On June 3, 2026, Google rolled out one of the most important Search Console changes in years: Search Generative AI performance reports. For the first time, site owners can see a dedicated view of how often their pages surface inside Google's generative AI experiences — AI Overviews, AI Mode, and the generative AI features now appearing in Discover. I'm Mohammad Al Sharif, and at SpiderLap we've been tracking the shift to AI search since the first AI Overviews appeared. This guide breaks down exactly what the new reports measure, what they deliberately leave out, and what you should do about it this week.
What Google actually launched
Until now, impressions from AI Overviews and AI Mode were quietly folded into your overall Search Console performance numbers. You knew your traffic was being reshaped by AI answers, but you had no clean way to isolate it. That's what changed. Google added a separate, dedicated view for visibility coming specifically from generative AI features, while keeping the same data inside the overall performance report so your historical view stays intact.
There are two distinct reports: one for Search (covering AI Overviews and AI Mode) and one for Discover (covering its generative AI features). The announcement came from Hillel Maoz and Moshe Samet on the Google Search Central blog, and Google was explicit that this is an early rollout to a subset of websites — a deliberate test phase so they can gather feedback before a wider release.
The five metrics inside the report
The new reports give you five dimensions to slice your AI visibility. Here is what each one tells you and how I'd use it in a client report:
- Impressions — how often URLs from your site appeared inside generative AI features in Search and Discover. This is the headline number and the closest thing we have to an "AI visibility" score today.
- Pages — which specific URLs are surfacing in AI features. This is gold for content prioritization: it shows you exactly which pages the AI trusts enough to cite.
- Countries — your AI visibility broken down by market. For regional agencies and brands serving multiple Gulf markets, this finally lets you compare AI exposure in, say, Saudi Arabia versus the UAE.
- Devices — the devices people use when they see your site (available for Search results). Useful for understanding whether your AI exposure skews mobile or desktop.
- Dates — performance over time, with hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly granularity. The hourly view is unusually fine-grained and helps you spot the impact of a publish or an update almost in real time.
The big gap: no clicks, no queries
Here is the part every honest SEO needs to say out loud. The new reports show impressions but not clicks, and they do not include query-level data. In plain terms: Google will tell you how often you appeared in an AI answer, but not how many people actually clicked through to your site from it, and not which searches triggered the citation.
That's a meaningful limitation. AI answers often satisfy the user on the results page itself, so impressions can rise while real traffic stays flat. Treat the AI impression number as a visibility signal, not a traffic-or-revenue signal. When you build dashboards or client decks, pair it with your real organic sessions from SEO analytics so nobody mistakes AI impressions for clicks. Google has said it's working with site owners to decide which additional metrics to add over time, so clicks may come later — but plan around what exists today, not what might.
Why the rollout is limited (and the UK opt-out angle)
Google's official post simply says the reports are going to a subset of websites. The wider context, confirmed by Search Engine Land and Search Engine Journal, is that the initial test pool skews toward UK site owners — and that's tied to a second, separate feature Google is testing at the same time: an opt-out toggle that lets a site choose not to appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode at all.
That opt-out control is being trialed with a subset of UK owners specifically because of regulatory pressure from the UK's Competition and Markets Authority, which wants publishers to have more control over how their content is used. Google has stated that opting out removes you from traffic and impressions in those AI features, and that the toggle is not used as a ranking signal for normal search results. For most brands in our region, the takeaway is simple: the reports are coming, the opt-out is not something you'd typically want, and the right move is to prepare to win AI visibility rather than hide from it.
How this compares to Bing
Google isn't first here. Microsoft launched AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools back in February 2026, and notably Bing's version is available globally and shows which queries trigger citations. Google's reports, for now, are narrower — no query data, limited rollout — but the audience is far larger. If you serve a market where Bing has meaningful share, it's worth checking both. Either way, the era of guessing about AI visibility is ending.
What you should do this week
You don't need access to the report to start preparing — the work that earns AI citations is the same work that earns strong rankings. Here's the practical checklist I'm giving SpiderLap clients right now:
- Verify and clean your Search Console setup. If your property isn't verified or your data is fragmented across multiple properties, you won't see clean AI data when access arrives.
- Strengthen the pages that answer questions directly. AI features cite content that gives clear, well-structured answers. Tighten your headings, add concise summaries near the top, and use structured data where it fits. Our guide to ranking in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews walks through the full GEO playbook.
- Treat AI optimization as a discipline, not a tweak. Generative engine optimization (GEO) sits alongside classic SEO now. If you want help building it into your strategy, that's exactly what our AI SEO & GEO service is for.
- Keep your technical foundation solid. Crawlability and clean rendering decide whether the AI can even read your pages. If your technical SEO is shaky, no amount of content work will save your AI visibility.
- Baseline your numbers now. Record your current organic performance before AI reporting becomes standard, so you can prove the impact later.
What this means for the bigger picture
The launch of these reports is Google quietly admitting what we've all watched happen: the results page increasingly answers the question itself, and "ranking" no longer means only the ten blue links. Visibility now lives across multiple surfaces, and measuring it is becoming a core part of every serious SEO program — whether you're a local business in Amman or a brand competing across the Gulf. The brands that adapt their content and reporting to this reality first will be the ones AI engines keep citing.
If you want a partner who's already building AI-visibility tracking into client reporting, that's the work we do every day. Explore our approach to SEO in Jordan or get in touch for a tailored plan.
Frequently asked questions
What are Search Generative AI performance reports?
They are new Google Search Console reports, launched June 3, 2026, that give site owners a dedicated view of how often their pages appear inside generative AI features — AI Overviews, AI Mode, and generative AI in Discover — separate from the overall performance report.
Do the reports show clicks from AI Overviews?
No. The reports include impressions, pages, countries, devices, and dates, but they do not include click data or query-level data. Google has said additional metrics may be added over time.
Can everyone see these reports?
Not yet. Google is rolling them out to a subset of websites as a test before a wider release, with the related opt-out control being trialed first with UK site owners due to regulatory requirements.
How do I improve my visibility in AI search features?
Publish clear, well-structured content that directly answers questions, keep your technical SEO clean so pages render and get crawled, and treat generative engine optimization (GEO) as a dedicated discipline alongside classic SEO.