Is Google AI showing your business? Search Console now tells you
Since 3 June 2026 Search Console counts how often Google AI Overviews and AI Mode link to your site. What the report shows and hides, and how to open it.
Nikolay Tolmachev, Founder, Tolman Studios
7 min readNews
In short
8% vs 15%visits with a click on a normal result, with and without an AI summary (Pew Research, US, 2025)
- Since 3 June 2026 Google has a Search Console report that counts how often its AI Overviews and AI Mode show a link to your site.
- It shows impressions only. Clicks, search words and the text the AI wrote are not included.
- Google is giving it to a subset of sites first. If you do not see it yet, your site is fine.
On this page
On 3 June 2026 Google added a report to Search Console that counts how often its AI answers show a link to your website. It covers AI Overviews and AI Mode. It shows impressions only, without clicks or search words, and it is reaching a subset of sites first.
AI Overviews are the AI-written summaries at the top of some Google results. AI Mode is the separate chat-style tab in Google Search. Until now you could not tell whether either of them ever pointed people to your site. This report is the first official number for that.
What did Google add to Search Console?
Google calls them "Search Generative AI performance reports". There are two: one for Search (AI Overviews and AI Mode) and one for AI features in Google Discover, the article feed in the Google app. Google says it is rolling them out to a subset of websites first, to test and collect feedback.
The AI impressions are still counted inside your normal Performance report too. The new report pulls them out so you can see them on their own.
What does the report show, and what doesn't it?
| You can see | You can't see |
|---|---|
| Impressions: how often a link to your site appeared in an AI answer | Clicks from those AI answers |
| Which pages were linked | Which searches triggered them |
| Which countries the searches came from | What the AI wrote about you |
| Device (phone, desktop, tablet), for Search only | Your position inside the answer |
| Totals by day, week or month | ChatGPT, Perplexity or any other AI tool |
Two small details save confusion later. If one AI answer links to two pages of your site, the chart counts that as one impression. And since the same impressions already sit inside your main Performance report, never add the two totals together.
What do AI answers do to clicks?
Two studies, both from before this report existed, show why the number is worth a look. Pew Research tracked 68,879 real Google searches by 900 US adults in March 2025.
- of Google searches showed an AI summary
- 18%
- Pew Research, US, March 2025
- of visits had a click on a normal result, with and without an AI summary
- 8% vs 15%
- Pew Research, US, March 2025
- of visits with an AI summary had a click on a link inside it
- 1%
- Pew Research, US, March 2025
Ahrefs looked at 300,000 keywords in Search Console data and compared December 2023 with December 2025. The page in position one got far fewer clicks when an AI Overview sat above it.
- With AI Overview, Dec 20237.3%
- With AI Overview, Dec 20251.6%
- No AI Overview, Dec 20237.6%
- No AI Overview, Dec 20253.9%
Ahrefs calls this a correlation: clicks also fell for searches without an AI Overview. Source: Ahrefs, published 4 February 2026 (300,000 keywords, desktop CTR)
Google sees it differently. In May 2025 it wrote that clicks from results pages with AI Overviews are "higher quality", meaning people stay longer on the site. That is Google's own claim, and the new report doesn't measure it.
How do I open the report?
- Go to search.google.com/search-console and sign in with the Google account that has access to your website.
- Pick your site in the property selector at the top left.
- In the left menu, look under Performance. If your site is in the first group, the generative AI report sits next to "Search results" and "Discover". Google's help article "Generative AI performance report (Search)" also has a direct link.
- Choose the longest date range on offer.
- Open the Pages tab. These are the pages Google's AI answers link to.
- Open the Countries tab if your customers come from more than one country, for example Slovakia and Austria.
What if my site has no Search Console yet?
Your site can appear on Google without it. But then you see none of these numbers, AI or otherwise. Search Console is free, and setting it up is quick if you can reach your domain settings.
- Open Search Console and choose "Add property".
- Pick "Domain" to cover the whole site, with and without www. This needs one DNS record at your domain provider. "URL prefix" covers one address and offers easier checks, like an HTML tag on the homepage.
- Verify. Google starts collecting data as soon as the property is added, and the first numbers usually appear within a few days.
If someone else looks after your domain, ask them to add the DNS record or to add you as a user. For sites I build, I hold the domain by default, so that part is on me.
What do the numbers mean for a small local business?
Expect small numbers. My guess is that a salon or a dental clinic with ten pages will see a handful of AI impressions a month, or none. Zero is not a verdict on your business. It often means people searched in ways that don't trigger AI answers.
Question pages get the most AI answers. Pew found that 60% of searches starting with "who", "what", "when" or "why" showed an AI summary. So a page like "How long does a filling last?" is more likely to appear than your homepage. For searches like "dentist Petr啪alka", Google usually puts the map with business profiles near the top, so your Google Business Profile matters there as much as your site.
Read the new report next to the normal one. If AI impressions for a page go up while clicks to the same page go down, people are getting the answer without visiting. Then give that page something a summary can't: your prices, your free slots, photos of your work, a booking button.
How will I use it for client sites?
When the report reaches a site I look after, I'll check it once a month and note three numbers: AI impressions, the top five pages and clicks to those pages in the normal report. Three months of that tells you more than any single day. I'd rather fix the pages people land on than chase the AI number itself.
Worth a look now if
- Your site has FAQ or blog pages that answer real questions
- Customers find you from more than one country
- You already open Search Console now and then
Don't worry about it yet if
- You have a one-page site and clients come by phone or recommendation
- Search Console isn't set up yet (do that first, it is free)
- The report hasn't appeared in your account yet
If your website doesn't answer customers' questions yet, my checklist of what a business website should do is a good start. If you'd like me to set up Search Console and read the numbers with you, see Ads & SEO or send me a message.
Questions people ask
Does the new report show clicks from AI Overviews?
No. It counts impressions only, meaning how often a link to your site appeared in an AI answer. Clicks still show up in the normal Performance report, mixed in with all other Google clicks.
Does it cover ChatGPT or Perplexity?
No. It covers Google only: AI Overviews and AI Mode in Search, plus a separate report for AI features in Google Discover.
Why can I not see the report in my Search Console?
Google is rolling it out to a subset of websites first. It also only appears for a site you have added and verified. If both are true and it is still missing, wait. There is nothing to fix on your side.
Is Search Console free?
Yes. Google describes it as a free service. You need a Google account and a way to prove the website is yours.
Can I make AI Overviews show my website?
Nobody can promise that. Google says the same basics apply as for normal search: pages that answer real questions well and a site that works technically.
Sources
- Introducing Search Generative AI performance reports in Search Console, Google Search Central blog, 3 June 2026, checked 9 June 2026
- Generative AI performance report (Search), Search Console Help, checked 9 June 2026
- Add a website property to Search Console, Search Console Help, checked 9 June 2026
- Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results, Pew Research Center, 22 July 2025, checked 9 June 2026
- Update: AI Overviews reduce clicks by 58%, Ahrefs, 4 February 2026, checked 9 June 2026
- Top ways to ensure your content performs well in Google's AI experiences on Search, Google Search Central blog, 21 May 2025, checked 9 June 2026
- Search Console overview, Search Console Help, checked 9 June 2026
Facts and prices are as of the dates in the sources.
Nikolay Tolmachev
Founder, Tolman Studios
I build websites, AI chatbots and ads for small businesses, working from Slovakia. Before that I spent over 4 years managing IT projects. I hold PMP and Certified ScrumMaster certificates.