Google tests AI search reports, visibility toggle in UK

Image credit: Search Engine Journal

Google began testing new Search Console features in the United Kingdom this week, introducing an AI visibility toggle and dedicated performance reports for generative AI search results.

These tools aim to provide website owners with greater control and insight into how their content appears within Google‘s expanding suite of generative AI features, such as AI Overviews and AI Mode.

The new AI visibility toggle allows site owners to specify whether their content can be included in generative AI Search features, Google said. This setting will not influence a site’s ranking in traditional search results.

Alongside the toggle, Google is rolling out new performance reports designed to track impressions for URLs appearing in generative AI features across both Search and Discover. These reports offer data broken down by page, country, device, and date, with hourly granularity.

John Mueller, a Search Advocate at Google, confirmed the initial rollout to a select group of websites in the United Kingdom. Google plans to expand these features globally following the conclusion of the testing phase.

The initial iteration of the performance reports currently omits click data and query-level metrics. Google stated that it intends to add these functionalities over time, based on feedback from website owners.

Competitor Microsoft already provides similar tools through Bing Webmaster Tools. Its AI Performance dashboard includes features like grounding query-to-page mapping and Citation Share, SEJ reported.

Google’s introduction of these features highlights the company’s ongoing efforts to integrate generative AI into its core search experience while offering publishers tools to manage their presence.

Source: Search Engine Journal