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What happened
- A report for everyone. Google announced AI reports in Search Console on June 3 and said on August 31 that they had rolled out to all websites worldwide. They show how often your pages appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode, which pages, and in which countries.
- An off switch. A new setting lets a site choose not to appear in Google’s AI features. Google says sites that opt out get no traffic or impressions from those features, and that the choice is not a ranking signal for ordinary results.
- An official rule book. Google’s guide for site owners, last updated July 10, says its AI features run on the same systems as Search. A page is eligible if it is indexed and can show a snippet. No special file, markup or rewriting is required.
- The scale. Google puts AI Overviews at more than 2.5 billion monthly users and AI Mode at more than 1 billion.
Our take
For Google’s AI features, a page needs to be indexed and eligible to show a snippet. Google’s guide does not require a special AI file.
The report still leaves questions for marketers.
- The report counts appearances, not answers. It tells you a page of yours showed up. It does not tell you what the answer said about you, or which competitor it recommended.
- It is one company’s rule book. ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity choose their sources in their own ways. A page that does well in AI Overviews can be missing from all three.
- Other websites matter too. AI answers are built from sources, and many of those sources are other people’s pages. “Still SEO” is a fair description only if your idea of SEO already includes reviews, lists and forums.
Google’s guide also warns site owners to be wary of tools that promise ranking success, and says no outside tool can see its internal systems. That limit applies to Gist too. A scan asks questions and records the answers; it cannot see Google’s internal systems.
What to do this week
- Open Search Console and find the new AI report. Note which pages appear, and which ones you expected to see and don’t.
- Leave the opt-out alone unless you have a specific reason to use it.
- Ask your five most important buying questions in two assistants that are not Google. Compare the names.
Sources
- Announcement of new controls and insights for website owners (updated August 31, 2026). Google, Jun 3, 2026
- Guide to optimizing for generative AI features (updated July 10, 2026). Google Search Central
Questions marketers ask
Should I opt out of Google’s AI features?
For most brands, no. Google says sites that opt out receive no traffic or impressions from its AI features, so you would be leaving the answer to your competitors.
Do I need an llms.txt file?
Not for Google. Its guide says Google Search does not use these files and that having one neither helps nor hurts. See what llms.txt is.