Search happens in more places than Google.

1. Google ranks pages one by one using many signals, but also uses site-wide signals to understand each page.

   Google Search Central: A guide to Google Search ranking systems

2. DuckDuckGo runs its own crawler, but says its traditional links and images are largely sourced from Bing.

   DuckDuckGo Help: Results sources

3. Brave Search says every result comes from its own independent index, with no fallback to Google or Bing.

   Brave Search API

> so whatGoogle and Brave crawl for themselves and DuckDuckGo leans on Bing. So check you're properly indexed in Bing as well as Google, not just one of them.

1. To appear in Google's AI Overviews or AI Mode, a page has to be indexed and eligible to show in Search with a snippet.

   Google Search Central: AI features and your website

2. Google's AI features can run several related searches across subtopics before writing an answer. Google calls this query fan-out.

   Google Search Central: AI features and your website

3. Sites that block OAI-SearchBot won't be shown in ChatGPT search answers, according to OpenAI.

   OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI crawlers

4. Anthropic's Claude-SearchBot crawls the web to improve the quality of Claude's search results.

   Claude Help Center: Does Anthropic crawl data from the web?

5. Perplexity says PerplexityBot exists to surface and link websites in Perplexity's search results.

   Perplexity Docs: Perplexity crawlers

> so whatMost AI answers start with a search step. If the right crawler can't reach your page, or Google hasn't indexed it, you're not in the pool the answer gets built from.

1. YouTube ranks search on relevance, engagement and quality, and checks how well the title, tags, description and video content match the search.

   YouTube Help: How YouTube search works

2. YouTube uses a video's watch time for a particular search as an engagement signal, and may also use the viewer's own search and watch history.

   YouTube Help: How YouTube search works

3. TikTok says follower count and past high-performing videos aren't direct factors in what it recommends. That explanation covers the For You feed, not search.

   TikTok Newsroom: How TikTok recommends videos #ForYou

> so whatYouTube publishes the clearest explanation of how its search ranks. For TikTok and Instagram, the official explanations cover feeds, so be wary of anyone claiming to know their search algorithm.

1. Since 2024 Google has had access to Reddit's Data API, which it describes as real-time, structured content from Reddit.

   Google: An expanded partnership with Reddit

2. Google has structured data for forum-style pages where people share first-hand perspectives, used to identify online discussions.

   Google Search Central: Discussion forum structured data

3. Google says that markup should only describe user-generated posts, not content a business writes about itself.

   Google Search Central: Discussion forum structured data

> so whatGoogle treats real discussion as its own kind of result. The questions people ask about your industry on Reddit and forums are worth reading, and worth answering honestly as yourself.

1. Google ranks local results on three things: relevance, distance and prominence.

   Google Business Profile Help: Tips to improve your local ranking

2. Distance is measured from the person searching, so the same business ranks differently depending on where the searcher is.

   Google Business Profile Help: Tips to improve your local ranking

3. Prominence means how well known a business is, and Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking.

   Google Business Profile Help: Tips to improve your local ranking

> so whatYou can't move closer to every searcher. What you can work on is how well your profile matches the search, and how well known you are: reviews, mentions and the lists that rank.

1. Apple's App Store search uses text relevance (title, subtitle, keywords, primary category) plus user behaviour such as downloads, ratings and reviews.

   Apple Developer: App Store search

2. Apple says promotional text doesn't affect App Store search ranking, so keywords placed there do nothing for search.

   Apple Developer: App Store search

3. eBay's Best Match ranks listings partly on how closely they match the buyer's search terms.

   eBay Help: Improving your search results with Best Match

4. Amazon says its Rufus shopping assistant answers using product listing details, customer reviews and community Q&As.

   About Amazon: How to use Amazon Rufus

5. Google Play says categories and tags help people search for and discover the most relevant apps.

   Play Console Help: Select a category and tags

> so whatStores read structured listing fields and then watch how buyers behave. Complete, accurate listings and genuine reviews do more than any keyword trick.