Google says it is testing a new toggle inside its Search Console with some UK domain owners, letting them decide whether their sites appear in AI search results

The company says opting out won't impact placement in regular searches. — More than three years after it began rolling …

Engadget 2026-06-03 Igor Bonifacic

Context & Ripple Effects

Google’s AI-generated search answers moved from an early test in main results to broader AI-focused search surfaces. In January, Google said it was exploring publisher controls after UK CMA proposals; the CMA subsequently said UK publishers would receive an opt-out right with an implementation window.

This Search Console test is the operational follow-through: it separates participation in Google’s AI results from visibility in conventional search for a subset of UK site owners.

First-order effects

Participating UK domain owners gain a direct choice over whether their content is surfaced in Google’s AI search results, while retaining regular-search placement if they opt out.
Google must build and test enforcement of site-level preference controls inside Search Console, turning a policy commitment into a manageable publishing workflow.

Second-order effects

Publishers can test whether AI-result exposure delivers enough referral or brand value to justify participation, potentially creating uneven source availability across AI answers.
The control sets a clearer expectation for AI-search competitors and for publishers negotiating how their material is used in answer-generation products.

Third-order effects

If such controls become standard and are adopted widely, AI search may develop a more explicit permission layer than conventional web indexing, with source availability shaped by publisher participation rather than crawling alone.
The UK CMA-linked rollout suggests competition and publisher-access concerns can influence the design of AI search interfaces; whether that produces broader market rules depends on adoption and regulatory follow-through.

The trend: AI search is shifting from unilateral integration of web content toward configurable publisher participation, initially under regulatory pressure in the UK.

Discussion

@rtavs Ross Tavendale on x
Woo! New AI reporting is coming to search console. And it's being rolled out in the UK first 🇬🇧 https://blog.google/... Remember there is a couple of things you should be doing to help measure the impact of AI that includes
@eastdakota Matthew Prince on x
Progress! The best thing to encourage healthy AI competition is to require Google to play by the same rules as everyone else and not leverage their monopoly of yesterday to build an insurmountable lead on tomorrow. Great job UK. Who's next? https://www.gov.uk/...
@cmagovuk @cmagovuk on x
Today we have imposed a new conduct requirement under the UK's digital markets regime. We've secured a fairer deal for UK publishers and improvements to how Google search works in the UK. Find out more: https://www.gov.uk/... [image]
@neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk Neil Brown on mastodon
I have not yet read the full detail of this UK gov press release: — > ... publishers will now have effective tools to prevent their content being used to power AI features in search, such as AI Overviews. This will put publishers, like news organisations, in a stronger positio…
@montezumachavez Luis Montezuma on x
Google will now also have to allow publishers to opt-out of allowing their content to be used for the ‘fine-tuning’ of AI models. This provides publishers with confidence that they will have control over the full range of AI use-cases of their content. See https://www.gov.uk/... …
@akm1410 Ashish K. Mishra on x
Important. In a world first, publishers will be able to opt out of their content being used to power AI features in Google search. The UK specific ruling. https://www.gov.uk/...
Tony Stubblebine Tony Stubblebine on linkedin
We need more of this from all the AI companies. — Anyone who's created or published something on the internet wants a say in how content is consumed and used by AI companies. …
Sulina Connal Sulina Connal on linkedin
We're committed to giving ecosystem partners the transparency and choice they need. Today, we're announcing new resources aimed …
Martha Dark Martha Dark on linkedin
MAJOR NEWS: Following Foxglove and partners complaint to the UK competition regulator, the CMA today announced Google must give journalists an opt-out from AI theft. …
Tim Squirrell Tim Squirrell on linkedin
HUGE win: after complaints from Foxglove and others to the UK competition regulator, Google will be forced to allow publishers to opt …
@jeffjarvis @jeffjarvis on bluesky
In other words, UK regulator allows Publishers to commit audience suicide. — Publishers in UK can opt out of Google AI search results — bbc.com/news/article...
r/unitedkingdom r on reddit
UK media websites given power to block Google using their articles in AI search
Stella Caram Abduch Stella Caram Abduch on linkedin
Today the UK's competition authority (CMA) has announced new ‘conduct requirements’ for Google, aimed at stopping it from stealing journalists' work to feed its AI Overviews. …

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