The European Commission has sent preliminary findings to Google proposing ways to share search data with rival search engines, including AI chatbots that qualify as online search engines under the DMA, across the EU and EEA.
Under the proposal, Google must share four categories of anonymous data on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms.
These are the sections level, the question, clickagain look data. The Commission says the goal is to allow third-party search engines to “improve their search services and replace Google Search.”
The measures are not binding. Public consultation is open until May, and the final decision should come out on July 27.
What’s on offer
The Commission’s proposed measures cover six areas:
- Eligibility criteria for data beneficiaries, including AI chatbots with search capabilities
- The level of search data that Google is required to share
- Methods and intervals for sharing data
- Anonymity standards for personal data
- Guidelines for determining FRAND rates
- Procedures for how beneficiaries access data
The data will be available to third parties operating search engines in the EEA, including chat AI providers that qualify as such.
This Article 6(11) continues following the opening of the Commission on January 27. A separate section of Article 6(7) deals with the interaction of Android with third party AI. Both aim to transform the DMA’s broad obligations into specific, enforceable rules.
AI Chatbots Are Eligible
The eligibility criteria for qualified AI chatbots is what changes the picture of AI search visibility.
Under the proposal, AI chatbots that meet the DMA’s definition of online search engines can access Google’s anonymized search data. Qualified AI search products may use this data to improve their retrieval and ranking systems.
The proposed measures specify data sharing methods, frequency, access, and pricing, with technical specifications to be finalized.
Google Goes Back
Google disputed the proposal in a statement provided to multiple outlets. Clare Kelly, Senior Competitive Counsel at Google, in a statement posted to Engadget:
“Hundreds of millions of Europeans trust Google with their most sensitive searches – including confidential questions about their health, family, and finances – and the Commission’s proposal will force us to provide this data to third parties, with dangerously ineffective privacy protections. We will continue to strongly defend this enforcement, which goes far beyond the DMA’s first order which threatens people’s privacy and security.”
Google also told the Register that the investigation appears to be conducted “at least in part by OpenAI,” which it says “seeks to take advantage of DMA to harvest data from Google in ways that DMA’s architects did not anticipate.”
This company is fighting in many DMA areas. Brussels submitted findings for the first time in 2025 in a separate Article 6(5) discretionary case. In February, Google began testing search results changes in the EU to deal with this.
Why This Matters
The measures are provisional and, if adopted, apply only to the EEA. The anonymity and pricing details remain open through the May consultation.
The long-term issue is whether the validity of the AI chatbot survives the final decision in July.
If the EU proposal is accepted on the merits of AI chatbots, relevant products serving EU/EEA users can access anonymous signals from Google searches.
The proposal doesn’t give AI chatbots access to Google’s index but instead allows access to data like the one Alphabet uses to improve its search services, which is different from current sources of AI search data.
Looking Forward
The public consultation closes on May 1, and the Commission will assess feedback before making a final, binding decision on July 27, which will apply to Google.
These procedures do not include detection of non-compliance, but separate DMA enforcement can include fines of up to 10% of global turnover. The next milestone for AI visualization practitioners is the consultation effect.
If the Commission upholds the validity of AI chatbots, the focus shifts to how quickly data sharing systems allow AI tools to compete for citation visibility.
Featured Image: Samuel Boivin/Shutterstock
