For two years, AI search has operated like a black box for the businesses we work with. Everyone could see AI Overviews growing in Google search results. Click-through rates were shifting too, and nobody could say exactly why. Nobody had first-party data showing what was happening inside those AI features. That changed on June 3, 2026, when Google rolled out a dedicated Generative AI performance report inside Search Console.
This is a meaningful shift for how we think about GEO vs. AEO with our clients. The new report finally gives us a way to measure that difference instead of guessing at it, which is exactly the kind of visibility we have been waiting for.
Here is what the report shows, what it still leaves out, and what we recommend doing with it before every business has access.
What Google Actually Launched with the Search Console AI Overview Report
The Google Search Console AI Overview report gives site owners a dedicated view of how their content shows up inside AI Overviews, AI Mode, and AI features in Discover. Before this, any traffic or impressions from those features got folded into the regular Performance report with no way to pull them apart.
The report breaks the data down across five dimensions: impressions, pages, countries, devices, and dates. You can see which URLs got cited, where in the world those citations happened, and how the pattern changes over time.
The rollout started with a subset of UK-based site owners, tied to a mandate from the UK Competition and Markets Authority under the Digital Markets Act. A global rollout is planned, but Google has not given a firm date. If your Search Console does not show this yet, it is coming.
Google also added an opt-out toggle that lets a site block its content from AI features entirely. We will get into who should consider that later in this post.
The Missing Piece: No Click Data Yet
Here is the catch. The report tracks impressions only. No clicks, no CTR, no average position, no query-level breakdown. You can confirm your page got pulled into an AI Overview, but you cannot see whether anyone clicked through to your site because of it.
For a lot of the business owners we talk to, this is the part that stings. You are used to judging performance by clicks and conversions. AI systems are built to answer the question directly on the results page, so click rates from these features are likely lower than what you are used to seeing from traditional listings. An impression does not confirm a visit. It might not produce one at all.
What the Google Search Console AI Overview Data Can and Can’t Tell You
The way we are advising clients to think about this data right now is as a resonance signal, not a traffic signal. A page that earns a lot of AI impressions is a page the model has decided is worth citing. That is useful information even without a click attached to it.
An impression means Google’s system pulled your content in as a grounding source for its answer. That selection reflects the same signals that drive strong traditional rankings: clear structure, factual accuracy, and content that answers the specific question being asked. The pages earning consistent AI impressions are your most citable assets, whether or not that translates into a visit today.
How to Read AI Impressions as a Business Owner
This is where the report starts earning its keep instead of just being interesting to read. AI models do not cite pages at random. They favor content that is structured for direct answers and backed by clear, checkable claims, which is the same foundation behind LLM SEO and the AEO work we already do for clients.
Once you understand what earns a citation, the next step is figuring out which of your own pages are already doing that work and which ones need help.
Cross-Referencing AI Impressions With Organic Clicks
The most useful move is lining up AI impressions against organic clicks from your standard Performance report, page by page. That comparison sorts your content into three groups:
- High AI impressions and high organic clicks: your strongest content, earning traffic and citations at the same time
- High AI impressions and low organic clicks: content that answers the question well enough to get cited but is not generating enough click intent on its own, and deserves a conversion-optimization pass
- Low AI impressions and high organic clicks: traffic that is currently ranking well but increasingly exposed as AI Overviews expand into that query category
That third group is the one we want clients paying closest attention to. Rankings that hold up today can erode fast once an AI Overview starts answering the same query directly on the results page.
Should You Opt Out of AI Search Features?
For almost every business we work with, no. The opt-out toggle carries no ranking penalty. Google confirmed it will not use the setting as a signal for traditional organic search. But opting out also means giving up a visibility channel that is still growing, with nothing gained in return.
There are narrow cases where it makes sense. Publishers with paywalled content or licensing arrangements have real reasons to keep their material out of AI features. Outside of that, using the toggle defensively without a clear reason just means losing ground for no upside.
What NetLZ Recommends Doing with Your Google Search Console AI Overview Data
Start this work now, even before your account shows access to the report.
Set up a separate reporting framework for AI visibility, distinct from your traditional organic reporting. These are two different channels measuring two different behaviors, and treating them as one metric muddies both.
The moment your Search Console account shows the Generative AI section, set your baseline right away. There is no historical data before May 18, 2026, so the sooner you capture your starting point, the more useful your comparisons will be six months from now.
Auditing Your Content for AI Citation Potential
Go through your existing content and flag the pages most likely to earn AI citations: anything that answers a specific question directly, uses clear headers, and states facts that are current and verifiable. Reinforce those pages first, before the report gives you hard data to react to.
If you want a deeper breakdown of what earns a citation in AI Overviews and ChatGPT, we already covered how to rank in AI Overviews in an earlier post, and the fundamentals have not changed with this new reporting.
Questions Our Clients Are Already Asking About This
When will I get access to the AI Overview report in Search Console?
Right now it is limited to a subset of UK-based site owners. Google has confirmed a global rollout is coming but has not shared a timeline.
Can I see which specific queries triggered an AI impression?
Not yet. The report does not include query-level data. This is one of the biggest gaps and may get addressed in a future update.
Does opting out of AI features hurt my rankings?
No. Google has confirmed the opt-out setting does not affect traditional organic search rankings.
Should I treat AI impressions the same way I treat organic impressions?
No. An AI impression means your content was cited inside a generative response, not that a user saw your listing in a standard results format. Click behavior is different, and your reporting should reflect that.
Where This Leaves You Before the Global Rollout
AI search visibility has been growing for two years with no direct way to measure it, and this report finally puts a number on part of that story, even though clicks are still missing. The businesses that build a reporting habit around this data now, before the global rollout makes it standard, will be the ones who already know what is working when the fuller picture arrives. If your team is already tracking AI visibility across social platforms with tools like an AI social media manager, this is the same instinct applied to search. Start pulling your baseline the day your account gets access.
Sources:
- Introducing Search Generative AI performance reports in Search Console – Google for Developers