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Google has announced new performance reports in their Search Console platform, specifically focusing on Search Generative AI. This includes a toggle feature that allows site owners to opt out of having their content appear in AI-generated responses. Currently, this option is available only to a small group of UK site owners, but broader international rollout is anticipated. Notably, these reports do not include click data, which many had perhaps expected.
The reason the UK is first is due to legal requirements imposed by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, which mandated Google to provide publishers with the ability to exclude their content from AI training processes. This regulation aims to give publishers more control over how their content is used for AI purposes.
The new Search Generative AI performance reports show various metrics, excluding clicks: impressions (how often your URLs are featured in AI responses), specific pages involved, geographic visibility, device type, and performance over different time intervals like hourly or monthly. The data appears to start from May 18, 2023. While the reports are informative about visibility and distribution, they do not deliver click statistics. A Google spokesperson mentioned that the company is still working with website owners to determine which insights will be most useful and plans to introduce additional metrics over time.
Visual examples of the reports reveal details about how often and where a website’s content appears within AI features. Additionally, there’s a screenshot showcasing the AI performance report from a user on X, illustrating how the data is presented.
Google is also introducing a control feature that allows UK site owners to prevent their content from appearing in AI features like AI Overviews or grounding in Discover. Activating this toggle means the site’s content will not be used in AI response generation and will not generate traffic or impressions from these AI features. Importantly, using this blocking control will not influence the site’s ranking in traditional search results outside of AI-specific features.
Google emphasized that the control feature is still in testing, with a scheduled full implementation set for June 17, 2023. The rollout is currently limited, and no timeline has been provided for expansion. According to initial surveys of SEO professionals, about a third would consider blocking their content from AI features, but many may opt not to.
Screenshots demonstrate the UI for these blocking controls, currently accessible only to a select group of UK site owners. Full deployment to additional regions and broader audiences is expected in the future, with the caveat that current reports do not include click data. Under UK regulations, Google has approximately nine months to complete the full roll-out to all eligible sites in the region.
This development is viewed positively as a protective step for publishers, enabling greater control over their content within AI ecosystems.
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