Google adds an opt-out option to let website owners exclude their sites from AI results

Google has announced that it will add a new opt out control in Search Console, allowing website owners to exclude their domains from the company’s generative AI search results. The control applies specifically to AI Overviews and AI Mode, two of the major generative features in Google Search, letting participating sites decide whether their content can appear in or help shape AI generated responses.

The feature will first be tested with a select group of domain owners in the United Kingdom, following pressure from the UK Competition and Markets Authority. The regulator pushed for the measure due to Google’s strategic status in the search market, with the goal of giving publishers, including news organizations, more leverage in negotiations over content use. Google plans to expand the control globally after the UK pilot.

Sites that opt out will lose impressions and traffic from AI generated results, but Google says their standard Search rankings and visibility outside these AI features will not be affected. The company also clarified that the opt out will not influence regular ranking signals. Search Console will also gain new insights showing which pages appear in AI responses and where they are being surfaced, with more metrics expected as Google continues gathering feedback from webmasters.

The timing of this announcement is notable, as Google recently announced several AI changes to Search as part of a broader shift in how people search beyond traditional queries and toward more complex, AI driven interactions.