Google's AI report in Search Console answers the first of three questions an owner will want answered about AI search. Were my pages shown? It tells you. Did anyone click? It doesn't say. Did that click become a call or an enquiry? Only your own records know.
Here is how three sources divide it up: Google lists what the report shows as impressions, the pages that appeared, countries, devices and dates. It is not a traffic report: Search Engine Journal reported on 31 August that it "doesn't include click data as of publication". And while analytics can show Google organic referrals, it cannot assign visits to AI Overviews or AI Mode.
The opt-out switch beside the report is blunter than it looks. Google says "Sites that opt out will not receive traffic or impressions from our generative AI features."
At SEO Market, our view is simple: read the report properly before you decide anything about the switch. Here's how.
How to see your site in AI Overviews in Search Console
Google announced the generative AI performance reports on 3 June 2026, with dedicated views for Search and Discover. A note added later says: "As of August 31, 2026, we've rolled out these insights to all websites worldwide."
Open your property in Search Console and look for the generative AI performance report. This is what it gives you.
| Report item | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Impressions | How often your URLs appeared in generative AI features in Search and Discover |
| Pages | The pages that appeared |
| Countries | Where they appeared |
| Devices | Search results only |
| Dates | Hourly, daily, weekly and monthly |
| Views | Separate views for Search and Discover |
| The same AI data is still included in the overall performance report. | |
The new view is not a separate store of data. The same AI data is still included in the overall performance report. The new report simply pulls it out so you can see it on its own.
No report showing? That doesn't mean you've done something wrong. Search Engine Journal says sites without enough AI impressions might not see a report, and noted that on 31 August Google's help pages still said not all properties had access.
What the AI report doesn't show
Clicks are the obvious gap, and they're still missing. On 15 October Google added more inline links to AI Mode and AI Overviews, yet click data was still not in the AI performance reports. AI answers now carry more links. The report still can't tell you whether anyone followed one to you.
Search terms are the other gap. Google's list of what the report shows names pages, countries, devices and dates. It doesn't list the searches behind those impressions.
Follow one person from a search to your enquiry form and the problem is plain to see.
From AI answer to enquiry: which tool sees which step.
How to read the report without fooling yourself
An impression means your page appeared in an AI feature. It doesn't mean anyone read it, and it doesn't mean anyone rang you.
SEJ contributor Dan Taylor argues that AI impressions without clicks can hide a traffic decline. In his view, the way Search Console counts AI impressions and position distorts "average position". He suggests owners look at leads and conversions in their own analytics instead. That's his opinion, and for a business that lives on enquiries it's a sensible place to start.
Google's John Mueller has said AI position and impression tracking will "evolve over time". He added that there are "edge-cases" and that owners will need to do some work interpreting and comparing these metrics.
In practice, put three things side by side each month:
- the pages that show up in the AI report
- the Google organic visits those pages received in your analytics
- the enquiries, calls and form fills that came in
If AI impressions climb while enquiries fall, the impressions aren't the story. The enquiries are.
What does the AI control switch remove?
Google describes the control as a Search Console toggle. It lets you decide whether your site appears in, and helps "ground responses" in, three features: AI Overviews, AI Mode and AI Overviews in Discover.
“Sites that opt out will not receive traffic or impressions from our generative AI features.”
It is a property-specific setting under Settings in Search Console, so each site you manage has its own switch.
What it leaves alone matters as much as what it removes. Google says the control will not be used as a ranking signal for search results outside of these generative AI Search features. It also doesn't override separate Merchant Center or Google Ads choices.
It works quickly, but not instantly. SEJ reports that content generally drops out within one to two days of processing, though caching can delay it.
Opting out is not the same as blocking AI training: Google-Extended, a separate robots.txt token, covers training of future Gemini models and grounding in Gemini Apps and Vertex AI, and it did not control whether content appears in AI Overviews or AI Mode.
Before this control existed, the tools were cruder. The nosnippet tag removed content from AI Overviews but also removed traditional snippets. Robots.txt only manages crawling, not removal from Search.
| Lever | What it covers | What it doesn't do |
|---|---|---|
| Search Console AI control (property setting under Settings) | Whether your site appears in, and helps ground responses in, AI Overviews, AI Mode and AI Overviews in Discover | Not used as a ranking signal for search results outside those generative AI Search features; no impact on AI training; doesn't override Merchant Center or Google Ads choices |
| Google-Extended (robots.txt token) | Training of future Gemini models; grounding in Gemini Apps and Vertex AI | Did not control appearance in AI Overviews or AI Mode; Google says it doesn't affect Search inclusion |
| nosnippet | Removed content from AI Overviews (before the AI control existed) | Also removed traditional snippets |
| robots.txt | Manages crawling | Does not remove pages from Search |
Should you opt out of AI Overviews?
We won't tell you which way to go, because nobody can price the decision yet. SEJ says the numbers needed to weigh opt-out against lost traffic "don't exist yet".
Here is the trade-off as it stands.
On one side is the audience. By Google's own figures, AI Overviews has over 2.5 billion monthly active users and AI Mode has passed one billion monthly users.
Monthly users of Google's AI search features, by Google's own count
On the other side is control over your content. Opting out stops your pages appearing in, and helping ground, those AI answers. Google says the price is that you will not receive traffic or impressions from our generative AI features. Google also says the control is not used as a ranking signal for search results outside those AI features.
The hard part is measuring what you'd give up. Your analytics can't separate AI visits from other Google organic visits, and the AI report has no clicks. So any decision today rests on your view of your content, not on a number.
Why the numbers are still moving
The switch exists because of UK regulation. On 3 June 2026 the UK's Competition and Markets Authority imposed a conduct requirement on Google giving publishers tools to stop their content powering AI features such as AI Overviews. It also requires clear links for attribution in AI results, and gave Google nine months to implement all changes. Those are UK obligations. They don't bind Google in Australia.
Google itself says it will "introduce additional metrics over time". Search Engine Roundtable's October 2026 report lists the global AI report and control among the month's key Google changes, so expect this to keep shifting.
Key dates
Google announces the generative AI performance reports for Search and Discover.
UK CMA imposes a conduct requirement on Google giving publishers tools to stop content powering AI features (UK only, does not bind Google in Australia).
Google notes the insights are rolled out to all websites worldwide; Search Engine Journal reports no click data as of publication.
John Mueller says AI position and impression tracking will "evolve over time".
More inline links in AI Mode and AI Overviews; click data still not in the AI performance reports.
If you've wondered whether Google pays sites whose content feeds those AI answers, our earlier guide, Is Google paying websites for AI answers?, covers that side of the question.
A monthly check for your site
You don't need to watch this daily. A short look once a month is enough to spot a pattern.
Your monthly check
The rest is the long game: keep publishing pages that answer your customers' real questions with specifics only you can give, such as your service area, your process and your prices where you publish them. Those are the pages worth appearing for, whether a person finds them in an AI answer or a normal result.
The report
- Shows impressions, pages, countries, devices (Search results only) and datesGoogle Search Central
- It "doesn't include click data as of publication" (31 Aug 2026)Search Engine Journal
- Click data still not in the AI performance reports on 15 Oct 2026Search Engine Roundtable
The switch
- Covers AI Overviews, AI Mode and AI Overviews in DiscoverGoogle
- It "will not be used as a ranking signal for search results outside of these generative AI Search features"Google
- Content "generally drops out within one to two days of processing, though caching can delay it"Search Engine Journal
- No impact on AI training, which Google-Extended governsSearch Engine Journal
Your next step
Open the report this week and write down which of your pages appear. Then check the enquiries those pages brought in last month.
If the list surprises you, or the pages you care most about are missing, talk it through with SEO Market. Contact us with what you're seeing. If you already know which pages you'd like written, you can send a content brief.
Sources
- https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/06/gen-ai-performance-reports
- https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-search-console-ai-reports-rolled-out-worldwide/587836/
- https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/new-controls-website-owners/
- https://www.searchenginejournal.com/what-opting-out-of-googles-ai-search-features-means-now/584321/
- https://www.searchenginejournal.com/googles-generative-ai-search-console-data-is-a-trap-for-marketers/584018/
- https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-console-ai-reporting-change-42099.html
- https://www.seroundtable.com/google-updates-links-in-ai-mode-and-ai-overviews-again-42308.html
- https://www.seroundtable.com/october-2026-google-webmaster-report-42185.html
- https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-secures-fairer-deal-for-publishers-and-improves-google-search-services-in-uk