Some websites can now opt out of Google’s AI search features without losing their place in standard search results. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority imposed a conduct requirement this week, and Google began testing its own Search Console toggle the same day.
The real question is whether there’s enough information to make a decision. Google’s new AI performance reports in Search Console show impressions but not clicks. The CMA’s interpretive notes, published alongside the conduct requirement, say Google should also provide click-throughs, click-through rates, and data separated from organic search. That data isn’t in the reports yet.
How We Got Here
The CMA designated Google as having strategic market status in the UK search in October. In January, it opened a consultation on conduct requirements. That same day, Google said it was “exploring updates” to let sites opt out of Search generative AI features. By March, Google’s response to the consultation had changed the language from “exploring” to “developing.”
Before this week, there wasn’t a simple way to keep website content out of AI Overviews. A tag called Google-Extended lets sites opt out of AI model training and grounding, but the content could still appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. There’s also the nosnippet tag that affects AI Overviews and AI search at the same time. You couldn’t opt out of one without losing the other.
In May, Google introduced AI search changes at I/O. The CMA’s final decision says it will “actively monitor” those changes. In June, the conduct requirement was imposed, and Google was testing its own Search Console controls with a subset of UK website owners.
Google hasn’t stated whether the Search Console toggle is intended to satisfy the CMA requirement. The company says it’s engaging with regulators like the CMA and testing the feature first with UK websites. That makes the UK the first market where both a regulatory requirement and a voluntary platform control for AI search are live at the same time.
What Arrived This Week
Three separate changes arrived this week.
The CMA’s conduct requirement, a legal obligation, requires Google to let publishers withhold content from AI search features and from AI model training. Google must clearly attribute domains in AI responses with links that let people reach the source. Importantly, it requires Google not to penalize websites that opt out.
Google’s Search Console toggle, a voluntary product change, lets publishers exclude their sites from AI Overviews, AI Mode, and AI Overviews in Discover at the domain level. Google confirmed it won’t use the opt-out as a ranking signal for standard search. Page-level controls aren’t available yet. The CMA has given Google until March 2027 to implement them.
Google also started rolling out AI performance reports in Search Console which show how often your pages appeared in AI features, broken down by page and country. Google notes it will add more data over time but hasn’t named what comes next.
Where The Data Falls Short
The reports don’t yet include all the data the CMA says publishers should receive for informed opt-out decisions.
The CMA’s interpretive notes list three kinds of data Google should provide. The first is impressions, showing when a publisher’s content appears in AI features. Google’s reports cover that.
The second is engagement data “including data on click-throughs to the publisher’s website from links in search generative AI features and a means by which publishers can easily identify those clicks, and therefore assess their ‘quality.'”
The third is click-through rate, defined as “the percentage of users who click on a link to that publisher within a Google search generative AI feature.”
The interpretive notes also say this data should be separated from organic search results and delivered “through a commonly accessible platform, such as Google Search Console.”
Google’s reports currently cover impressions. Click-throughs and CTR aren’t there yet. Whether Google adds click and CTR reporting before the imposed deadline is an open question.
SEO consultant Aleyda Solís noted on LinkedIn that the reports don’t “seem to include prompts / topics information or clicks data but … it’s a start.” Joy Hawkins, owner of Sterling Sky, was more direct on X: “I can only imagine why they wouldn’t include clicks.”
Glenn Gabe, president of G-Squared Interactive, captured the reaction: “AI reporting coming to GSC! Awesome! No click data. NOT Awesome.”
This isn’t a new complaint. SEJ has tracked Google adding more links to its AI results without releasing click data. Google VP of Search Liz Reid has described AI Overviews as removing “bounce clicks” rather than useful traffic. Without click data for AI features, publishers can’t test that claim. The difference now is that the missing data sits inside a regulatory process, not just an industry feedback loop.
Why This Matters
Freelance SEO consultant Natalie Arney connected both announcements on LinkedIn: “One gives publishers the exit door. The other shows what it would cost to walk through it.”
That’s the decision publishers face now. The opt-out exists, but the data to evaluate it is incomplete. A publisher that opts out before looking at AI visibility data may be giving up traffic it can’t yet measure. A publisher that stays in has more to learn from the new reports, but it’s working from impressions alone.
For anyone advising clients, the AI performance reports give the first dedicated view of how a site shows up in AI search responses. That baseline didn’t exist a week ago. Once click data arrives, the picture changes. Agencies may be asked to help clients evaluate AI search participation by market, content type, and what the reports show.
The CMA’s goal goes beyond the opt-out itself. Its final decision describes the requirement as intended to put publishers “in a stronger position to negotiate content deals with Google.” A publisher with visibility data and a working exit option has more leverage than one locked in with no alternative.
The CMA’s requirements apply to results shown in the UK. Google is also testing the Search Console controls with UK sites first. But Google has said it plans to roll both out globally. The EU’s Digital Markets Act covers some of the same territory, and the DOJ’s proposed remedy in the US antitrust case included a publisher opt-out provision. How the UK rollout works will inform those conversations.
Looking Ahead
The conduct rule takes effect immediately, while other obligations start in December. The nine-month implementation for page controls points to early 2027. The CMA will announce further action on Google’s search business in the coming weeks.
Google’s reports currently cover impressions, but the CMA expects click-throughs and CTR. Whether the reporting catches up in time for publishers to make informed decisions, which will determine how helpful the tool is.
More Resources:
- Google Must Let Websites Opt Out Of AI Search Features In UK
- Google Adds More AI Search Links, Still No Click Data For SEOs — the measurement gap story this deep dive builds on
- Google Pushes ‘Bounce Clicks’ Explanation For AI Overview Traffic Loss
- Google Tests Dedicated AI Search Reports In Search Console
Featured Image: Marijus Auruskevicius/Shutterstock
