to humans—but what about to Google, ChatGPT, or Perplexity? AI search engines see a stripped-down version of your site. If your best content is hidden in the wrong place, it’s as good as gone.

This post will show you what AI crawlers actually see, how to test your own visibility, and how to fix common issues making your content invisible to modern search engines.

👁️ What AI Search Engines Actually See

AI-driven systems like Google’s AI Overview, Perplexity, and ChatGPT Search don’t wait for JavaScript or animations. They consume your raw HTML code—the plain structure your server sends before any fancy interactions load.

Here’s what these systems focus on:

• ✅ Clear HTML headings (H1, H2, H3)
• ✅ Paragraph text that loads immediately
• ✅ Bullet points, numbered lists, and summary sections
• ✅ Schema markup (like FAQ or HowTo structured data)

And here’s what they typically ignore:

• ❌ Content hidden behind JavaScript tabs or accordions
• ❌ Interactive widgets that load content after a click
• ❌ Images without descriptive alt text
• ❌ Content that loads asynchronously

🔍 How to Run a 5-Minute AI Visibility Test

Want to know what Google and ChatGPT actually see?

1. Visit your page and right-click → View Page Source (or Ctrl+U)
2. Use Ctrl+F to search for your most important selling points
3. If your key messages aren’t in that raw HTML, AI likely can’t see them

This quick test will show you whether your content is built for people only—or for machines too.

⚙️ How to Fix It: AI-Friendly Content Structure

To become visible to Google’s AI and other search engines, you need to make your content readable, structured, and semantic. Here’s how:

1. Use Clear Headings and Hierarchies

• Use one H1 tag per page to state your main topic
• Use H2s for big sections like “Features” or “Pricing”
• Use H3s for sub-points or sub-questions

2. Add Structured Markup (Schema)

Help AI systems understand your content by labelling it with JSON-LD. Example for FAQs:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [{
    "@type": "Question",
    "name": "What is technical SEO?",
    "acceptedAnswer": {
      "@type": "Answer",
      "text": "Technical SEO refers to website improvements that help search engines crawl and index your content more effectively."
    }
  }]
}
</script>

3. Avoid Hiding Key Content in JavaScript

• Move critical selling points into plain HTML
• If using tabs or dynamic widgets, also render that content in static HTML where possible
• Prefer server-side rendering over client-side when SEO is a priority

4. Improve Your Page Load Performance

Slow-loading pages can hurt crawl frequency. Improve speed by:

• ✅ Compressing images with tools like Smush or TinyPNG
• ✅ Using caching and lazy loading
• ✅ Cleaning up unused scripts and styles

📊 Use the Right Tools to Validate Your Work

• Screaming Frog – Run a crawl simulation to see what’s accessible
• Google Search Console – Use the URL Inspection tool to view how Googlebot sees the page
• ChatGPT / Perplexity – Ask them direct queries and see which content they pull from your site

🔄 Future-Proof Your Website for AI Search

AI search is only going to grow. Prepare now by creating:

• 🔗 Topic clusters that show authority
• 📚 Definitive resource pages with real value
• 🎤 Authorship signals (bios, credentials, quotes)
• 📐 Consistent entity naming across all pages

✅ Final Thoughts

If AI can’t see your content, it won’t recommend it. Optimising your HTML structure, speed, and markup isn’t just “technical stuff”—it’s the gateway to visibility in AI-led search experiences.

Make your pages easy for machines to read, and you’ll make them better for people too.

“If your best content is invisible to machines, it might as well not exist.”
— David Roche