As of August 31, 2026, Google completed the global rollout of AI performance reports inside Search Console. Every business with a Search Console account now has access to impression data from AI Overviews, AI Mode, and generative AI features in Discover, plus a property-level opt-out toggle. There is no click data yet. Here is what that means and what to do about it.

What rolled out on August 31, 2026

The phased rollout began in June 2026 with a select group of UK website owners, partly triggered by a UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) conduct requirement mandating that Google allow sites to opt out of AI search features without penalties in standard results.

Two things are now live for every Search Console account worldwide:

1. AI Performance Reports. These show impressions from AI Overviews, AI Mode, and generative AI features in Discover, broken down by page, country, device, and date. Critical caveat: no click data is included yet. The CMA has pushed Google to add click-through data, but the August 31 update made no mention of it. Sites with insufficient AI impressions may see no report at all.

2. An opt-out toggle. A property-level setting in Search Console Settings lets you block your content from appearing in AI Overviews, AI Mode, and AI Overviews in Discover. Per Search Engine Journal, Google confirms the toggle has no impact on standard search rankings and no effect on AI training (that is governed separately by the Google-Extended control). Sites that opt out receive zero traffic or impressions from those AI surfaces. That is a hard trade-off, not a partial one.

Simultaneously, Google confirmed it is now dynamically expanding AI Overviews for certain queries, per Search Engine Land and SE Roundtable. Instead of showing a snippet with a “Show more” button, the full AI answer loads automatically, the “Ask anything” follow-up box appears by default, and organic blue links are pushed significantly further down the page. SEO practitioner Chris Long described it on X as Google “revealing the AI Mode prompt box BY DEFAULT for some queries.” A Google spokesperson confirmed: “For some queries, AI Overviews may dynamically expand for topics where our systems determine it’s most useful.” Google has not disclosed what percentage of queries are affected or the expansion timeline.

The CMA has also set a March 2027 deadline for Google to introduce page-level (not just property-level) opt-out controls, per Search Engine Journal.

What the AI performance report means by business type

E-commerce (2,000 to 10,000/month ad spend)

Your organic traffic funnel is being restructured from the top. Dynamically expanding AI Overviews will absorb more informational and comparison queries, exactly the mid-funnel content that used to drive product page visits. If your Performance Max campaigns were already cannibalizing branded and high-intent organic traffic, this compounds the problem: fewer organic assists mean paid channels carry more of the attribution weight, inflating apparent CPA.

The AI performance report now gives you the first real data point to quantify this. Pull impressions by page and cross-reference against your GSC Search performance report. If product category pages are generating AI impressions but organic clicks are declining, you have evidence of substitution, and a case to restructure your feed-based campaigns to capture bottom-funnel intent that AI Overviews do not satisfy.

B2B manufacturing and equipment (1,000 to 5,000/month ad spend)

Your queries tend to be narrow, technical, and low-volume. Dynamically expanding AI Overviews are more likely to trigger on broad informational queries than on specific industrial or equipment searches. Your risk is lower in the short term.

That said, the AI performance report is still worth checking. If your technical spec pages or application guides are appearing in AI Overviews, you are generating brand impressions with zero measurable click credit, which matters when justifying content investment to a client with a 6 to 18 month deal cycle. This data also helps you argue for maintaining or increasing paid search budgets on high-intent, narrow keywords that AI is unlikely to answer completely.

Local business and services (under 2,000/month ad spend)

Local and service queries, “plumber near me,” “dentist in [city],” are less frequently targeted by AI Overviews today. Your immediate exposure to the dynamic expansion is the lowest of the three segments. For most local accounts, the AI performance report will either show minimal impressions or no report at all.

The opt-out toggle is essentially irrelevant for you right now. Focus remains on Local Services Ads, call tracking, and review velocity, none of which are affected by this update.

How to act on the AI performance report right now

1. Open Search Console and check for the AI performance report today. Navigate to the new AI section. If it is not visible yet, the rollout notes from Search Engine Journal confirm some properties are still pending. Check again within 7 days.

2. Export AI impressions by page and compare against organic click trends. Build a simple side-by-side: pages gaining AI impressions vs. pages losing organic clicks over the same period. This is your substitution map. It tells you where Google is answering instead of referring.

3. Do not touch the opt-out toggle yet. You have no click data. Opting out removes all AI impressions and any associated traffic with zero ability to measure what you are giving up. Wait until click reporting exists before making that call. The CMA is pushing for it.

4. For e-commerce accounts, audit Performance Max asset groups against pages with high AI impressions. If PMax is bidding on queries where AI Overviews now dominate organically, your paid CPC may be rising to compensate for lost organic assists. Segment and test.

5. For B2B accounts, document AI impression data in client reporting now. This is a new channel metric. Establishing a baseline in September 2026 means you have comparison data when click reporting eventually arrives and when page-level controls launch in March 2027.

Frequently asked questions

Does opting out of AI Overviews in Search Console affect standard Google rankings?
No. Google has confirmed the property-level opt-out toggle has no impact on where your pages rank in standard search results. It only removes your content from AI Overviews, AI Mode, and AI Overviews in Discover. It also has no effect on AI training, which is controlled separately through the Google-Extended setting.

What does the Search Console AI performance report actually show?
It shows impressions your pages receive inside AI Overviews, AI Mode, and generative AI features in Discover, broken down by page, country, device, and date. It does not currently include clicks or click-through rates. Sites with very low AI impression volume may not see a report at all.

When will Google add click data to the AI performance report?
Google has not announced a date. The UK Competition and Markets Authority has pushed Google to include click-through data, but the August 31, 2026 global rollout did not include it. The CMA has a separate March 2027 deadline for Google to introduce page-level opt-out controls, which may coincide with further reporting improvements.

Work with someone who reads the data before it becomes obvious

If you want a structured audit of how AI Overviews are affecting your specific account, organic traffic substitution, paid spend efficiency, feed health, I run paid Search Console and Google Ads audits with concrete numbers, not generic advice. The AI performance report just gave us a new data layer. Let’s use it before your competitors do. Reach out via the contact page.