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Being the source AI quotes is the new position one and Google Search Console now shows you
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Being the source AI quotes is the new position one and Google Search Console now shows you

There’s one question I get asked more than any other right now: are we actually showing up inside AI answers? Until a few weeks ago, the honest reply involved third-party tools, a few educated guesses and a stack of caveats. As of Google’s latest update, we will soon be able to answer it with Google’s own numbers.

Jordan Clare
Jordan Clare Head of Marketing
July 1, 2026
Read time: 5 Minute Read

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Table of contents

Introduction

Here’s how I’d frame what that data actually represents: appearing inside an AI answer is quickly becoming the new position one. This new report is how you find out whether you’re getting there. On 3 June 2026, Google launched a dedicated Search Generative AI performance report in Search Console, which we have now had a month to test and trial. The great detail that matters if you’re a UK business, it is being launched here first.

What's actually launched

Impressions

How often your URLs appeared inside those AI features.

Pages

Which specific URLs are being surfaced. You can’t get this breakdown anywhere else on the platform.

Countries

Your AI visibility by market.

Devices

What people were on when you appeared (Search results only).

Dates

From hourly all the way to monthly.

What it looks like in the wild

I’ll give you a concrete example, because the abstract version undersells it.

When we tested the report for one client on the early rollout – a healthcare business – the pattern was immediate: a handful of their in-depth guide pages were driving the overwhelming majority of their AI impressions, while their core service pages, which rank perfectly well in classic search, were not surfacing in AI answers as much. This helped launch a specific, prioritised list of tasks to complete.

The catch I'd flag before anyone gets excited

The report shows impressions only. No clicks, no click-through rate, no query data. So it answers “are we showing up?”, not “is it sending us any traffic?”

I’d rather say that plainly than dress an impression count up as something it isn’t. It’s a visibility metric, not a traffic one. That said, I don’t think it’s a reason to wait. An impression baseline is the thing every future metric gets measured against, and Google has said more is coming “over time.” I’d set up measurement now and have months of trend data by the time clicks land, rather than starting from zero when they do.

Are you being quoted by AI? Let's find out

Google’s new Search Console report can show whether your pages are appearing in AI Overviews and AI Mode if it’s live for your site. Send us your details and we’ll book a meeting to check whether the report is switched on for you, and share what it’s showing.






    The opt-out toggle: leave it alone

    Bundled into this is a new control that lets you block your content from AI Overviews, AI Mode and Discover’s AI features. Two things to know: opting out forfeits any AI traffic and impressions entirely, and it does not affect your normal Search ranking.

    For almost every business we work with, switching it off is the wrong call. AI search is fast becoming a primary discovery channel, and stepping out of it before you even have click data to weigh the decision is a risk I wouldn’t take on a client’s behalf without a very specific reason. The goal isn’t to hide from AI; it’s to be the source it quotes.

    What I'd actually do with it

    Export your baseline before you change anything.

    Pull your current AI impressions by page now, while it’s a clean “before”. You can’t prove improvement without it.

    Find the pages that rank well organically but don't show up in the AI report.

    That gap is the most useful thing in here. It usually points to a content-structure problem, missing schema, or entity ambiguity – something stopping AI systems from confidently pulling you into an answer even though you’re ranking.

    Read the pages that are appearing as a template.

    They’re doing something right – clear answers, structure, genuine authority on the topic. Whatever that is, it’s the pattern to extend across the rest of the site.

    Treat the country split as a gift, not a footnote.

    If you’re a UK brand, you can finally see your AI visibility in your actual market instead of a global blur – and you’ve got that view before most of the world does.

    Compare the AI trend against your organic one.

    Flat organic impressions but rising AI impressions mean you’re being pulled into answers even as click behaviour shifts. Strong organic but weak AI means an extractability problem worth fixing first.

    My take

    I’ve said for a while that AI search is the biggest shift our industry has had since mobile, and the hard part has always been proving it with numbers rather than vibes. This report is the first real crack in that. It’s not the full picture – it’s impressions-only, and it’s a staged rollout – but it’s genuine, first-party data on AI visibility, and UK brands have it first.

    One honest caveat before you go looking: this is still a limited test. Google is rolling the reports out to a small number of websites first, deliberately testing and refining them before a wider release – so access isn’t guaranteed for every website. The realistic first step is simply checking whether the report is live for your site at all.

    If it is, this is the moment to find out how visible you are inside Google’s AI answers rather than guessing. We’re already pulling these reports for clients who are on the early rollout – if you’d like me to check whether you have access and take a look, get in touch.

    Frequently asked questions

    What is Google’s Search Generative AI performance report?
    It’s a dedicated report in Google Search Console that shows how often your pages appear inside Google’s AI-powered search features — AI Overviews and AI Mode in Search, plus generative AI features in Discover. It breaks that visibility down by page, country, device and date.
    Does the report show clicks or click-through rate from AI answers?
    No. The current version shows impressions only — there’s no click, CTR or query data yet. It tells you how often you appeared, not how many people clicked through. Google has said it intends to add more metrics over time but hasn’t given a date.
    Is this new traffic, or data I already had?
    It’s data you already had, now separated out. AI impressions were always included in your overall Search Console totals; Google has simply created a dedicated view for them. Your aggregate numbers don’t change.
    Can I access it right now?
    It’s rolling out in stages to a subset of UK website owners first, with a global rollout planned but no confirmed date. If you don’t see a “Generative AI” section in your Performance report, your property isn’t in the test group yet, hasn’t had enough AI impressions, or has opted out.
    Should I use the toggle to opt out of AI features?
    For most businesses, no. Opting out removes you from AI Overviews, AI Mode and Discover AI entirely — you lose all impressions and traffic from those surfaces — for no benefit to your normal Search ranking. Unless you have a specific reason to withhold your content, staying visible and optimising to be cited is the stronger position.
    How do I improve how often I appear in AI answers?
    Start by baselining your current AI impressions, then look for pages that rank in classic search but don’t surface in AI features. Those gaps usually come down to content structure, missing or incorrect schema, and entity clarity — making it easy for AI systems to understand and confidently quote your content. That’s the core of answer engine optimisation (AEO) and generative engine optimisation (GEO).

    Sources: Introducing Search Generative AI performance reports in Search Console (Google Search Central) · Generative AI performance report documentation (Google Search Console Help)

    Picture of Jordan Clare

    Jordan Clare

    Head of Marketing

    Jordan Clare is Head of Marketing at Zinc Digital, with over 10 years of hands-on experience delivering multi-channel marketing campaigns for UK businesses across SEO, paid search, social, content and digital strategy. Before stepping into his current role, Jordan served as SEO Manager and then Head of SEO at Zinc Digital, building and leading the teams responsible for client organic growth strategies. He now works across the full marketing mix, guiding clients on integrated campaigns that combine traditional and emerging channels, including the rapidly growing area of AI-powered search visibility across platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews.


    You can connect with Jordan Clare at LinkedIn

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