Update of 19 October: the AI features can be switched off
Since 31 August there has also been a setting next to the report, according to Google for all websites worldwide. In the Search Console settings, under generative AI features in Google Search, you decide whether content from your site may appear in AI Overviews, in AI Mode and in the AI features of Discover. The default is that it may. If you opt out, Google says you lose exactly what the report measures: you get no traffic or impressions from these features. According to Google the setting has no effect on the rest of Google Search, nor on the training of AI models, which is what Google-Extended is for.
For a local business, opting out is almost never the right choice, because the AI answer sits at the top of many searches. If you do not know who set up your Search Console, it is worth one look at the settings. According to Google a change takes effect within one to two days and can be reversed.
What is new
Google has given Search Console a dedicated area for the AI features of Search. Separately from the usual report, it shows how often URLs from your site appeared in AI Overviews and AI Mode, and in the AI features of Discover. It was announced on 3 June 2026 for a subset of sites; the post now carries a note saying the insights have been rolled out to all websites worldwide since 31 August 2026.
What the report shows
The announcement lists five things: impressions, how often URLs from your site appeared in the AI features. Pages, which URLs those were. Countries and devices, the latter for search results. And dates, from hourly to monthly.
What it does not show
Clicks are not on that list. So you can see that you appeared, not whether anyone came to you because of it. For what happens after the impression, what we have always told clients still holds: a visit arriving from an AI answer on Google lands in your analytics as google.com and cannot be separated there from the rest of your Google traffic.
That is not nitpicking, it is the difference between two questions. "Am I being shown" is answerable from today. "Does it bring me visitors" still is not.
Where to find it
In Search Console under Performance. Beside the familiar report for search results there is now a dedicated view for the AI features. If you have not set up Search Console yet, that is the actual first step, and it costs nothing.
Why this matters for a local business
For many local businesses, Google's AI answer is the largest point of contact with AI search, larger than ChatGPT and Perplexity together, because it sits above the ordinary results without being asked for. Until now you could only guess at it, or ask individual questions by hand. There is now a number, taken from Google's own data, that nobody has to estimate.
One note on expectations: impressions in AI features are often low for small sites, and a zero there is information rather than a fault. It says that during that period none of your pages appeared in an AI answer.