What it is
Serving JPEG or PNG where WebP or AVIF would do means shipping far more bytes than necessary. Modern formats cut image weight substantially with no visible quality loss. JPEG/PNG where WebP/AVIF would be lighter. Larger images slow LCP. Serve WebP/AVIF with fallbacks.
Why does images not next-gen format matter for AI search?
Larger images slow LCP.
How do you fix it?
Serve WebP/AVIF with fallbacks.
How do you find it on your site?
- Audit the page images and note their formats.
- Convert large JPEG and PNG images to WebP or AVIF.
- Serve modern formats with a fallback using the picture element.
- Re-measure image weight after converting.
Which ranking and citation factors does it touch?
Images are usually the heaviest part of a page, so format matters for LCP and total weight. Lighter images load sooner.
What is the impact?
Low. Inferred.
What is the evidence?
Efficient image formats aid LCP. web.dev, Core Web Vitals (Google); Google Search Central, Image SEO best practices
Sources
Frequently asked questions about images not next-gen format
What does "Images not next-gen format" mean?
JPEG/PNG where WebP/AVIF would be lighter.
How do you fix images not next-gen format?
Serve WebP/AVIF with fallbacks.