Data study · Snippet controls that also govern AI Overviews
99.5% of Top Websites That Set max-snippet Allow Unlimited Snippets, and Only 52 Cap Them Below 50 Characters
88,096 top homepages set a max-snippet value. 87,641 use -1, meaning no limit. Just 246 set a cap between 0 and 159 characters that could shrink what search and AI Overviews quote.
Analysis of 88,096 homepages with max-snippet among 772,412 top-1M sites · HTTP Archive, October 2026 crawl
Key findings
- 1
88,096 of 772,412 top-1M homepages (11.4%) set max-snippet in a robots meta tag or header.
- 2
87,641 of them (99.5%) use max-snippet:-1, which places no limit on snippet length.
- 3
Only 52 homepages (0.06% of those setting it) cap snippets below 50 characters, and 33 of those use 0, which blocks text snippets entirely.
- 4
WordPress accounts for 68,682 of the max-snippet:-1 homepages; 64.2% of WordPress homepages set it.
- 5
Use is fairly even across ranks, from 8.0% of the top 1,000 to 12.6% of sites ranked 500K to 1M.
Summary
Picture a web developer who copies a robots meta tag from a template: index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large. The client never asks what max-snippet means. On most sites, that is fine, because -1 means "no limit."
max-snippet tells Google the longest text snippet it may show for a page, in characters. A small number caps the preview, and 0 works like nosnippet. Google's AI features documentation (developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features) lists nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet and noindex as the controls that limit what appears from a page in Search, including AI Overviews and AI Mode. So a tight value would also shrink what an AI Overview can quote from the page.
We checked every max-snippet value on the top 1 million homepages. The setting is common, on 11.4% of homepages, but almost all of it is the permissive -1. Accidental tight limits are rare.
What we measured
We used the HTTP Archive October 2026 mobile crawl (httparchive.crawl.pages) for top-1M homepages and read robots and googlebot meta tags from the almanac meta-nodes metric plus X-Robots-Tag headers from the main document response. We extracted the max-snippet number and kept the smallest value when a site set more than one.
Image preview settings are excluded. Platform comes from HTTP Archive's technology detection.
Almost every max-snippet value is -1
Distribution of the lowest max-snippet value on each homepage.
Homepages
| max-snippet value | Homepages | % of homepages setting max-snippet |
|---|---|---|
| -1 (no limit) | 87,641 | 99.5 |
| 0 (no snippet) | 33 | 0.04 |
| 1 to 49 characters | 19 | 0.02 |
| 50 to 159 characters | 194 | 0.22 |
| 160 characters or more | 208 | 0.24 |
| Other negative values | 1 | 0 |
Source: aisearchoptimization.net analysis of 88,096 homepages with max-snippet among 772,412 top-1M sites · HTTP Archive, October 2026 crawl
Values of 160 or more are long enough for a normal search snippet. The 246 values from 0 to 159 are the ones that can shorten or remove what Google quotes.
WordPress templates explain most of the -1 values
Share of homepages with max-snippet:-1, by detected platform. Named for adoption only.
| Platform | Homepages | With max-snippet:-1 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress | 107,057 | 68,682 | 64.2 |
| Astro | 2,940 | 340 | 11.6 |
| Nuxt.js | 11,300 | 1,168 | 10.3 |
| Next.js | 36,899 | 3,752 | 10.2 |
| Joomla | 3,557 | 269 | 7.6 |
| Blogger | 2,922 | 130 | 4.4 |
| Shopify | 46,231 | 993 | 2.1 |
| Drupal | 11,424 | 211 | 1.8 |
| Other or none detected | 496,664 | 11,377 | 2.3 |
Source: aisearchoptimization.net analysis of 88,096 homepages with max-snippet among 772,412 top-1M sites · HTTP Archive, October 2026 crawl
Popular WordPress SEO plugins add max-snippet:-1 to the robots meta tag by default, which fits the pattern. On other platforms the setting is a choice developers make page by page.
Use is spread evenly across popularity ranks
Share of homepages with any max-snippet value, by rank.
% of homepages
| Rank bucket | Homepages | Set max-snippet | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top 1K | 738 | 59 | 8 |
| 1K-5K | 2,920 | 323 | 11.1 |
| 5K-10K | 3,586 | 419 | 11.7 |
| 10K-50K | 28,831 | 3,091 | 10.7 |
| 50K-100K | 36,937 | 3,576 | 9.7 |
| 100K-500K | 306,048 | 31,201 | 10.2 |
| 500K-1M | 393,352 | 49,427 | 12.6 |
Source: aisearchoptimization.net analysis of 88,096 homepages with max-snippet among 772,412 top-1M sites · HTTP Archive, October 2026 crawl
Rates range from 8.0% in the top 1,000 to 12.6% in the long tail, which fits a setting that mostly comes from templates and plugins. Tight limits stay rare in every bucket.
What this means
If your site uses max-snippet:-1, you are not limiting AI Overviews or search snippets. If you see a small number, such as max-snippet:50, check whether someone set it on purpose. A short cap can cut your answer off mid-sentence in search results and AI Overviews. Checking that one setting is a quick win for AI search optimization.
Leave the setting at -1 unless you have a specific reason to limit quoting. If you are unsure who set yours, a free AI visibility audit from our team checks your snippet settings and whether assistants can quote you.
Limits
Homepages only; inner pages may use different values.
We report the lowest value per site; a few sites set different values for different bots.
Meta tags inserted only by JavaScript after load may be missed.
Our note on WordPress plugin defaults is based on the pattern in the data and common plugin output, not on checking each site's settings.
Embed this research
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Cite this study
APA
Grenyo, K. (2026). 99.5% of Sites That Set max-snippet Choose No Limit. AI Search Optimization. https://aisearchoptimization.net/resources/data-studies/max-snippet-values-distribution
Plain link
99.5% of Sites That Set max-snippet Choose No Limit - AI Search Optimization - https://aisearchoptimization.net/resources/data-studies/max-snippet-values-distribution
Frequently asked questions
What does max-snippet:-1 mean?
No limit on snippet length. 99.5% of top homepages that set max-snippet use -1.
Does max-snippet affect AI Overviews?
Google's AI features documentation lists max-snippet among the controls that limit what appears from a page in Search features, including AI Overviews.
How many sites set a short max-snippet?
246 top-1M homepages use a value from 0 to 159 characters, and 52 of those are below 50 characters.
Should I set max-snippet?
Only if you need a limit. Leaving it unset or at -1 lets Google choose a full snippet, which is better for visibility.
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