How search engines and AI assistants (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and others) read Vev content, and what to do when you embed Vev pages in another website.
The short answer
Pages hosted by Vev (your own domain, or a vev.site URL) are sent to the visitor as finished HTML. Search engines and AI crawlers can read all of the text, even if they don't run JavaScript.
Pages embedded with the Vev script tag are added to your page by JavaScript after it loads. Google and Bing run JavaScript and can read this content, and AI assistants that answer from those search indexes often can too. Crawlers that only read the raw HTML won't find the embedded content in your page.
No special "AEO" meta tags are needed. AI search uses the same basics as normal SEO: a page that can be indexed, a canonical URL, a title, a meta description, structured data and readable text in the HTML.
How the two publishing methods differ
| Vev hosting | Script embed |
Text in the HTML that is first sent to the browser | Yes | No. The JavaScript adds it |
Google Search, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini | Readable | Readable after Google runs JavaScript |
Bing and Microsoft Copilot | Readable | Usually readable (Bing runs JavaScript) |
Crawlers that don't run JavaScript (for example GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot and many "fetch this URL" tools in chat assistants) | Readable | Not in the host page's HTML. The text is in Vev's embed script file, which these crawlers usually don't link back to your article |
AI assistants that answer from a search index (ChatGPT search via Bing, Gemini via Google, Copilot via Bing) | Readable | Often readable, because the search engine has already run the JavaScript |
Who controls title, meta description, canonical and structured data | You, in Vev's page settings | The website the content is embedded in (your CMS) |
Why embedded content needs JavaScript
The script embed loads a small JavaScript file from Vev. When that file runs in the browser, it:
Creates a container on your page.
Places the Vev content inside a Shadow DOM, so its styles stay separate from the styles on your site.
Adds the page's text, images and styles to that container.
A visitor's browser does this immediately, so people see the full page. A crawler that downloads the HTML without running JavaScript only sees the <script> tag, not the text.
Google renders JavaScript and reads Shadow DOM content, which is why embedded Vev pages can still be indexed and appear in AI Overviews. Many AI companies' crawlers and live "browse this URL" tools only read the raw HTML. Each AI provider handles this differently and their crawlers change over time, so you shouldn't assume all of them run JavaScript.
Recommendations
If AI visibility matters for a page
Host it on Vev where you can. A Vev-hosted page on a custom domain or subdomain (for example
stories.yourbrand.com) sends finished HTML. Every crawler can read it.If it has to live inside your CMS, put the key editorial content in the host page's own HTML too. For example: an introduction, a summary or the main article text placed outside the embed. Crawlers that don't run JavaScript will then still see what the page is about.
Talk to us about server-side embedding. If your CMS can fetch HTML on the server and insert it into the page, Vev can supply the page content as plain HTML instead of a script. That content is then in the first HTML response, but it needs to be set up and tested with your development team. Contact your Vev account manager.
SEO basics for embedded pages
The website you embed into controls the page's <head>. Check that the host page has:
A unique
<title>A
<meta name="description">A
<link rel="canonical">that points to itselfStructured data that fits the page (for example
Article)No
noindexsetting, and norobots.txtrules that block the crawlers you want
For Vev-hosted pages, set the title and description in the page settings in the Vev editor.
How to check what a crawler sees
View the raw HTML: right-click the page and choose View page source (not Inspect). Search for a sentence from your Vev content. If it isn't there, crawlers that don't run JavaScript won't see it either.
Use the command line:
curl -s https://your-page-url | grep "a sentence from the page"Check Google's view: use the URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console and open View crawled page. This shows the HTML after Google has run JavaScript.
Check AI Overviews and AI Mode: the Performance report in Google Search Console shows impressions for Google's AI features.
FAQ
Is Vev content indexed by Google?
Yes. Both Vev-hosted and embedded pages can be indexed. Google runs JavaScript and reads Shadow DOM content.
Can ChatGPT, Claude or Perplexity read my embedded Vev page?
Often, but not on every route. Many assistants answer from search indexes such as Bing or Google, which run JavaScript, so embedded content regularly shows up in AI answers. Some assistants also browse with a full browser. But crawlers and fetch tools that only read raw HTML see the host page's own text, title and description, not the embedded content. If a page must be visible everywhere, make sure its key text is in the HTML (see the recommendations above).
Do I need special AEO tags?
No. No search engine or AI provider needs AEO-specific tags. Focus on the basics listed above and make sure the text is in the HTML.
Does the Shadow DOM hurt SEO?
Not for Google, which includes Shadow DOM content when it renders a page. The limit for other crawlers comes from needing to run JavaScript, not from the Shadow DOM itself.