Google Bing Warn Against Separate Markdown Pages for LLMs

Google and Bing Warn Against Separate Markdown Pages for LLMs

Google and Bing just dropped a warning that changes how you should think about AI optimization. Their message is clear: stop creating separate markdown pages for LLMs.

On February 5, 2026, top search engine representatives spoke out against a growing trend. John Mueller from Google and Fabrice Canel from Bing both said the same thing. Creating different pages for AI bots crosses the line into dangerous territory.

Why SEOs Started Creating Special Pages for AI Bots

SEO expert Lily Ray spotted this trend on Bluesky. More websites began making special markdown or JSON pages. These pages targeted AI language models instead of human visitors.

The idea seemed smart at first. Website owners thought AI bots needed different content formats. They believed markdown would help their sites rank better in AI search results.

But this approach creates a big problem. You end up serving different content to bots than to real people. That breaks search engine rules.

Search Engines Call Out the Cloaking Risk

Mueller questioned why anyone would create separate markdown pages for LLMs. He called the practice “stupid” because LLMs already read HTML perfectly well.

Canel warned about two major issues. First, you double your crawl load when search engines have to check both versions. Second, search engines will compare your different pages for similarity.

This practice violates cloaking policies. Cloaking means showing different content to search engines than to users. Search engines have banned this for years.

LLMs Work Fine with Standard HTML

Both representatives made an important point. Large language models process regular HTML without problems. You don’t need special formats for them to understand your content.

Your standard web pages already contain everything AI bots need. They can read your text, understand your structure, and extract meaning from HTML.

Creating separate versions adds work without benefits. Worse, it puts your site at risk for penalties.

What You Should Do Instead of Separate Pages

Focus on your existing HTML pages. Make sure they use proper schema markup. This helps both search engines and AI systems understand your content better.

Write clear, helpful content for humans. AI systems will understand it too. Good content works for everyone.

Tools like NeuronWriter_AppSumo help you optimize content without creating risky separate versions. These platforms focus on improving your main pages instead of building duplicate content.

The Cloaking Problem Gets Worse Over Time

Search engines keep getting better at spotting cloaking attempts. They compare what bots see versus what users see.

If they find differences, your site faces penalties. Rankings drop. Traffic disappears. The risk isn’t worth any potential benefit.

The rules about cloaking haven’t changed. This guidance just applies old rules to new AI optimization attempts.

Why This Matters for Your Content Strategy

Smart content creators focus on one great version of each page. They optimize for humans first, then trust that AI systems will understand good content.

Skip the separate markdown pages for LLMs. Put your energy into making your main content better. Use proper HTML structure and schema markup.

Your content strategy should center on quality, not tricks. Search engines reward sites that serve the same helpful content to everyone.

Could focusing on better HTML optimization through platforms like NeuronWriter_AppSumo give you better results than risky duplicate content approaches?