Google is rolling out a new Search Console setting that allows website owners to exclude their content from AI Overviews, AI Mode, and Discover’s generative AI features without removing their content from traditional Search.
The new control gives website owners a choice that was previously unavailable.
However, deciding whether to opt out is not simple.
New tracking data from NewzDash suggests that traditional search features, including Top Stories carousels, are appearing inside AI Overviews. If opting out removes websites from AI features, it could also affect visibility in placements that were not originally considered AI features.
Here’s what the new Google AI search opt-out control does, how it works, and what businesses should consider before using it.
What Is Google’s Search Generative AI Control?
The Search generative AI control is a new setting inside Google Search Console.
Google is rolling it out to a subset of website owners, meaning it is not available in every Search Console account yet.
The setting provides two choices:
Include Your Website
When a website is included:
- Content can appear as links in AI Overviews, AI Mode, and Discover’s generative AI features.
- Content can help ground AI responses.
- Websites can receive whatever impressions and traffic those features generate.
Exclude Your Website
When a website is excluded:
- Content is removed from AI Overviews.
- Content is removed from AI Mode.
- Content is removed from Discover’s generative AI features.
- Links are also removed from those AI features.
Google said it would begin respecting these changes on June 17.
After changes are processed, content should generally disappear from AI features within one to two days, although caching may delay the process.
Does Google AI Opt-Out Affect Search Rankings?
According to Google, the Search generative AI control:
- Is not a ranking signal.
- Is not an inclusion signal elsewhere in Search.
Using the setting should not affect regular Search results.
The control also does not override separate decisions made through:
- Merchant Center
- Google Ads
Shopping participation remains a separate choice.
The setting also does not affect AI training, which uses a different control.
Before this update, website owners could not specifically remove their content from Google’s AI features while keeping it available in Search.
Existing controls were designed before AI Overviews existed.
These included:
- Robots.txt
- Noindex
- Snippet directives
However, these options did not separate generative AI features from traditional Search.
For example, using Nosnippet removes content from AI Overviews, but it also removes traditional snippets.
Google acknowledged this limitation in January when it said it was exploring ways to allow websites to opt out of AI features.
Google-Extended vs Search Generative AI Control: What’s the Difference?
Google-Extended addressed a different part of content control.
Google-Extended controls whether crawled content can be used for:
- Training future Gemini models that power Gemini Apps and the Vertex AI API for Gemini.
- Grounding in Gemini Apps.
- Grounding with Google Search on Vertex AI.
However, Google-Extended:
- Does not control whether content appears in AI Overviews.
- Does not control whether content appears in AI Mode.
- Is not a ranking signal.
- Does not affect Search inclusion.
The new Search Console control specifically focuses on removing websites from Google’s AI search features.
How the Google AI Opt-Out Control Developed
The AI opt-out option developed alongside regulatory discussions.
In January, Google announced it was exploring ways to allow websites to opt out of AI features.
At the same time, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) opened a consultation about requiring AI opt-outs.
In June, the CMA introduced a conduct requirement requiring Google to give websites more control over how their content is used in generative AI.
Google began testing the toggle with UK properties during the same week.
The control later began appearing on accounts outside the UK in July.
Why Top Stories Inside AI Overviews Creates New Questions
Google treats AI features and traditional Search results as separate systems.
However, search features do not always appear separately.
NewzDash tracking found that Top Stories carousels were appearing inside AI Overviews for U.S. trending news results.
John Shehata, CEO and founder of NewzDash and GDdash, reported:
“Nearly 1 in 6 U.S. trending news queries now place Top Stories inside AI Overviews.”
The reported figures:
- 15.5% in the U.S.
- 17.46% in the UK
However, these percentages apply only to tracked results where Google displayed Top Stories. They do not represent all queries tracked by NewzDash.
NewzDash also found that embedded Top Stories carousels and standalone Top Stories versions did not appear together.
Will Opting Out Remove Top Stories Visibility?
This remains unclear.
Shehata suggested that using Google’s Search Console AI opt-out would likely remove publishers from Top Stories appearing inside AI Overviews.
However:
- Google has not officially confirmed this.
- Google’s help documentation does not explain how the control handles traditional features displayed inside AI features.
If this interpretation is correct, opting out could remove websites from placements that were not originally identified as AI features.
What Businesses Should Check Before Opting Out
Before changing the Search Console setting, businesses should evaluate three areas:
1. Current AI Search Visibility
Google’s generative AI performance report is rolling out to a subset of accounts.
The report shows AI feature impressions by:
It combines data from:
However, the report currently does not include:
2. Understand Available Data Limitations
Businesses can use broader analytics tools to view:
- Google organic referrals
- Time on site
- Conversions
But these analytics cannot currently identify whether visits came specifically from:
This means businesses do not yet have a complete baseline for measuring AI traffic or conversions before opting out.
The CMA requirement states that Google should provide additional metrics, including:
- Impressions
- Click-through rates
- Click data
These additional measurements are expected to provide more insight into AI search performance.
How AI Opt-Out Decisions May Differ by Business Type
News Publishers
For news publishers, Top Stories visibility may be a major consideration because Top Stories can appear inside AI Overviews.
Opting out could affect those placements if Google’s control removes publishers from those AI surfaces.
Ecommerce Businesses
For ecommerce websites:
- Search AI controls are separate from Merchant Center.
- Search AI controls are separate from Google Ads.
The AI opt-out setting does not override shopping participation decisions.
Other Businesses
Businesses need to evaluate whether appearing in AI search features provides enough value compared with potential traffic changes.
Currently, the data needed to fully measure that tradeoff is not available.
Are Google’s AI Search Controls Enough?
The current Search Console control works at the property level.
More detailed page-level controls for generative Search features are expected by March 2027 under the CMA timeline.
Some researchers have questioned whether opt-out controls provide meaningful choice.
In a recent paper published in the Journal of European Competition Law and Practice, University of Oxford researcher Spencer Cohen and UCL competition-law PhD candidate Todd Davies discussed whether this type of remedy would be sufficient.
Davies wrote:
“We argue that forcing Google to let websites opt-out of appearing in AI Overviews would be ineffective.”
Their argument is that opt-out controls may not:
- Protect publisher business models.
- Create meaningful choice over how content is used.
What’s Coming Next for Google AI Search Controls?
Over the coming year, Google’s AI search controls are expected to expand.
According to the CMA timeline:
- Google must provide click data and click-through rates, with many measures beginning in December.
- More detailed page-level controls are expected by March 2027.
- Google will provide compliance reports every six months during the first year, then annually if regulators are satisfied.
Businesses should continue monitoring:
- Whether Google expands access to more website owners.
- Whether additional reporting becomes available.
- Whether Top Stories appearing inside AI Overviews becomes more widespread.
Final Thoughts
Google’s AI search opt-out introduces a new choice for website owners: remain visible in AI search features or remove content from those experiences while keeping traditional Search visibility.
But the decision comes with unanswered questions.
Businesses currently have limited data to measure the value of AI visibility, and it is still unclear how AI opt-outs may affect features like Top Stories appearing inside AI Overviews.
As Google introduces more reporting and page-level controls, businesses will have more information to evaluate the impact of their decision.
FAQs: Google AI Search Opt-Out
Luv Nagpal