Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode write a summary at the top of some searches, built from the ordinary Google index and the map listings. For "best roofer near me" the companies named are drawn from the same map pack and top results you already compete for, so the work is the same: a fetchable, plain-spoken site, a complete Google Business Profile, reviews.
What changes is that the summary takes the top of the screen, so the companies it names get the call and the rest scroll further away. The Google-Extended setting some sites toggle has no effect on any of this.
Where the names come from
Google has said the Overviews are generated from its search systems and show links to supporting pages; for local queries that means Business Profiles, review counts, and the pages that state the trade and the town plainly.1 There is no separate index to get into. A site that is slow, blocks Googlebot, or never says what town it serves is invisible to the Overview for the same reasons it was invisible to the map pack.
What changes for you
- Fewer clicks for the sites below the summary. If you are not named, the homeowner may never scroll to you. Being in the map pack matters more, not less.
- Questions get answered on Google. "How much does a roof cost in Albany?" gets a range in the Overview. The page that range is drawn from is the page that gets cited; a price page written plainly, with a date, is how you become that page. The prices answer covers how to write it.
- Consistency gets checked. The summary cross-reads your site and your profile. A different phone number or a category that says "Roofing" on one and "General Contractor" on the other reads as two businesses.
The setting that does nothing
Google-Extended is a robots.txt token that controls whether your pages are used to train Gemini. Google states that it does not affect inclusion or ranking in Search, and AI Overviews are built from the normal Googlebot crawl.2 Blocking it does not keep you out of Overviews; allowing it does not get you in. Spend the time on the Business Profile instead. The AI answers guide covers ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude, which do work differently.
Can I opt my site out of AI Overviews?
Only by opting out of Google's snippets generally (the nosnippet rule), which also removes your description from ordinary results. For a business that wants calls, that is the wrong trade.
How do I see which contractors the Overview names in my town?
Search the question a homeowner would ask on your phone, logged out, and read the summary. Then look at the named companies' profiles and sites and compare them with yours on the points above. The free audit does the structural part for you.
Sources
- Google Search Central: AI features and your website.
- Google Search Central: Overview of Google crawlers and fetchers, the Google-Extended token.
See this on your own site.
The free audit measures your site on a real phone: load time, the first screen, the call button, what Google's AI says about you next to the competitors. Written, back within one business day. No call.