Google will let websites opt-out of AI Mode & Overviews in Search

June 2, 2026

Google announced today that it will let publishers determine whether their websites appear and are used by AI Mode and AI Overviews, independently of regular Search results.

Google is introducing a new opt-out toggle in the Search Console tool to determine whether a site appears in and is used to help ground generative AI Search features.

Sites that opt out will not receive traffic or impressions from AI Overviews, AI Mode, or AI Overviews in Google Discover, but will otherwise continue to appear in regular Google Search results and the Discover feed.

This setting only applies to those Google Search products, with the Gemini app excluded.

Google says that a site’s use of this opt-out will not impact its appearance in regular Search. Specifically, this control won’t be used as a ranking signal.

Additionally, Google is giving website publishers new generative AI Search stats in Search Console. Insights include impressions metrics, which pages appear in AI responses, and in what countries.

Google reiterated today that AI Overviews now has over 2.5 billion monthly active users, while AI Mode has over 1 billion monthly users. It’s also increasing the number of links that appear within AI results.

This new control and metrics are beginning to roll out for a “subset” of website owners in the UK to allow for “thorough testing before rolling them out to website owners globally.”

UK Regulatory Context (BBC News, June 3, 2026)

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that online publishers can choose not to appear in AI Overviews of Google search results in the UK. The CMA said this would “put publishers, like news organisations, in a stronger position to negotiate content deals with Google.”

Sites that opt out will not receive traffic or impressions from generative AI results but withdrawing from AI search features would not affect ranking in main search results.

The CMA said Google must properly attribute publishers’ content which appears in its AI search results, with clear links to their sites. If a publisher opts out, the CMA says this gives them leverage to negotiate their own deals to be paid for content the AI uses.

Google has nine months to bring all changes in, but the CMA wants “important parts” implemented earlier. During testing, site owners can configure the Search Generative AI control before it takes effect on June 17, 2026.

CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell called this a “world-first requirement,” adding it would result in “fair treatment, greater transparency and meaningful choice for businesses and consumers.”

The requirement stems from UK government pressure in January 2026 to force Google to implement an opt-out measure to “provide a fairer deal for content publishers, particularly news organizations.”