The Mystery: When Your Content Changes Without You Changing It ! You lose Trust !

Imagine this.

You’ve just optimized a detailed guide on USSD codes, or Math equation or maybe a promo code for your product ! "I will discuss on USSD codes" — everything from *9*13# to *105#, hoping to help users navigate mobile services. Your page ranks well, the content is accurate, but when Google’s shiny new AI Overview shows up at the top of the SERP… your asterisk is gone !

Instead of:

To check your balance, dial*9*13#

You see:

To check your balance, dial913#

Wait — where did the asterisks go?! And more importantly - how do you fix it?

They were in your content. You triple-checked. But Google’s AI Overview just… removed them. That’s not a fluke. It’s a pattern.

The Asterisk Problem in AI Overview

At Reparo, we decided to investigate a pattern that kept popping up:

Google’s AI Overview often removes the asterisk (*) from its summaries — even when it’s vital to the meaning of the content. This isn’t a bug. It’s how the AI Overview interprets structure and context. Symbols like*are often stripped unless they appear in very specific ways. 

So, what makes Google’s AI decide that*doesn’t matter?

We’ve analyzed multiple results and discovered that Google’s AI Overview selectively filters certain characters — especially*. The asterisk, despite its critical role in many command syntaxes (like USSD codes and Coding), is treated as non-essential unless it’s given specific structural context.

Why would Google do that?

Google’s AI Overview doesn’t behave like traditional featured snippets. It’s not just pulling exact HTML — it’s interpreting content using a Large Language Model (LLM). That model is trained to:

• Remove unnecessary formatting.
• Avoid characters that are often misused or ambiguous.
• Present results in natural, concise summaries.

And unfortunately for us,*is usually on the chopping block — unless we tell Google otherwise.

Where *Is Stripped (Most of the Time)?

We ran tests across dozens of pages and found a consistent trend, based on that here’s where the asterisk gets dropped:

• When it’s written in a <p> tag.
• When it’s part of a headline (<h1>, <h2>, <article>).
• When it’s just raw text in the body without structure.
• Sometimes inside JSON-LD structured data fields.

Result:

*9*13# ➝ becomes ➝ 913# in AI Overview SERP ! 

This woud be considered catastrophic for industries relying on precise formatting — like telecom, education, fintech, and even emergency contact guides.

Where * Is Preserved: Your Toolbox ?

To make sure your asterisks appear as intended in AI Overviews:

• When wrapped inside a<code>block.
• When used inside a <table>.
• When quoted explicitly:“*13*9#”
• When used in<pre> or<blockquote>elements.
• When used in(*).
• When used in <span>.
• When Used <strong>. 
• When using Datalayer.
• when the whole text in a separated div as the facebook example below.

For example:

<code>*9*13#</code>

or

<table><td>*9*13#</td></table>

Hidden Hack: tel:*13*9# Keeps the Asterisk Alive !

One unexpected behavior we found is that Google preserves * when it’s inside a clickable phone link.

<ahref="tel:*9*13#">*9*13#</a>

Here’s the trick:

This is usually rendered as tel:*9*13%23 (the # is URL-encoded).

Google understands tel: protocol as a phone interaction, and when AI parses these links, it preserves the full code, including asterisks.

Insight: Google recognizes tel:* as more than just text — it’s functionally relevant. This tells us something critical:

When you link the asterisk inside a tel: protocol, Google respects it. It assumes you meant for the full code to be dialed, not interpreted.

So what that means to us? yes structure is everything to take in consideratieon when ranking for the AI engines !

But you think i missed something which is:

Why the Hash (#) Survives But the Asterisk Doesn’t ?

Good question, so lets do a quick and easy breakdown. It gets even more interesting when you compare*to another special character:#.

• #is a semantic heavyweight: It’s used in hashtags, headings, USSD codes, and links.

• A marker with social or technical meaning (e.g., CSS #id, Twitter #trends).

• *, on the other hand, is often treated like a formatting symbol: Markdown bullets, math operators, emphasis — it’s more noise than signal to an LLM.

That’s why Google’s AI Overview tends to keep the hash and silently drop the asterisk unless you give it reason to respect it.

Reparo Tip: Structure Matters

If you're in any of the following industries:

• Telecom (USSD codes)
• Software development (commands or regex)
• Education (math syntax)
• E-commerce (product codes)

then you need your asterisk to survive in the AI Summary. Here’s how to do it:

1. Use <code> for instructions with special characters.
2. Wrap sensitive text in <blockquote> or quotes if human-readable.
3. Use <table> for structured, step-by-step guides.
4. Use quotation marks for emphasis: “*13*9#”
5. Use <span> without include <p> nor <h1> ..etc.
6. Always Use tel: in case its a USSD instead of raw text. 
7. Use <strong> "but not recommended.
8. User Datalayer attribute.
9. Avoid assuming Google will preserve symbols in <p>, <h1>, or <article>.

The Bigger Picture: Why It Matters for SEO and UX ?

Let’s be real. For a telecom brand, fintech platform, or USSD-based service — getting the code wrong is a dealbreaker.

If your AI Overview result says 913# instead of *9*13#, you lose trust. Worse: users fail to complete their actions. 

And here’s the kicker:

Google is rewriting your content using AI. If your formatting isn’t rock solid, it’ll break.

That means we — as content creators, SEOs, and developers — must write not just for HTML, but for AI interpretation.

Structured Data Isn’t Enough !

You might think, “Well, I’ll just use JSON-LD or schema markup to make it clear.”

Spoiler: Even in structured data, if you’re using text fields (description,howToStep, etc.), * may be interpreted away unless:

• It's quoted.
• Or part of a clickable interaction.

Is it possible to show in AI overview while * written in a raw text ?

Well, we have done analysis for this too, and yes its possible but when the same content concentrate on the same thing for example, when searching for 110 vodafone cash code, usually this happened to appear in couple of websites, google will definitly generate the content for the AI overview depending on all of these source, but make sure they will take the code "*110#" for example from those websites having it in one of the Tags we mentioned above. 

check the image below for example:

We were searching for "vodafone cash transfer code for mobile" 

The result in AI overview has the "*" this is has been fetched from the Facebook page, the "*" there has been writtein inside a div tag not a <p> nor <h1> or the other tag we talked about ! 

the first result on the right side has no *110# in the content so the only faceook results has it, thats why its been written in the AI overview. 

Closing Thought: Format Like You Mean It

The future of SEO is no longer just about being first on the page. It’s about being first in the AI Summary.

And to win that spot, your content has to speak the language of AI — one that values clarity, structure, and context over plain semantics. At Reparo, we believe small details like * vs # are no longer small.

They’re the difference between:

• A user completing a transaction.
• Or bouncing because the code didn’t work.

So next time you write content that includes *, ask yourself:

Will Google’s AI understand that this isn’t a typo — it’s the point?

If not, structure it until it does.