Google is finally giving publishers a way to step out of its AI search layer. From June 2, a new Search Console control lets selected sites block their content from AI Overviews, AI Mode and AI summaries inside Discover.
The trade-off is blunt. Sites that opt out lose the exposure and traffic that might come from those AI surfaces. Google says the choice is not a ranking signal for ordinary Search or Discover, but AI Overviews now occupy the most visible part of many results pages.
The first trial is limited to a small group of UK publishers, which explains the timing. The UK Competition and Markets Authority has been pressing Google over its search power, so the control looks less like a generous product feature and more like a regulatory concession.
Google is also adding AI performance reporting in Search Console, with impressions by page, country, device and date. What it still does not show is the number that publishers care about most: clicks from those AI appearances.
Sources: Search Engine Land on Google Search Console AI performance reports and controls; 9to5Google; CocoLoop; Computing