> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://theseguysknow.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Can You Opt Out of Google AI Overviews Without Blocking Google Search? - URL: https://theseguysknow.io/opt-out-google-ai-overviews/ - Published: 2026-09-19T08:28:52.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-19T08:28:52.000Z - Description: Google now lets publishers opt out of AI Overviews, AI Mode, and generative AI features in Discover without leaving normal Search. - Author: Mike Hazard - Tags: AI & Tech, AI Tools & Models For a long time, Google gave publishers an awkward choice. You could allow Google to crawl and display your pages across Search, including its AI features, or start limiting the same access and snippets that help those pages appear in ordinary results. There was no clean switch for somebody who wanted to remain in Google Search without also supplying links and content to AI Overviews. Since 31 August 2026, Google has provided a separate Search generative AI control to websites worldwide. A verified site owner can now exclude a property from AI Overviews, AI Mode and generative AI features in Google Discover while keeping the site eligible for conventional Google Search. The setting is much closer to the simple opt-out publishers had been asking for, although it does not cover every possible use of their content. In particular, it does not stop Google from using the site to support Search more broadly, and it does not opt the content out of AI training. ## Quick Answer Yes. Open Google Search Console, select the correct property and go to **Settings → Search generative AI**. From there, choose **Exclude my site’s links and content from Search generative AI features**. According to [Google’s documentation](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16908024?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com), excluding a site prevents its links and content from appearing in the supported generative AI features. Content crawled from the site also becomes ineligible as input for generating their responses and previews. The site can remain indexed and appear in normal Google Search because Google treats this as a separate control. Google says the choice is not used as a ranking or inclusion signal in other parts of Search. It does not stop AI training, however. Google directs publishers to the separate Google-Extended control for that decision. ## Where to find the setting You need owner access to the relevant property in Google Search Console. Once you are signed in: 1. Select the website property you want to change. 2. Open **Settings**. 3. Select **Search generative AI**. 4. Choose **Exclude my site’s links and content from Search generative AI features**. Google includes sites by default, so a property that has never been manually changed remains eligible to appear in the supported AI features. It is worth checking which Search Console property you are editing, especially if you have several domain, subdomain or URL-prefix properties. Child properties can inherit the choice made for a parent property, although their owners can override it. Changing one property and assuming it covers every version of the site is an easy mistake to make. ## What the Google AI opt-out covers Google currently applies the control to: - AI Overviews - AI Mode - Generative AI features in Google Discover When a site remains included, Google may display its links, use its content to help ground generated responses and send impressions or traffic from those features. Excluding the property removes both sides of that arrangement. Google says the site’s links and content will not appear in the supported features, while crawled material from the site will no longer be eligible as input for their AI-generated answers or previews. The obvious cost is that the publisher also gives up any visibility and traffic those placements might have produced. Google says content should normally be excluded within one or two days after the control takes effect, though cached material and propagation between its systems can make some removals take longer. ## Will the site stay in normal Google Search? According to Google, excluding a property from its generative AI features will not remove the site from conventional search results or count against it as a ranking signal elsewhere in Search. This is different from using `noindex`, which tells Google not to show a page in Search at all. It is also different from restricting Googlebot or removing the snippets that Search normally displays. The new setting is designed for publishers who still want ordinary rankings but do not want their pages appearing or grounding responses in the listed AI features. There is a limit to how separate these systems are. Google says excluded content may still help power Search as a whole, including systems that understand the language used in queries and webpages. The control therefore means something narrower than “Google cannot use my website for anything.” It keeps the site out of specific generative AI experiences while leaving the rest of its Search relationship in place. ## The setting does not stop AI training AI search results, grounding and model training are regularly pushed into the same vague pile, which makes these controls sound more comprehensive than they are. The Search generative AI setting covers whether content can appear and provide input for supported features such as AI Overviews. Google states that it does not affect AI training. Publishers who also want to restrict training of the models used to generate responses in these features need to configure Google-Extended through `robots.txt`. Google-Extended can be blocked separately without removing pages from ordinary Search, which gives publishers three decisions rather than one: whether the site appears in conventional results, whether it participates in supported generative AI Search features and whether its content can be used for model training. If the difference between the product, the model and the company providing it has become needlessly confusing, our guide to [AI models, tools, platforms and providers](https://theseguysknow.io/ai-model-vs-tool-vs-platform-vs-provider/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) separates those terms properly. ## How to see whether Google AI already shows your site Before excluding anything, publishers can now check Google’s dedicated Generative AI performance reports in Search Console. The [Search report](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16984139?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) covers AI Overviews and AI Mode. It shows generative AI impressions over time and can group them by page, country, date or device. Google provides a [separate report for generative AI features in Discover](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16983858?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com). These reports are still limited. Google currently documents impression data rather than a full query-and-click report, so you can see that a page appeared without necessarily learning which search produced the impression or whether the placement sent anybody useful to your site. Google says the reports are available worldwide, but an individual property may still show nothing if it has not received enough impressions or does not yet have report access. A property that has already been excluded may also have no data because it is no longer eligible to appear. ## Should you opt out? I would check the performance report before switching the setting off. If Google’s AI features are already showing your pages and sending useful visitors, exclusion means deliberately giving up that exposure. The harder case is a page that receives plenty of AI impressions but little traffic because Google’s generated answer gives the reader everything they came for. The new report does not provide enough information to settle that argument cleanly, but it gives publishers more evidence than they had before and makes it possible to test the effect rather than treating every AI placement as automatically good or bad. Smaller publishers may find the decision particularly uncomfortable. AI Overviews can expose their work to people who would not otherwise find it, but the same answer can also make clicking the source unnecessary. There is no universal correct setting here because the sensible choice depends on what appears, how much traffic it produces and whether that traffic has any value once it arrives. ## Final verdict Google now allows publishers to opt out of AI Overviews, AI Mode and generative AI features in Discover without removing their sites from ordinary Google Search. The control sits under **Search Console → Settings → Search generative AI**, and inclusion is enabled by default. Excluding a property prevents its links and content from appearing in the supported AI features and stops crawled material from grounding their generated responses. It does not remove the site from normal results, stop Google from using the content to support Search more broadly or opt the content out of model training. Publishers who want the last of those need to configure Google-Extended separately. #### Sources - [Google Search generative AI control](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16908024?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) - [Google Generative AI performance report for Search](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16984139?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) - [Google Generative AI performance report for Discover](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16983858?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) - [Google guidance for AI features and websites](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com)