Some websites can now disable Google’s AI search features without losing their place in standard search results. The UK Competition and Markets Authority imposed a driving requirement this week, and Google started testing its own Search Console switches over the same day.
The real question is whether we have enough information to make a decision. Google’s new AI performance reports in Search Console show impressions but not clicks. The CMAs interpretative notesreleased alongside the conduct requirement, says Google should also provide clicks, click-through rates and data separate from organic search. This data is not yet included in the reports.
How we got here
The CMA Google designated as having strategic market status in UK search in October. In January, she opened a consultation on driving requirements. The same day, Google said he was “exploring updates” to allow sites to opt out of generative search AI features. In March, Google’s response to the consultation changed the language from “explore” to “develop.”
Before this week, there was no easy way to keep website content out of AI previews. A tag called Google-Extended allows sites to opt out of AI model training and grounding, but content can still appear in AI previews or in AI mode. There is also the nosnippet tag which affects AI previews and AI search simultaneously. You couldn’t walk away from one without losing the other.
In May, Google introduced changes to AI search at the I/O level. The CMAs final decision says it will “actively monitor” these 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 has not indicated whether the Search Console toggle is intended to satisfy CMA requirements. The company says it is engaging with regulators such as the CMA and testing the functionality on UK websites first. This makes the UK the first market where both a regulatory requirement and voluntary platform control for AI research are in force.
What happened this week
Three distinct changes arrived this week.
The CMAs driving requirementa legal requirement, requires Google to allow publishers to opt out of content from AI search features and AI model training. Google must clearly attribute domains in AI responses with links that take users to the source. Importantly, this requires Google not to penalize websites that opt out.
Google’s Search Console toggle, a voluntary product change, allows publishers to exclude their sites from AI Previews, AI Mode, and AI Previews in Discover at the domain level. Google has confirmed that it will not use unsubscribe as a ranking signal for standard search. Page level controls are not yet available. The CMA has given Google until March 2027 to implement them.
Google has also started rolling out AI performance reporting in Search Console, which shows how often your pages appear in AI features, broken down by page and country. Google notes that it will add more data over time, but hasn’t said what happens next.
Where data is insufficient
The reports do not yet include all the data the CMA says publishers should receive for informed opt-out decisions.
The CMAs interpretative notes List three types of data Google should provide. The first is printsindicating when a publisher’s content appears in AI features. Google’s reports cover this.
The second is engagement data “including data on clicks to the publisher’s website from links in search generative AI features and a means by which publishers can easily identify these clicks and therefore assess their “quality”. »
The third is click ratedefined as “the percentage of users who click a link to this publisher in a Google search generative AI feature.”
The interpretive notes also state that this data should be separated from organic search results and provided “through a commonly accessible platform, such as Google Search Console.”
Google’s reporting currently covers impressions. Clicks 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 prompt/topic information or click data, but…it’s a start.” Joy Hawkins, owner of Sterling Sky, was more direct about: “I can only imagine why they wouldn’t include clicks.”
Glenn Gabe, President of G-Squared Interactive, captured the reaction: “AI reports coming to GSC! Great! No click data. NOT great.”
This is not a new complaint. SEJ followed Google add more links to its AI results without disclosing click data. Liz Reid, vice president of search at Google, described AI insights as removing “bounce clicks” rather than useful traffic. Without click data for AI features, publishers cannot test this claim. The difference now is that missing data is part of a regulatory process, not just an industry feedback loop.
Why it matters
Natalie Arney, independent SEO consultant connected the two ads on LinkedIn: “One gives publishers the way out. The other shows what it would cost to get through it.”
This is the decision publishers now face. The opt-out exists, but the data allowing it to be evaluated are incomplete. A publisher who opts out before reviewing AI viewability data risks giving up traffic they can’t yet measure. A remaining editor has more to learn from the new reports, but he only works on impressions.
For anyone advising clients, AI Performance Reports provide the first dedicated view of how a site appears in AI search responses. This baseline didn’t exist a week ago. Once the click data arrives, the image changes. Agencies may be asked to help clients gauge participation in AI research by market, content type and what the reports show.
The CMA’s objective goes beyond the opt-out itself. Its final ruling describes this requirement as intended to put publishers “in a stronger position to negotiate content deals with Google.” A publisher with viewability data and a working exit option has more leverage than a publisher stuck with no alternative.
CMA requirements apply to results presented in the UK. Google is also testing Search Console controls on UK sites first. But Google has announced plans to roll out both globally. European digital markets law covers some of the same territory, and the solution proposed by the Justice Department in the US antitrust case included a publisher opt-out provision. How the UK rollout works will inform these conversations.
Looking to the future
The conduct rule takes effect immediately, while other obligations begin in December. Implementation of the nine-month page control is expected to begin in early 2027. The CMA will announce further measures regarding Google’s search activity in the coming weeks.
Google’s reporting currently covers impressions, but the CMA expects clicks and CTR. Whether reporting catches up in time for editors to make informed decisions will determine the usefulness of the tool.
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