Some websites can now opt out of Google’s AI search features without losing their place in standard search results. The UK Competition and Markets Authority introduced a conduct requirement this week, and Google began testing its own Search Console switch 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 interpretive comments, published alongside the behavioral requirements, said 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
In October, the CMA classified Google as a company with strategic market status in UK search. In January it opened a consultation on behavioral requirements. On the same day, Google said it was reviewing “updates” to allow sites to disable search generative AI features. By March, Google had changed the wording from “explore” to “develop” in its response to the consultation.
Before this week, there was no easy way to keep website content out of AI overviews. A tag called “Google-Extended” allows websites to disable training and blocking of AI models, but the content can still be viewed in AI overviews or AI mode. There is also the nosnippet tag, which affects AI overviews and AI search at the same time. You couldn’t unsubscribe from one without losing the other.
In May, Google introduced changes to AI search at I/O. The CMA’s final decision says it will “actively monitor” these changes. In June, the conduct requirement was introduced and Google tested its own Search Console controls with a subset of UK website owners.
Google has not specified whether the Search Console toggle is intended to comply with the CMA requirement. The company says it is working with regulators such as the CMA and is initially testing the feature on UK websites. This makes the UK the first market to have both a regulatory requirement and voluntary platform control for AI search.
What arrived this week
Three separate changes arrived this week.
The CMA’s Conduct Requirement, a legal obligation, requires Google to allow publishers to withhold content from AI search and AI model training. Google needs to clearly map domains in AI responses with links that can take users to the source. Importantly, Google is not allowed to penalize websites that opt out.
Google’s Search Console switch, a voluntary product change, allows publishers to exclude their sites from AI Summaries, AI Mode, and AI Summaries in Discover at the domain level. Google has confirmed that the opt-out will not be used as a ranking signal for standard search. Page-level controls are not yet available. The CMA has given Google until March 2027 to implement this.
Google has also started rolling out AI performance reports in Search Console that show how often your pages were viewed in AI features, broken down by page and country. Google notes that more data will be added over time, but hasn’t said what’s coming next.
Where the data falls short
The reports do not yet contain all the data the CMA says publishers should receive to make informed opt-out decisions.
The CMA’s interpretation notes list three types of data that Google should provide. The first is Impressionswhich shows 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 those clicks and therefore assess their ‘quality’.”
The third is Click ratedefined as “the percentage of users who click on a link to this publisher within a generative AI feature of Google Search.”
The Interpretative Notes also state that this data should be separated from organic search results and made available “via a generally accessible platform such as Google Search Console.”
Google’s reports are currently based on impressions. Click rates and CTR have not yet been reached. Whether Google will add click and CTR reports before the deadline is an open question.
SEO consultant Aleyda Solís noted on LinkedIn that the reports “do not appear to contain prompts/topic information or click data, but… it’s a start.” Joy Hawkins, owner of Sterling Sky, was more blunt with X: “I can only imagine why they don’t have any 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 observed Google adding more links to its AI results without publishing click data. Liz Reid, Google vice president of search, has described how AI overviews remove “bounce clicks” rather than useful traffic. Without AI click data, publishers cannot verify this claim. The difference now is that the missing data flows into a regulatory process and not just an industry feedback loop.
Why this is important
Freelance SEO consultant Natalie Arney linked both announcements on LinkedIn: “One gives publishers a way out. The other shows what it would cost to walk through that door.”
That is the decision publishers now face. The opt-out exists, but the data for evaluation is incomplete. A publisher who opts out before looking at AI viewability data may be giving up traffic they can’t yet measure. A publisher that sticks with it can learn more from the new reports, but they are only working with impressions.
For anyone advising clients, AI Performance Reports provide the first dedicated overview of how a website appears in AI search responses. This baseline did not exist a week ago. As soon as click data arrives, the picture changes. Agencies may be asked to help clients evaluate participation in AI search by market, content type, and reports.
The aim of the CMA goes beyond the opt-out itself. The 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 influence than a publisher without an alternative.
The CMA’s requirements apply to results displayed in the UK. Google is also initially testing Search Console controls with UK sites. But Google has announced plans to roll out both globally. The EU’s Digital Markets Act covers part of the same territory, and the DOJ’s proposed remedy in the US antitrust case included an opt-out clause for publishers. The way the UK rollout works will influence these conversations.
Looking ahead
The code of conduct takes effect immediately, while other obligations begin in December. The nine-month implementation of the site controls points to the beginning of 2027. The CMA will announce further action on Google’s search business in the coming weeks.
Google’s reports are currently based on impressions, but the CMA expects clicks and CTR. Whether reporting occurs in a timely manner so that publishers can make informed decisions determines how useful the tool is.
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