All subjects

nosnippet

26 established claims - 7 refused by the grounding gate

Verdict

Bing introduced support for the data-nosnippet HTML attribute on October 15 2025, and its nosnippet directive blocks all text and preview thumbnails from appearing in snippets. Bing says data-nosnippet content is still indexed normally and available for ranking but excluded from snippets and AI summaries; its guidance on scope conflicts, naming span, div, and section elements in one place and any HTML element in another. Google documents nosnippet as blocking text snippets and video previews, preventing direct input for AI Overviews and AI Mode, and being equivalent to max-snippet:0, while a static image thumbnail may still appear if it improves user experience. Google treats data-nosnippet as a boolean attribute on span, div, and section elements, so any value like "false" is ignored, and structured data inside it remains usable; as of August 1 2026, nosnippet in practice removes content from AI Overviews and also removes traditional snippets.

Written from the 26 established claims below, then checked against them. How that works.

Documented position21

What the operator of the system says in its own documentation.

Google's 'Robots meta tag, data-nosnippet, and X-Robots-Tag specifications' documentation states that the nosnippet rule tells Google not to show a text snippet or video preview in the search results for a page.

first-party
2 quotes from 1 source
nosnippet
Do not show a text snippet or video preview in the search results for this page.

Google's "Robots meta tag, data-nosnippet, and X-Robots-Tag specifications" documentation states that a static image thumbnail may still be visible for a page carrying the nosnippet rule when it results in a better user experience.

first-party
1 quote from 1 source
A static image thumbnail (if available) may still be visible, when it results in a better user experience.

Google's "Robots meta tag, data-nosnippet, and X-Robots-Tag specifications" documentation states that the nosnippet rule prevents content from being used as a direct input for AI Overviews and AI Mode.

first-party
1 quote from 1 source
This applies to all forms of search results (at Google: web search, Google Images, Discover, AI Overviews, AI Mode) and will also prevent the content from being used as a direct input for AI Overviews and AI Mode.

Google's "Robots meta tag, data-nosnippet, and X-Robots-Tag specifications" documentation states that the max-snippet value 0…

  • means no snippet is to be shown.
  • is equivalent to nosnippet.
first-party
1 quote from 1 source
0: No snippet is to be shown. Equivalent to nosnippet.

Google's "Robots meta tag, data-nosnippet, and X-Robots-Tag specifications" documentation states that when a page carries both max-snippet:50 and nosnippet rules, the nosnippet rule applies.

first-party
1 quote from 1 source
Conflicting robots rules: In the case of conflicting robots rules, the more restrictive rule applies. For example, if a page has both max-snippet:50 and nosnippet rules, the nosnippet rule will apply.

Google's "Robots meta tag, data-nosnippet, and X-Robots-Tag specifications" documentation states that the data-nosnippet HTML attribute can be used on span, div, and section elements.

first-party
1 quote from 1 source
You can designate textual parts of an HTML page not to be used as a snippet. This can be done on an HTML-element level with the data-nosnippet HTML attribute on span, div, and section elements.

Google's "Robots meta tag, data-nosnippet, and X-Robots-Tag specifications" documentation states that…

  • data-nosnippet is a boolean attribute.
  • any value specified for data-nosnippet is ignored.
first-party
2 quotes from 1 source
The data-nosnippet is considered a boolean attribute.
As with all boolean attributes, any value specified is ignored.

Google's "Robots meta tag, data-nosnippet, and X-Robots-Tag specifications" documentation gives an example in which a div carrying data-nosnippet="false" is also excluded from the snippet.

first-party
1 quote from 1 source
<div data-nosnippet="false">also not in snippet</div>

Google's "Robots meta tag, data-nosnippet, and X-Robots-Tag specifications" documentation advises site owners not to add or remove the data-nosnippet attribute of existing nodes through JavaScript.

first-party
1 quote from 1 source
To avoid uncertainty from rendering, do not add or remove the data-nosnippet attribute of existing nodes through JavaScript.

Google's "Robots meta tag, data-nosnippet, and X-Robots-Tag specifications" documentation states that structured data remains usable for search results when declared within a data-nosnippet element.

first-party
1 quote from 1 source
Also note that structured data remains usable for search results when declared within a data-nosnippet element.

Google's "Robots meta tag, data-nosnippet, and X-Robots-Tag specifications" documentation states that the settings can be read and followed only if crawlers are allowed to access the pages that include them.

first-party
1 quote from 1 source
Keep in mind that these settings can be read and followed only if crawlers are allowed to access the pages that include these settings.

Google's 'Robots meta tag, data-nosnippet, and X-Robots-Tag specifications' documentation states that a meta tag named googlebot-news with the nosnippet value shows…

  • a full snippet in Google's web search results.
  • no snippet in Google News.
first-party
2 quotes from 1 source
To show a full snippet in Google's web search results, but no snippet in Google News, specify googlebot-news as the name of the meta tag:
<meta name="googlebot-news" content="nosnippet">

Google's "AI features and your website" documentation names nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet and noindex as the controls for limiting the information shown from a site's pages in Search.

first-party
1 quote from 1 source
To limit the information shown from your pages in Search, use nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet, or noindex controls.

The Bing Webmaster blog states that content marked with data-nosnippet…

  • is still indexed normally by Bing.
  • remains available for ranking.
first-party
1 quote from 1 source
When Bing crawls your site, any content marked with data-nosnippet is still indexed normally, but it will be excluded from snippets and AI summaries. The content tagged as data-nosnippet is available for ranking.

The Bing Webmaster blog describes Bing's nosnippet directive as blocking…

  • all text from appearing in snippets.
  • preview thumbnails from appearing in snippets.
first-party
1 quote from 1 source
nosnippet: Blocks all text and preview thumbnails from appearing in snippets.

Practical effect2

What is observed to happen in practice, as distinct from what is documented.

  • nosnippet removes content from AI Overviews
  • nosnippet takes out traditional snippets
medium confidencetrade press
1 quote from 1 source
For example, Nosnippet removes content from AI Overviews, but it also takes out traditional snippets at the same time. This all-or-nothing approach was something Google acknowledged in January , when it mentioned it was exploring ways to opt out of AI features.

Changed on1

A dated change. This is where advice quietly stops being true.

The Bing Webmaster blog announced on October 15 2025 that Bing was introducing support for the data-nosnippet HTML attribute.

first-party
2 quotes from 1 source
October 15 2025
At Bing, empowering creators with meaningful control over their content is a core priority. This is why we're introducing the data-nosnippet HTML attribute.

Disputed between sources1

Sources that do not agree, presented without picking a winner.

Bing Webmaster blog says the data-nosnippet attribute can be applied to any HTML element

medium confidencefirst-party
2 quotes from 2 sources
This can be done on an HTML-element level with the data-nosnippet HTML attribute on span, div, and section elements.
You can apply the data-nosnippet attribute to any HTML element you want to exclude from Bing Search snippets or AI summaries.

Echoed without a primary source1

Widely repeated in the field, but traceable only to other repetitions. Listed because knowing something is merely echoed is worth as much as knowing it is documented.

nosnippet echoes Search Engine Journal's report of a NewzDash figure that nearly 1 in 6 U.S. trending news queries place Top Stories inside AI Overviews.

medium confidencetrade press
2 quotes from 1 source
John Shehata, CEO and founder of NewzDash and GDdash, put a number on it : “Nearly 1 in 6 U.S. trending news queries now place Top Stories inside AI Overviews.” The 15.5% rate applies to tracked results where Google displayed Top Stories, not to all queries NewzDash tracked. The UK figure is 17.46%.
NewzDash hasn't published sample sizes or collection dates alongside the figures.

Refused7

Claims the research produced that the grounding gate would not accept, with its reason. They are here because a site that only shows what passed gives you no way to judge whether the gate does anything.

Show what was refused

nosnippet is documented on Google's Search Console Help page "Search generative AI control".

Refused: The cited quotes do not mention 'nosnippet' or any documentation about it.

Unsupported: nosnippet

What it rested on
Use the Search generative AI control to manage your site's inclusion in the following generative AI features on Google Search. We expect to update this list over time as we develop Google Search.
See and manage the Search generative AI control for your property under Settings > Search generative AI in Search Console.

nosnippet manages a site's inclusion in AI Overviews, AI Mode, and generative AI features in Google Discover.

Refused: The quotes discuss a 'Search generative AI control', not nosnippet.

Unsupported: nosnippet

What it rested on
Use the Search generative AI control to manage your site's inclusion in the following generative AI features on Google Search. We expect to update this list over time as we develop Google Search.
See and manage the Search generative AI control for your property under Settings > Search generative AI in Search Console.

Google's robots meta tag documentation limits the data-nosnippet attribute to span, div and section elements

Refused: The Google quote says the attribute can be used on span, div, and section elements but does not state it is limited only to those elements.

Unsupported: limits the data-nosnippet attribute to span, div and section elements

What it rested on
This can be done on an HTML-element level with the data-nosnippet HTML attribute on span, div, and section elements.
You can apply the data-nosnippet attribute to any HTML element you want to exclude from Bing Search snippets or AI summaries.

The nosnippet meta tag is not used as a ranking signal affecting other parts of Search.

Refused: The quote refers to "this control" without specifying it is the nosnippet meta tag.

Unsupported: The nosnippet meta tag

What it rested on
This control only affects whether your content can appear in certain Search generative AI features; this control isn't used as a ranking or inclusion signal affecting other parts of Search.

The nosnippet meta tag is not used as an inclusion signal affecting other parts of Search.

Refused: The quote refers to 'This control' without naming it, so it does not establish that the statement applies specifically to the nosnippet meta tag.

Unsupported: nosnippet meta tag

What it rested on
This control only affects whether your content can appear in certain Search generative AI features; this control isn't used as a ranking or inclusion signal affecting other parts of Search.

nosnippet echoes Search Engine Journal's note that NewzDash has not published sample sizes or collection dates alongside the figures.

Refused: Quotes show SEJ's statement, but no evidence that nosnippet echoed it.

Unsupported: nosnippet echoes Search Engine Journal's note

What it rested on
John Shehata, CEO and founder of NewzDash and GDdash, put a number on it : “Nearly 1 in 6 U.S. trending news queries now place Top Stories inside AI Overviews.” The 15.5% rate applies to tracked results where Google displayed Top Stories, not to all queries NewzDash tracked. The UK figure is 17.46%.
NewzDash hasn't published sample sizes or collection dates alongside the figures.

The nosnippet directive, according to Google's Search Console Help page "Search generative AI control", causes a site that excludes itself to receive no traffic or impressions from Search generative AI features.

Refused: The cited quote does not mention the nosnippet directive; it only covers excluding a site from generative AI features generally, so attributing the effect to that specific directive is not established.

Unsupported: The nosnippet directive

What it rested on
Exclude my site's links and content from Search generative AI features : Your site's content is prevented from being visible to users in Search generative AI features , including being linked to within these features and helping with grounding AI responses in these features. You won't receive any traffic or impressions from these features.