In June 2026, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ruled that publishers should have more control over whether their content can be used in Google’s AI search experiences. Google responded by introducing a new control in Search Console for a subset of UK site owners, allowing them to prevent their content from appearing in Google’s AI Overviews, AI Mode and AI Overviews in Discover. The setting lets publishers opt out of having the content used as links or as grounding material for AI-generated responses. Sites that choose to opt out won’t receive impressions or traffic from these AI features.
Now, the functionality appears to be expanding outside of the UK. Website owners in countries including the US have reported seeing the same controls in Google Search Console, with the feature appearing on some .com properties as well, so it’s possible that these publisher controls may soon become available more widely.
What Is Search Generative AI Controls?
Search Generative AI Controls allows website owners to decide whether their content can appear in Google’s AI search experiences. Within Google Search Console, there are three available settings:
- Include my site’s links and content in Search generative AI features – Your content can be surfaced in AI features, including as links and to help ground AI-generated responses. This is the default setting.
- Exclude my site’s links and content from Search generative AI features – Your content won’t appear as links within AI features or be used to help generate AI responses. As a result, your site won’t receive impressions or traffic from these AI experiences.
- Inherit control from parent – If your property in Google Search Console belongs to a parent property, it’ll automatically follow the parent setting. This can be overridden if we want to configure an individual property separately.
Google has also introduced a Generative AI performance report in Search Console, which allows us to measure how content performs across AI search experiences. This report helps businesses understand how much visibility these AI features generate before making any decisions about opting out. If you toggle your AI controls off, Google says it typically takes a few days for the change to take effect. Most content is removed from applicable AI features within one to two days, although some pages may take longer as the update works its way through Google’s systems.
What Happens If You Exclude Your Site From Google’s Generative AI?
Toggling off this setting only affects Google’s generative AI search features. Your pages can still rank in traditional Google Search, and the setting doesn’t act as a ranking signal for your website. However, your content will no longer appear as citations or links inside AI-generated responses. Google also won’t use your pages to help generate those responses. Other publishers’ content will remain eligible, so your competitors may become more visible in AI experiences if they stay opted in.
It’s also worth noting that this setting doesn’t prevent Google from using your website to improve Search overall. Google can still crawl your content to understand language and search intent across the web. It also doesn’t affect services you’re using, such as Google Ads or Merchant Centre, and it isn’t connected to Google’s AI model training.
Why This Update to AI Controls Is Important for Businesses and Brands
This is one of the first significant controls website owners have been given over how their content appears in Google’s AI-powered search experiences. As AI Overviews and AI Mode continue to expand, businesses now have a decision to make. Opting out of Google’s AI experiences may or may not be the right move for you.
AI-generated search is a key source of visibility, and not including your site’s content means missing out on valuable impressions and potential traffic. Unless you have specific commercial or publishing reasons to opt out of Google’s AI features, remaining opted in is likely the best move. However, having this choice is important. With the new Generative AI performance report, we can measure the exposure AI features generate to inform your decision.
The Final Word
The rollout of Search Generative AI controls beyond the UK marks another important step in the way search is changing. Brands and businesses are being given more transparency and control over how their content appears in Google’s AI experiences, while also gaining better reporting on the impact those features are having. However, your decisions shouldn’t be limited to whether to opt in or not. It’s an opportunity to evaluate how AI search fits into your wider SEO and GEO strategy and to understand where your audience is finding you.
If you want to understand how Google’s latest changes could affect your organic visibility, we’d love to help. Get in touch to start the conversation.