Google now gives every website owner a switch in Search Console that decides whether their content can appear in AI Overviews, AI Mode and the generative AI features in Google Discover. The Search generative AI control was rolled out to all websites worldwide as of 31 August 2026, and on 21 October 2026 Google added it to its official guide to controlling what you share with Google Search.
Here is what the setting does, what it does not do, and how to decide which way to set it.
What the Search generative AI control does
You will find it in Search Console under Settings > Search generative AI. According to Google’s help page, there are three choices:
- Include your site’s links and content in Search generative AI features. This is the default for every property, so if you have never touched it, you are already included.
- Exclude your site’s links and content. Your pages will not be shown or linked in these features, and Google will not use them to “ground” (support) its AI answers there. You also get no impressions or traffic from these features.
- Inherit the setting from a parent property. This is the default when your property sits under a bigger one, for example a blog folder under your main domain.
Google says a change generally takes a few days to apply fully: content is excluded within one to two days after the setting goes live, but caching can make some pages take longer.
What it does not do
The limits matter as much as the switch. Google’s documentation states that:
- It is not a ranking signal for the rest of Search. Excluding your site from AI features should not change your normal blue-link results.
- It does not affect AI training. To limit training of the models behind these features, Google points to a separate robots.txt token called Google-Extended.
- It does not remove you from Search. For that you would still use a noindex rule.
- Content from other sites still appears in AI answers, and Google notes it “may appear similar to yours”. Opting out removes your link, not the topic.
Check your data before you decide
Google pairs the control with the Generative AI performance report, first announced on 3 June 2026 and also available to all sites since 31 August. It shows how often links to your site appeared in AI Overviews and AI Mode, broken down by page, country, device and date. You can also filter text searches from multimodal ones, such as Google Lens or Circle to Search.
If the report does not appear for your property, Google says that usually means your site has not had enough impressions in these features yet, or that you have excluded the site.
Open the report and ask:
- Which of my pages already appear in AI answers, and are they the pages I want people to find?
- Which countries do these impressions come from? A Lahore clinic or a Karachi retailer cares most about searches in Pakistan.
- Do the pages showing up in AI features also earn visits and enquiries in your analytics, or only impressions?
Should you include or exclude your site?
There is no universal answer, and Google’s help page does not recommend either option. A few practical ways to think about it:
Reasons most businesses stay included
For service businesses, local shops and online stores, being linked inside an AI answer is one more place a potential customer can discover you. Excluding means your link disappears from those answers while competitors’ links can still appear. If your goal is enquiries, sales or brand awareness, staying included usually fits.
When excluding might be worth discussing
Publishers whose business depends on people reading full articles, or sites with paid, licensed or sensitive material, may weigh things differently. Even then, look at your own data first and remember that exclusion does not stop training or remove you from regular results.
Watch the inheritance
If your company has several Search Console properties, such as a domain property and a separate one for a blog or a city sub-folder, settings flow down from parent to child unless someone overrides them. Check who owns each property so nobody switches off the whole domain by accident.
A short action checklist
- Open Settings > Search generative AI and confirm what each property is set to.
- Review the Generative AI performance report by page and by country.
- Agree internally who is allowed to change the setting, and note any change with the date.
- If AI training is your concern, review Google-Extended separately; this control will not cover it.
- Keep improving the basics: clear, accurate, helpful pages that answer real questions. Our AI search optimization and answer engine optimization work starts there, supported by solid technical SEO.
Neither choice guarantees visibility. The control simply gives you a say in where your content can appear. If you would like a second opinion on your Search Console data before you decide, get in touch with our team.
Sources
- Search generative AI control, Search Console Help
- Generative AI performance report (Search), Search Console Help
- Introducing Search Generative AI performance reports in Search Console, Google Search Central Blog (3 June 2026)
- Control what you share with Google Search, Google Search Central (updated 21 October 2026)
