Google gives website owners measurement and control in AI Search
Google added a new AI-specific performance report to Search Console and expanded it to more sites through July 2026. The report shows how often your site appears in generative AI surfaces such as AI Overviews and AI Mode. Owners can also opt their content out of these surfaces, and that choice does not affect standard search ranking.
The first official measurement panel for AI Search
Google announced the "Search Generative AI performance report" for Search Console on June 3, 2026, and first opened it to a limited set of sites. By early July, the report was reported to be appearing for sites in the UK, US, India and Switzerland, expanding gradually to more properties through the month. The report gathers a site's impressions in AI Overviews, AI Mode and the generative AI features in Discover, all in one place. For the first time, businesses can see how much they appear inside AI-generated answers, beyond the classic blue-link results, from an official Google panel.
What the report shows, what the control offers
The report shows impressions, that is how often URLs appeared in generative AI features, and which pages appeared in those answers, broken down by country, device and date. There is one important limit: for now the report does not include click data, so it measures visibility, not how many clicks that visibility produced.
Google also introduced a separate control: site owners can exclude their content from AI Overviews, AI Mode and AI Overviews in Discover. Google began honoring these settings on June 17, 2026, and stresses a critical point: this control will not be used as a ranking signal for standard search results outside these generative AI features. In other words, pulling your content from AI summaries does not lower your classic SEO ranking; but a site that opts out receives no traffic or impressions from those surfaces either. The choice becomes a question of balance.
The metric of search is shifting from ranking to visibility
For years, the measure of SEO was the question "what position am I in the search results." Generative AI surfaces change that equation: the user now often gets the answer inside the summary, without clicking a single link. Google's report gives businesses, for the first time, a way to measure "how much do I appear in AI answers." Those who cannot see where their visibility has moved optimize blindly. The control side is strategic too: a publisher that does not want to feed its content to AI is offered a way out without risking its classic ranking. Both point to the same reality: AI search is a new channel that must be measured and managed.
What it means for businesses in Türkiye
In Türkiye, many businesses still read their traffic only through classic ranking and clicks. Yet AI summaries are spreading in Turkish queries too, and the "zero-click" pattern, where the user gets the answer without visiting the page, is growing. Businesses that watch this report will understand early whether their brand appears in AI answers; those who structure their content to be cited in these surfaces will pull ahead. Industry analyses point to a clear visibility and trust advantage for pages that AI cites as a source. In short, the goal is no longer only to climb the rankings, but to be present inside the answer the AI gives.
The UNALSOFT take
We call this GEO (generative engine optimization), and we have been working this layer for a while: structured data, clear answer-first content and a machine-readable page architecture. In our web design and SEO work we build pages that both people and AI can understand; the goal is not only to rank, but to appear inside the AI's answer. Google's new report means this work is finally measurable, and what can be measured can be managed.
The center of search is moving, the prepared stay visible.
Let's plan how to measure and strengthen your site's visibility in AI search together.