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Is There a Sandbox for New Sites in Google AI Overviews?

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This is how frontier SEO is done.

An experienced SEO makes an observation, other SEOs test it, we identify the nuonces, share data and try to workout why we are seeing what we individually see.

Is There a Sandbox for New Sites in Google AI Overviews?

Current Status: No (After initial observations accross multipe sites led me to thinking there might be, I proved with Evidence, on a domain I completely controlled – There is no sandbox in Google AI Overviews. But that’s not the full picture…)

Following on from my research into claims of a possible sandbox in Google Search, I’ll collect some observational evidence as the test on this new domain proceeds.

This is a live case study: Is there a sandbox for new sites in Google AI Overviews?

Results: Test Results indicate No Sandbox for new sites in AI overviews

While the AI overview is still more comfortable using more reputable third-party sources for context, within weeks, Google can identify unique information on the domain not present anywhere else on the web and link to the home page of the new domain.

So, there seems to be a processing time of a few weeks, taking the exact steps I took, to get the new domain into AI Overviews.

Ergo: No general Sandbox.

No Sandbox for AI Overviews

This would sit nicely with my previous research on a general sandbox in Google search (hint: there is only a sandbox for fresh spam, not just for new sites).

Not the whole story

So what about a few domains I am looking at that don’t feature in AI Overviews after several months? I will update the post in the future.

Observation 1: Sometimes AI Overviews Don’t Appear

Observation 2: AI Mode will link to a new site when AI Overviews won’t

Observation 3: Google Prefers To Take Context for New Sites From Trusted Third-Party Sites

Observation 4: Being Indexed Is No Guarantee of Being The Source of Context for the new domain

NB: Purists will point out I said “indexation” and not “indexed” in my tweet. Yes, my mistake.

This is a running test. I will update as we proceed.

Observation 5: Social Media is a fallback if you don’t have access to a third-party site for context

I call it the “Big Brother” strategy for new sites in AI Overviews. Lily Ray, at Algorythmic, is doing it. I am doing it. The strategy, later.

PS: Lily’s original posts on the subject:

Observation 6: Ranking No.1 in Google is No Guarantee of Google using the page’s context for the AI overview

Just because you rank number 1 for the term in Google, doesn’t mean you automatically feature in the AI overview, or the context will be taken from that URL for the overview.

If there are trusted third-party sites mentioning the site, and the term is branded, for instance, Google will prefer to use trusted sources when independent sources are hard to find. i.e., Google will use Trustpilot, Crunchbase, Pitchbook, Instagram, Facebook, Reddit and LinkedIn BEFORE it relies on the site in question, whether the site is new or untrusted.

Ergo – When launching a new site, ensure you make sure your social media profiles are heavily optimised for the same keywords your new site is.

What is Thisisagency.ai?

ThisisAgency.ai is the new site I launched in April 2026. It is an agentic operating system.

As such, it makes an ideal forensic case-study into this matter. You can find out about Agency, as the product is called, on my post “Agency – By-Your-Command“.

Thanks to Lily Ray at Algorythmic for kicking this topic up and sharing her insights with me.

What is Algorythmic.co?

Algorythmic.co is a search consultancy founded by Lily Ray, an SEO and AI Search expert with over 15 years of experience. She helps major brands navigate the future of search and amplify their visibility across traditional platforms like Google Search and Discover, as well as emerging AI answer engines like ChatGPT and Gemini. Lily Ray is a New York-based SEO I talk to on X. She appears in my roundup of the top SEOs to follow in 2026. Find her at https://algorythmic.co/.

Read next: AI Overviews: The Mentions Economy.

If you repeat a lie often enough it becomes AI Overviews. Shaun Anderson. Hobo Web

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