Title: New Regulation Allows Publishers to Exclude Content from Google’s AI Search

The United Kingdom has established legal boundaries for Google’s expansion into AI-driven search. On Wednesday, the tech giant confirmed its adherence to new UK regulatory mandates, which require it to provide publishers with the ability to exclude their content from AI search aggregation. To exercise this choice, publishers can utilize a new toggle within Google Search Console, a complimentary tool designed to help website owners manage their visibility in Google’s search results.

Once a publisher selects the opt-out option, their site will be removed from Google’s generative AI search functionalities, including AI Overviews, AI Mode, and AI Overviews featured in Discover. In its announcement, Google highlighted the widespread adoption of these features, noting that AI Overviews currently serve more than 2.5 billion monthly active users, while AI Mode has exceeded one billion monthly users.

Google stated that it will initially pilot the opt-out mechanism with a limited group of UK publishers before implementing it on a global scale. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) described this shift as a "world first," emphasizing that it restores control to publishers regarding how their content is utilized. The CMA further noted that this regulation strengthens the negotiating position of publishers, including news outlets, in discussions with Google concerning content licensing for AI applications.

The CMA originally assigned Google "strategic market status" last October, setting the stage for subsequent regulatory actions. In January, the authority directed Google to offer website publishers the option to decide whether their content is aggregated into AI search features or utilized to train standalone AI models.

In addition to the opt-out capability, Google is now obligated to ensure proper attribution for publisher content within AI features by providing clear links. The company indicated it is meeting this requirement by recently increasing the number of inline links embedded directly within AI responses and adding website previews to facilitate user clicks.

Google clarified that a website’s choice to opt out of generative AI search features will not influence its ranking in traditional Google search results. To support publishers who may be contemplating opting out, Google will introduce new metrics in Search Console. These data points, which include impression statistics and details on which pages appear in AI responses and in which regions, aim to provide transparency. The company promised that additional metrics will be integrated into the tool over time.

Source: TechCrunch Generated at: 2026-06-03 14:58:33 UTC