Google is quietly taking a new Search Console setting global. According to Search Engine Roundtable, the “Search Generative AI” controls are now showing up for sites outside the United Kingdom. If you’ve followed how Google has rolled out its AI features this year, this probably isn’t a shock.
The setting first launched about a month earlier for UK-based (.co.uk) sites. Now it’s appearing on some sites in the US and other countries, but not all of them.
What the Rollout Looks Like So Far
SEOs first spotted it on LinkedIn. Several of them reported seeing the setting on non-UK properties. A few US accounts saw it on some sites but not others, even within the same Search Console login. That suggests Google is testing it in phases rather than switching it on for everyone at once.
The control lives under Settings in Search Console. Where it’s live, you can choose whether your content is included in or excluded from Google’s generative AI search features: AI Overviews, AI Mode, and AI Overviews in Discover.
The related AI performance reports are also expanding beyond the UK. They show you impressions from these AI features, and they’re rolling out in the same staggered way.
What This Means for Your SEO
- You may not have it yet, so check anyway. Because the rollout is uneven even within eligible regions, look at your Search Console settings now and then instead of assuming it isn’t there.
- It’s a visibility and reporting tool, not a ranking lever. Switching the control off doesn’t change your regular organic rankings. It only decides whether your content can be used to ground AI-generated answers.
- More data is on the way. As the AI performance reports reach more sites, you’ll finally see how often your pages show up inside AI Overviews and AI Mode. Until now, that has been mostly invisible.
- This is part of a bigger pattern. Google has been building AI-specific controls and reporting since the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority required it earlier this year. Expect more of Search Console to get an AI layer in the coming months.
What to Do Next
Keep it simple. Open your Search Console settings and see whether the control has appeared for your properties. If it has, look at what the AI performance data says before you decide whether to opt in or out.
Clicks are no longer the whole story, either. If you want to see why, read our post on zero click marketing and our breakdown of the two ways your brand shows up in AI search.
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