Google has completed the global rollout of two Search Console features that change how publishers and marketers measure and control their presence in Google’s generative AI search experiences. As of August 31, 2026, every Search Console account can access an AI performance report that tracks impressions in AI responses and a site-level toggle that blocks a site from being used to “help ground responses” in AI Mode and AI Overviews.

What Google released

The AI performance report surfaces how a site’s content appears inside Google’s generative AI features — specifically AI responses, AI Mode and AI Overviews. It reports impressions by page, country, device and date, but it does not include click data.

Separately, Search Console now includes a site-level opt-out toggle. Site owners who enable the toggle prevent their content from being used to ground answers in Google’s generative AI features. Google warns that sites that opt out will not receive impressions or traffic from those generative surfaces. The company also says the opt-out will not be used as a ranking signal for traditional, non‑generative search results.

Why this matters

Publishers and brands have pushed for controls since Google introduced generative features. These two additions answer two core needs: visibility and choice. The report gives an attribution signal for AI impressions; the opt-out gives publishers a way to stop their content appearing in generative outputs.

That combination matters because generative AI features can both reduce direct site visits (by providing answers in‑search) and increase brand exposure. The absence of click metrics in the report means the data primarily shows reach, not downstream behavior. Blocking content removes impressions from AI features entirely, so it’s effectively a trade‑off between exposure in generative surfaces and control over how content is reused or summarized.

Practical checklist for publishers and marketers

Use these steps to evaluate the changes and decide a policy for your site.

  • Open Search Console: Inspect the AI performance report to see whether your pages are appearing in AI responses and which pages, countries and devices generate impressions.
  • Treat impressions as a visibility signal: Because the report excludes clicks, pair it with analytics or controlled experiments to determine whether AI impressions translate into meaningful visits or conversions.
  • Decide an opt-out policy: If attribution and direct traffic are priorities, keep content eligible for AI features. If you have legal, brand or contextual concerns about content reuse, consider opting out, knowing this will stop generative-AI impressions for those pages or your site.
  • Segment decisions by content type: News, evergreen explainers, and proprietary data may warrant different treatments. Apply opt-outs selectively rather than a blanket policy if you can.
  • Monitor documentation and updates: Google’s docs are the authoritative source for current behavior. Watch for updates such as added metrics (for example, if click data or finer attribution is later included) or changes to how the opt-out is treated.

Operational considerations

Implementing an opt-out has immediate consequences: impressions and any potential traffic coming via generative features will stop. Organizations should assess current AI impressions (using the new report), model potential traffic loss, and align decisions with commercial priorities like subscriptions, advertising revenue or brand protection.

For teams that keep content eligible, the report enables measurement of AI exposure over time and across markets — useful for content strategy, title/lede testing and prioritizing pages for structured data that might improve grounding quality.

What to watch next

Two changes would materially alter how teams use these tools: the addition of click-through or conversion metrics to the AI performance report, and any shift in how Google treats the opt-out relative to core search ranking. Track both. In the meantime, use the new report to quantify AI visibility, test whether that visibility leads to site engagement, and set a clear, documented policy for opting content in or out.

These Search Console features finally give publishers both a window into — and a measure of control over — how their content participates in Google’s generative experiences. The next step for teams is pragmatic: measure, test, and decide which parts of your inventory benefit from visibility in generative results and which require protection.