Since 31 August 2026, every Google Search Console account, anywhere in the world, has had access to the generative AI performance report and to the setting that lets a site opt out of it (official announcement). Businesses now get a first figure on their presence in Google's AI answers and must decide what to do with it, without knowing what that presence does to their traffic.
The facts
- Google confirmed the worldwide roll-out in a note dated 31 August 2026 added to its 3 June blog post, which had launched these reports on a subset of sites; the generative AI blocking control was generalised the same day (Search Engine Land).
- The report shows impressions in AI Overviews, AI Mode and the AI features of Discover, the pages cited, countries, devices and dates down to the hour, but no click or query data (Google documentation).
- The blocking control applies to the whole domain, with no distinction between pages. The UK's CMA, whose requirement gave rise to the setting, is requiring Google to provide page-level control by 3 March 2027, after more detailed engagement data expected by December 2026 (PPC Land).
Why is this report not yet enough to decide?
On the accounts we manage for SEO and GEO, these figures had been awaited for months. They are arriving, by country, by page, by date. Some accounts still do not see the tab, however: Google reserves the report for sites that generate enough impressions in its AI features, so an absence of data does not prove an absence of presence. What is still missing is knowing whether an AI citation brings someone to the site or answers in its place and closes the loop before the click.
The blocking setting has a concrete flaw: today it is impossible to keep editorial pages visible in AI while withdrawing high-margin product pages, or the reverse, since the site opts out as a whole. The UK's CMA has set the deadline for page-level control at 3 March 2027. The comparison with Microsoft underlines the delay: Bing Webmaster Tools has offered an AI performance report since 11 February 2026, more than six months before worldwide availability at Google, and it does expose the grounding queries Copilot uses to fetch content (Search Engine Land).
AIxH's view
We will follow this report without rushing for the blocking button: AI impressions say where the site appears, and nothing more for now, and our analysis of August's opt-out button still stands, since opting out without click data is a gamble. Our SEO agency in Luxembourg already cross-references these impressions with classic positions, and our GEO agency in Luxembourg uses them to spot which pages are cited in AI answers and adjust the content that is cited least. If you want to know what Google already shows of your site in its answers, a free GSO audit is enough to establish the first baseline.