Google Search Console AI performance reports and controls to block your content from AI responses

Google is introducing new Search Generative AI performance reports within the Google Search Console and testing the ability to block your content from appearing in AI Mode and AI Overview by “toggling” within the Search Console.

Search for Productive AI Performance report. Google Search Console, as expected, releases a new report to give you some, but not all, data on how well your content and websites are performing within AI Answers, AI Mode and AI Overview, within Google Search. Reporting includes impressions, pages, countries, devices and dates but does not include click data. Of course, Google won’t tell us how many searchers click on AI answers in Google Search to our sites – no surprise there.

Google said:

• We are also starting to release new information for website owners in the search console about the appearance of their pages in the AI ​​search generating features. This information includes impression metrics and information about which pages appear in AI responses and in which countries. We continue to work with website owners to understand what insights will most help inform their strategies, and will introduce additional metrics over time.

Google shared more details about the metrics you’ll find in this new report, including:

• What appears: How many URLs from your site appear in AI generated features in Search and Discover.
• Pages: Check which URLs appear within AI features.
• Countries: Understand your geographic visibility.
• Devices: Identify the devices people are using when they see your website (available through search results).
• Days: Monitor your performance over time with hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly granularity.

I asked about click data and a Google spokesperson told me, “We continue to work with website owners to understand what data will most help inform their strategies, and we will introduce additional metrics over time.”

This new report is being rolled out to a small set of UK website owners initially and will expand globally at some point in the future.

Here is a screenshot of the report from Google:

For more information on this report, see this Google Help Center document.

AI blocking controls. Google also said it’s adding a “new change” within Google Search Console to allow sites to block their content from showing up in AI search features such as AI Full Check, AI Mode or AI Overview in Discover. Google wrote that, “website owners can decide if they want their site to appear and help base answers on our AI Search generative features.”

Google noted that “exit sites will not receive traffic or impressions from our AI-generated features.” However, this control cannot be used as a search results ranking signal without these AI Search generating features, so it should not negatively affect your site in basic web searches.

Google added that this control belongs to a small group of website owners in the UK. Google will extend access to additional site owners in the future, after sufficient testing has been completed. Google has promised that these controls are coming after some backlash from the EU, so now they are starting to roll out.

Previous research has shown that 1/3rd of SEO can prevent Google from showing their content in AI search features.

UK requirement/law. Google was forced to do this by the UK government, which is why this was released first in the UK only. Google says this will be expanded but right now, it’s only available in the UK. The CMA wrote:

• Google will now have to allow publishers to opt out of allowing their content to be used to ‘correct’ AI models. This gives publishers the confidence that they will be able to control the full range of AI usage scenarios for their content.

Why do we care. Site owners and publishers have been asking for controls over how and when their content is displayed in Google’s AI features since Google launched them a few years ago. Well, now Google is rolling out such a feature to some users today. It’s unclear how soon everyone will get access to these controls, but they should come to everyone eventually.

Also, we’ve been asking Google to report on AI Search since day one too. This is Google’s first step towards that, shortly after Bing Webmaster Tools released its AI performance report. Neither Google nor Bing reports have click data, and we don’t expect them ever to, but for now, at least Bing’s report is global while Google’s report is for UK site owners.