AI overviews are at the top, the classic blue links are pushed down, and for months, many website operators have been asking themselves: Does my content actually appear in these AI answers, and do I even want it to?
For the first time, there is a real answer to the second question: In the Google Search Console, there is a new setting called “Generative AI in Google Search”. This allows you to decide for yourself whether your website will be included in the generative AI features of Google Search or not.
We will show you where to find the setting, what options you have, and what you should consider before making a change.
What the New Setting Controls Exactly
With the “Generative AI in Google Search” setting, you determine whether your website's links and content may appear in certain generative AI features of Google Search. According to the Search Console Help, Google currently lists three areas that are affected, and explicitly notes that this list may grow over time:
AI Overviews: the AI-generated summaries that appear above the organic results. We described how significantly they are changing search during the German rollout of AI Overviews.
AI Mode: the conversational search experience in which Google consolidates answers from multiple sources.
Generative AI features in Google Discover: AI elements within the Discover feed. (We explain how to enable or disable Google Discover in a separate article.)
If you include your website, your content can appear as a link in these features and help substantiate the AI answers. This can result in impressions and traffic for your website. If you exclude your website, neither links to your pages nor your content will be displayed in these features, and your crawled content will not be used to generate the AI answers. This setting is a visibility lever for the AI features, not a ranking switch.
More on this below in the section on the consequences of an exclusion.
When the Generative AI in Google Search Setting Became Available
Google announced the new control on June 3, 2026, along with its own performance report. The rollout was cautious: Initially, only a portion of website owners received access, starting with a selection of websites in the United Kingdom. Access was gradually expanded over the summer months.
According to Google, the control has been available worldwide for all websites since August 31, 2026, as reported by Search Engine Roundtable, among others. If you do not see the setting yet, it may be because there is not enough data available for your property. A practical note: The German-language help page still notes in some places that the feature is only available to a portion of owners. This is likely due to the translation status, as the worldwide rollout has been confirmed multiple times.
Where to Find the Setting and Who Can Change It
The setting is located in the Google Search Console in the property settings area. It is a short path to get there:
Open the desired property in the Search Console.
In the left navigation, click on Settings.
In the settings area (for some users under the heading AI controls, visible as "AI controls" in the screenshot), select the item Generative AI in Google Search.
Directly below it, you will see the current status of your property, for example, the green "Include" notice. A click opens the detail page with the selection options.
A permissions issue is crucial: Only property owners can change this setting.
Full and restricted users do not have access to it. Owners are considered to be both verified owners (i.e., people who have proven ownership via a token such as an HTML file, a meta tag, or a DNS record) and delegated owners who have received this role from a verified owner. Both have full rights to configure settings.
Google describes this role and permission logic in detail in the Search Console Help. Therefore, anyone who wants to adjust the AI control should first check whether they are actually registered with an owner role in the Search Console. You can find your own permission level in the settings in the line for ownership verification.
Include, Exclude, or Inherit: Your Options
On the detail page, up to three options are available to you, depending on your property structure.
Include links and content: Your content can appear in the generative AI features of Google Search, including links, and help substantiate the AI answers. Your website can receive impressions and traffic from this. This is the default setting for all properties.
Exclude links and content: Your content will no longer be shown to users in these features, not even as a link. You will then no longer receive traffic or impressions from these features.
Inherit setting from parent property: This option appears if your property is subordinate to a parent property. It automatically inherits its setting, but can be manually overridden at any time.
In the first screenshot of the settings page, the two basic options (include and exclude) are visible. The third option for inheritance only appears for subordinate properties.
What an Exclusion Really Means and What It Does Not
It's worth a closer look here, because many half-truths are circulating about AI settings. In the Search Console Help, Google is unusually clear on this point:
No ranking signal: The exclusion only affects whether your content appears in the mentioned AI features. It is not used as a ranking or inclusion signal for the rest of Google Search. Your classic organic rankings should therefore not suffer.
No influence on AI training: This setting controls visibility in the AI features, not the training of the models. If you want to restrict model training, Google-Extended is still the right tool for that.
No complete search exclusion: Anyone who no longer wants to appear in Google Search at all cannot avoid noindex. The AI setting does not remove you from the regular index.
Other services remain unaffected: Decisions to participate in other programs such as the Merchant Center or Google Ads are not overridden by this setting. Your content can also continue to help Google's systems better understand language and search queries.
In short: With the exclusion, you are turning off the AI stage, not the search itself.
How Quickly the Change Takes Effect and How Inheritance Works
Changes do not take full effect immediately. According to Google, content is usually excluded from the affected AI features within one to two days of activating the setting. However, it may take a few days for everything to disappear completely, because caching and distribution in Google's systems play a role.
Also note the effect on the entire property, including subordinate properties. By default, a property inherits the setting from the nearest parent property. A URL-prefix property like https://beispiel.de/magazin/ therefore follows the domain property beispiel.de, as long as no owner at a closer level has manually configured the setting. Anyone wanting to set different rules for individual areas can specifically override the setting per subordinate property. When in doubt, check whether your property is currently using an inherited or its own setting.
Measuring Success: The Performance Report for Generative AI Features
In parallel with the control, Google has introduced its own performance report for generative AI features. It gives you a dedicated look, for the first time, at how often your website's URLs appear in the AI features of Search and Discover. The report shows impressions as well as the affected pages, countries, devices, and time periods, among other things.
You should be aware of one important limitation: this report does not yet provide click data and metrics at the search query level. Google has announced that it will expand the range of metrics over time. For practical purposes, this means: The report is excellent for establishing a baseline before making a change and then observing how your AI visibility develops. In addition, we explain separately how to track Discover traffic in Google Analytics. We recommend this exact baseline measurement before you consider an exclusion.
Opt In or Out? Our Strategic Assessment
The following section is an assessment and not a directive from Google. We have described the pure functionality above based on facts. How you use the setting is a strategic decision, and it depends heavily on your business model:
For most websites, the default, i.e., inclusion, is the sensible starting point in our view. Anyone cited as a trustworthy source in AI answers builds brand awareness and authority, even if not every impression immediately leads to a click. An exclusion, on the other hand, can be interesting if your revenue is closely tied to direct website visits and you feel that AI answers take more reach away from you than they give. There is no one-size-fits-all answer.
Our advice: Decide based on data, not on a gut feeling!
First, use the performance report to determine the actual role of AI features for your visibility. Instead of hiding completely, the better path for many companies is to specifically optimize their own content for generative search.
We describe how this can be achieved in our article on SEO strategies for AI search engines, and with our service for Generative AI Optimization (GAIO), we support you from analysis to implementation.
Conclusion: A Small Setting with a Strategic Impact
With the “Generative AI in Google Search” setting, Google gives website operators real control for the first time over whether their content appears in AI overviews, in AI mode, and in the AI features of Discover. The operation is straightforward; the real work lies in the strategy behind it. For most websites, inclusion remains the obvious path, but the right decision depends on your goals and your business model.
Are you unsure whether your website should be visible in the AI features of Google Search? We will look at the data from the performance report together with you, assess your situation, and develop a suitable strategy.
Feel free to schedule a non-binding consultation via our search engine optimization services!
Frequently Asked Questions about the GSC Setting for Generative AI
Where do I find the Generative AI in Google Search setting?
In the Google Search Console under Settings. Select the item Generative AI in Google Search there to see the status of your property and to change the selection.
Do I need special permissions to change the setting?
Yes. Only owners of a property, both verified and delegated owners, are allowed to adjust it. Full and restricted users do not have access to this setting.
Does an exclusion harm my normal Google ranking?
According to Google, no. The setting exclusively controls visibility in the generative AI features and does not serve as a ranking or inclusion signal for the rest of Google Search.
Does the setting prevent my content from being used for AI training?
No. Google-Extended is intended for controlling model training. Anyone who wants to disappear completely from Google Search should use noindex.
How long does it take for a change to take effect?
As a rule, content is excluded within one to two days. Due to caching, it may take a little longer for individual content.
Does the setting apply to my entire website?
Yes, it affects the entire property, including subordinate properties. Subordinate properties inherit the setting by default, but their owners can specifically override it.
