Google Gives Sites the Output of Search AI, But Not the Data to Use It
Some websites can now opt out of Google’s AI search features without losing their place in regular search results. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority imposed the conduct requirement this week, and Google began testing its Search Console conversion on the same day.
The real question is whether there is enough information to make a decision. Google’s new AI performance reports in Search Console show impressions but not clicks. The CMA’s explanatory notes, published in accordance with the ethical requirement, state that Google must also provide clicks, click rates, and data disaggregated from organic searches. That data is not in the reports yet.
How We Got Here
The CMA named Google as the UK’s top search strategy market leader in October. In January, it opened a consultation on ethical requirements. On the same day, Google said it is “testing updates” to allow sites to opt out of Search’s artificial intelligence features. In March, Google’s response to the discussion had changed the language from “testing” to “developing.”
Before this week, there was no easy way to keep website content out of AI Overview. A tag called Google-Extended allows sites to opt out of AI model training and support, but content can still appear in AI Overview or AI Mode. There is also a nosnippet tag that affects AI overview and AI search at the same time. You couldn’t get out of one without losing the other.
In May, Google introduced changes to its AI search at I/O. The CMA’s final decision says it will “actively monitor” those changes. In June, a behavioral requirement was put in place, and Google was testing its Search Console controls for a subset of UK website owners.
Google has not stated that the Search Console modification is intended to satisfy the CMA requirement. The company says it is working with regulators such as the CMA and is testing the feature first with UK websites. That makes the UK the first market where both a regulatory requirement and a voluntary platform for AI search are live at the same time.
What arrived this week
Three different changes came this week.
The CMA’s ethical requirement, a legal obligation, requires Google to allow publishers to withhold content from AI search features and AI model training. Google should clearly identify domains in AI responses with links that allow people to access the source. Importantly, it requires Google not to penalize outbound websites.
The Google Search Console modification, a voluntary product modification, allows publishers to expose their sites to AI Overview, AI Mode, and AI Overview in Discover at the domain level. Google has confirmed that it will not use bounce as a ranking signal for regular searches. Page level controls are not currently available. The CMA has given Google until March 2027 to use them.
Google also started releasing AI performance reports in Search Console showing how often your pages appear in AI features, broken down by page and added. Google notes that it will add more data over time but hasn’t said what’s next.
When Data Falls Short
The reports don’t include all the data the CMA says publishers need to make informed exit decisions.
The CMA’s interpretive notes list three types of data that Google must provide. The first one is which appearswhich indicates when the publisher’s content appears in AI features. Google reports includes that.
The second says marriage data “including data on clicks on a publisher’s website from links to AI-generated features of AI and ways publishers can easily identify those clicks, and assess their ‘quality’.
The third says click ratedefined as “the percentage of users who clicked on that publisher’s link within Google’s AI search engine.”
The interpretive notes also state that this data should be separated from organic search results and delivered through a “commonly accessible platform, such as Google Search Console.”
Google reports currently aggregate impressions. Clicks and CTR are not available yet. Whether Google adds clicks and CTR reporting before the deadline is an open question.
SEO consultant Aleyda Solís commented on LinkedIn that the reports “do not seem to include information / topics or click data but … it’s a start.” Joy Hawkins, owner of Sterling Sky, was straight to X: “I’m just wondering why they don’t include clicks.”
Glenn Gabe, president of G-Squared Interactive, captured the response: “AI reporting is coming to GSC! Amazing! No click data. NOT AMAZING.”
This is not a new complaint. SEJ tracked Google adding more links to its AI results without extracting click data. Google’s VP of Search Liz Reid described AI Overview as removing “bounce clicks” from useful traffic. Without click data for AI features, publishers can’t test that claim. The difference now is that the lost data resides within the control process, not just the industry feedback loop.
Why This Matters
Independent SEO consultant Natalie Arney linked both announcements on LinkedIn: “One gives publishers an exit door. The other shows how expensive it can be to walk through.”
That’s the decision publishers face now. The output is there, but the data to analyze it is incomplete. A publisher that opts out before looking at AI impression data may be giving up traffic that they can’t currently measure. The publisher you live in has a lot to learn from new reports, but you only work with what’s coming.
For anyone advising clients, AI performance reports provide a dedicated first impression of how a site appears in AI search results. That foundation was not there last week. When click data arrives, the image changes. Agencies may be asked to help clients evaluate AI search participation by market, type of content, and what the reports show.
The mission of the CMA goes beyond the exit 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 visible data and an active opt-out option has more leverage than one locked out with nothing else.
CMA requirements apply to results shown in the UK. Google is also testing Search Console controls for UK sites first. But Google said it plans to roll out both globally. The EU’s Digital Markets Act covers another similar area, and the DOJ’s proposed remedy in the US antitrust case includes a publisher opt-out provision. How the UK rollout works will inform those discussions.
Looking Forward
The code of conduct takes effect immediately, while other obligations begin in December. The nine-month implementation of the page control points to early 2027. The CMA will announce further action on Google’s search business in the coming weeks.
Google reports currently include impressions, but CMA expects clicks and CTR. Whether the reporting is timely enough for publishers to make informed decisions, will determine how useful the tool is.
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