{"id":9456,"date":"2026-06-06T22:13:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T14:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/?p=9456"},"modified":"2026-06-06T22:13:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T14:13:19","slug":"google-gives-sites-ai-search-opt-out-but-not-the-data-to-use-it-via-sejournal-mattgsouthern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/?p=9456","title":{"rendered":"Google Gives Sites AI Search Opt-Out, But Not The Data To Use It via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p> <div id=\"narrow-cont\"> <p>Some websites can now opt out of Google\u2019s AI search features without losing their place in standard search results. The UK\u2019s Competition and Markets Authority imposed a conduct requirement this week, and Google began testing its own Search Console toggle the same day.<\/p> <p>The real question is whether there\u2019s enough information to make a decision. Google\u2019s new AI performance reports in Search Console show impressions but not clicks. The CMA\u2019s interpretive notes, published alongside the conduct requirement, say Google should also provide click-throughs, click-through rates, and data separated from organic search. That data isn\u2019t in the reports yet.<\/p> <h2>How We Got Here<\/h2> <p>The CMA designated Google as having strategic market status in the UK search in October. In January, it opened a consultation on conduct requirements. That same day, Google said it was \u201cexploring updates\u201d to let sites opt out of Search generative AI features. By March, Google\u2019s response to the consultation had changed the language from \u201cexploring\u201d to \u201cdeveloping.\u201d<\/p> <p><iframe class=\"sej-iframe-auto-height\" id=\"in-content-iframe\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/wp-json\/sscats\/v2\/tk\/Middle_Post_Text\"><\/iframe><\/p> <p>Before this week, there wasn\u2019t a simple way to keep website content out of AI Overviews. A tag called Google-Extended lets sites opt out of AI model training and grounding, but the content could still appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. There\u2019s also the nosnippet tag that affects AI Overviews and AI search at the same time. You couldn\u2019t opt out of one without losing the other.<\/p> <p>In May, Google introduced AI search changes at I\/O. The CMA\u2019s final decision says it will \u201cactively monitor\u201d those changes. In June, the conduct requirement was imposed, and Google was testing its own Search Console controls with a subset of UK website owners.<\/p> <p>Google hasn\u2019t stated whether the Search Console toggle is intended to satisfy the CMA requirement. The company says it\u2019s engaging with regulators like the CMA and testing the feature first with UK websites. That makes the UK the first market where both a regulatory requirement and a voluntary platform control for AI search are live at the same time.<\/p> <h2>What Arrived This Week<\/h2> <p>Three separate changes arrived this week.<\/p> <p>The CMA\u2019s conduct requirement, a legal obligation, requires Google to let publishers withhold content from AI search features and from AI model training. Google must clearly attribute domains in AI responses with links that let people reach the source. Importantly, it requires Google not to penalize websites that opt out.<\/p> <p>Google\u2019s Search Console toggle, a voluntary product change, lets publishers exclude their sites from AI Overviews, AI Mode, and AI Overviews in Discover at the domain level. Google confirmed it won\u2019t use the opt-out as a ranking signal for standard search. Page-level controls aren\u2019t available yet. The CMA has given Google until March 2027 to implement them.<\/p> <p>Google also started rolling out AI performance reports in Search Console which show how often your pages appeared in AI features, broken down by page and country. Google notes it will add more data over time but hasn\u2019t named what comes next.<\/p> <h2>Where The Data Falls Short<\/h2> <p>The reports don\u2019t yet include all the data the CMA says publishers should receive for informed opt-out decisions.<\/p> <p>The CMA\u2019s interpretive notes list three kinds of data Google should provide. The first is <strong>impressions<\/strong>, showing when a publisher\u2019s content appears in AI features. Google\u2019s reports cover that.<\/p> <p>The second is <strong>engagement<\/strong> data \u201cincluding data on click-throughs to the publisher\u2019s website from links in search generative AI features and a means by which publishers can easily identify those clicks, and therefore assess their \u2018quality.&#8217;\u201d<\/p> <p>The third is <strong>click-through rate<\/strong>, defined as \u201cthe percentage of users who click on a link to that publisher within a Google search generative AI feature.\u201d<\/p> <p>The interpretive notes also say this data should be separated from organic search results and delivered \u201cthrough a commonly accessible platform, such as Google Search Console.\u201d<\/p> <p>Google\u2019s reports currently cover impressions. Click-throughs and CTR aren\u2019t there yet. Whether Google adds click and CTR reporting before the imposed deadline is an open question.<\/p> <p>SEO consultant Aleyda Sol\u00eds noted on LinkedIn that the reports don\u2019t \u201cseem to include prompts \/ topics information or clicks data but \u2026 it\u2019s a start.\u201d Joy Hawkins, owner of Sterling Sky, was more direct on X: \u201cI can only imagine why they wouldn\u2019t include clicks.\u201d<\/p> <p>Glenn Gabe, president of G-Squared Interactive, captured the reaction: \u201cAI reporting coming to GSC! Awesome! No click data. NOT Awesome.\u201d<\/p> <p>This isn\u2019t a new complaint. SEJ has tracked Google adding more links to its AI results without releasing click data. Google VP of Search Liz Reid has described AI Overviews as removing \u201cbounce clicks\u201d rather than useful traffic. Without click data for AI features, publishers can\u2019t test that claim. The difference now is that the missing data sits inside a regulatory process, not just an industry feedback loop.<\/p> <h2>Why This Matters<\/h2> <p>Freelance SEO consultant Natalie Arney connected both announcements on LinkedIn: \u201cOne gives publishers the exit door. The other shows what it would cost to walk through it.\u201d<\/p> <p>That\u2019s the decision publishers face now. The opt-out exists, but the data to evaluate it is incomplete. A publisher that opts out before looking at AI visibility data may be giving up traffic it can\u2019t yet measure. A publisher that stays in has more to learn from the new reports, but it\u2019s working from impressions alone.<\/p> <p>For anyone advising clients, the AI performance reports give the first dedicated view of how a site shows up in AI search responses. That baseline didn\u2019t exist a week ago. Once click data arrives, the picture changes. Agencies may be asked to help clients evaluate AI search participation by market, content type, and what the reports show.<\/p> <p>The CMA\u2019s goal goes beyond the opt-out itself. Its final decision describes the requirement as intended to put publishers \u201cin a stronger position to negotiate content deals with Google.\u201d A publisher with visibility data and a working exit option has more leverage than one locked in with no alternative.<\/p> <p>The CMA\u2019s requirements apply to results shown in the UK. Google is also testing the Search Console controls with UK sites first. But Google has said it plans to roll both out globally. The EU\u2019s Digital Markets Act covers some of the same territory, and the DOJ\u2019s proposed remedy in the US antitrust case included a publisher opt-out provision. How the UK rollout works will inform those conversations.<\/p> <h2>Looking Ahead<\/h2> <p>The conduct rule takes effect immediately, while other obligations start in December. The nine-month implementation for page controls points to early 2027. The CMA will announce further action on Google\u2019s search business in the coming weeks.<\/p> <p>Google\u2019s reports currently cover impressions, but the CMA expects click-throughs and CTR. Whether the reporting catches up in time for publishers to make informed decisions, which will determine how helpful the tool is.<\/p> <p><strong>More Resources:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p> <hr\/> <p><em>Featured Image: <span class=\"MuiBox-root mui-16qd35q-centeredContent-avatarContainer\"><span class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-body1 mui-1w8ttpd-contributorLabel-linkAvatarLabel\">Marijus Auruskevicius<\/span><\/span>\/Shutterstock<\/em><\/p> <\/div> <p>SEO#Google #Sites #Search #OptOut #Data #sejournal #MattGSouthern1780755199<\/p> ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some websites can now opt out of Google\u2019s AI search features without losing their place in standard search results. The UK\u2019s Competition and Markets Authority imposed a conduct requirement this week, and Google began testing its own Search Console toggle the same day. The real question is whether there\u2019s enough information to make a decision. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[450,75,90,37049,95,80,3181],"class_list":["post-9456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accessibility","tag-data","tag-google","tag-mattgsouthern","tag-optout","tag-search","tag-sejournal","tag-sites"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}