nosnippet
Definition: nosnippet is a robots meta rule that tells Google not to show a text snippet or video preview for a page, and that also stops the page's content being used as a direct input for AI Overviews and AI Mode.
Also called: data-nosnippet, max-snippet, snippet controls
Updated
The three snippet controls
Google says these rules apply to all forms of its search results, including AI Overviews and AI Mode (robots meta tag documentation):
| Control | Where it goes | Effect |
|---|---|---|
nosnippet |
Robots meta tag or X-Robots-Tag header |
No text snippet or video preview; content not used as a direct input for AI Overviews and AI Mode |
max-snippet:[number] |
Robots meta tag or header | Caps the snippet length in characters, and limits how much content can feed AI Overviews and AI Mode; 0 equals nosnippet, -1 means no limit |
data-nosnippet |
HTML attribute on span, div or section |
Keeps that part of the page out of snippets |
<meta name="robots" content="nosnippet">
<p>Public summary. <span data-nosnippet>Detail kept out of snippets.</span></p>The trade-offs
A page-wide nosnippet makes your normal search result plainer, which usually lowers clicks. It also takes the page out of the running for AI Overview and AI Mode citations, because Google says a page must be eligible to show with a snippet to appear as a supporting link in those features.
Our view: for most sites, data-nosnippet on specific passages, such as pricing you change daily or content behind a paywall, is a better tool than a page-wide rule.
Things to check
- Google must be able to crawl the page to see the rule. If robots.txt blocks the URL, the rule is never read.
- Changes take effect only after the page is recrawled.
- These rules are Google’s. Other search engines and AI assistants document their own controls, and support varies.
The meta tag checker shows which robots rules a page currently sends, in both the HTML and the HTTP headers.