Google AI Overviews Opt Out: Should Your Business Use It? (2026)

Updated 28 October 2026 · 12 minute read

Quick answer: Since 31 August 2026, every website owner can use a setting in Google Search Console, the Search generative AI control, to opt out of Google AI Overviews, AI Mode and the AI features in Discover. On 21 October 2026 Google added it to its official list of ways to control what you share with Search. Opting out removes your website from those AI answers completely, both as a link and as a source, but it does not change your normal Google ranking and it does not stop AI training. For almost every Malaysian small business, the right choice is to keep the default setting (Include) and make your website easier for AI answers to cite, not to block it.

In this article

The control at a glance
What the Search generative AI control is
How it came about: a short timeline
What happens when you opt out
What the opt-out does not do
Other ways to limit how Google uses your content
Should your business opt out?
How to check your setting and your AI report
How to opt out, and how to undo it
The better option for most SMEs

The control at a glance

Name	Search generative AI control
Where	Google Search Console, in the Settings of each property (your website)
Options	Include (the default), Exclude, or Inherit from a parent property
What it covers	AI Overviews, AI Mode and generative AI features in Google Discover
What it does not affect	Normal Google ranking, AI training (that is Google-Extended), Merchant Center and Google Ads
Level	Whole property only. No page-by-page setting yet
Time to take effect	Usually one to two days, longer for some cached content
Available	Worldwide since 31 August 2026, including Malaysia

What the Search generative AI control is

Google now answers many searches with an AI-written summary at the top of the results. These answers come in three places:

AI Overviews: the short AI summary shown above the normal results for many searches.
AI Mode: a separate, chat-style way to search where people ask longer questions and follow-ups.
Generative AI in Discover: AI summaries inside the article feed in the Google app.

Each of these answers is built from information on websites, and each shows links to the websites it used. Until this year, a website owner had no simple way to say “do not use my website for these AI answers” without also hurting how the site appeared in normal search.

The Search generative AI control changes that. It is a single switch in Google Search Console with three positions:

Include (default): your website can appear as a link in AI answers and can be used as a source for them. If you have never touched the setting, this is what you have.
Exclude: your website is kept out of AI Overviews, AI Mode and Discover AI features, both as a link and as a source.
Inherit: the setting follows a parent property. This only matters if your Search Console has several properties for the same site, for example a whole-domain property and a separate property for one folder.

How it came about: a short timeline

The control exists mainly because of regulators in the United Kingdom. The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) required Google to let websites leave its AI search features without being punished in normal results. Google’s response rolled out in stages:

Date	What happened
3 June 2026	Google announces generative AI performance reports for Search Console and the new control, starting with a test group in the UK.
July 2026	The control starts appearing in Search Console accounts outside the UK.
31 August 2026	Google confirms the control is available to all websites worldwide.
21 October 2026	Google updates its official guide “Control what you share with Google Search” and lists the control as one of seven standard methods.
By March 2027 (expected)	Page-level controls are expected, following the CMA’s requirements. Google has not announced a date itself.

What happens when you opt out

If you switch your website to Exclude, these things change:

No links from AI answers. Your pages stop appearing as links inside AI Overviews, AI Mode and Discover AI features.
No use as a source. Google stops using your content to build (“ground”) those AI answers. The answer can still appear for the same search. It will simply be built from other websites.
No AI impressions or traffic. Your generative AI report in Search Console will drop to zero for those features, and so will any visits they brought you.
It takes about one to two days. Some content can take longer because of caching.

And these things stay the same:

Your normal Google ranking. Google says the setting is not used as a ranking signal for regular Search. Your pages keep appearing in the normal blue-link results.
Your Google Business Profile and Maps listing. These are separate from your website’s AI setting.
Your Merchant Center and Google Ads. The control does not override what you have chosen there.

What the opt-out does not do

Many business owners expect the opt-out to do more than it does. Three limits are important:

It does not stop AI training

Whether Google can use your content to train and improve its Gemini models is controlled separately, through a robots.txt setting called Google-Extended. Blocking Google-Extended does not remove you from Google Search. Opting out of AI Overviews does not stop training. They are two different switches for two different things.

It does not work page by page

The control applies to the whole property. You cannot keep your blog in AI answers and remove only your price list, for example. If you need page-level control today, the older snippet settings described below are the only option, and they have side effects.

It does not affect other AI tools

The setting only applies to Google. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot and other AI assistants use their own crawlers and their own rules.

Other ways to limit how Google uses your content

Google lists seven ways to control what you share with Search. These are the ones that matter for AI answers, and what each one costs you:

Method	What it does	Side effect
Search generative AI control (Exclude)	Removes the whole site from AI Overviews, AI Mode and Discover AI features	No AI visibility at all. Normal results unchanged
`nosnippet` meta tag	Stops Google showing any text from a page, including in AI answers	The page also loses its normal text snippet in search results, which usually lowers clicks
`data-nosnippet`	Hides selected parts of a page from snippets and AI answers	Useful for a small block of text, such as internal notes. Easy to apply wrongly
`max-snippet`	Limits how many characters Google may show from a page	Short limits can make your result look less useful
`noindex`	Keeps the page out of Google completely	The page disappears from all Google results
Google-Extended (robots.txt)	Limits use of your content for Gemini training and some other Google AI systems	Does not remove you from AI Overviews or normal Search

Google’s own documentation is clear that there is nothing extra you need to do to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode: a page only has to be indexed and allowed to show a snippet. That also means one wrong nosnippet tag, often added by a theme or plugin setting, can silently remove a page from AI answers.

Should your business opt out?

Ask yourself a simple question: do you make money from the content itself, or from the customers the content brings you?

Reasons a business might consider opting out

You sell the information itself, such as paid research, reports or courses, and AI summaries give it away for free.
You have licensing agreements that do not allow your content to be summarised by AI systems.
You are a publisher who has measured a real loss of visits from AI answers and has other ways to reach readers.

Reasons most Malaysian SMEs should not opt out

The AI answer appears anyway. Opting out does not remove the AI Overview from the search results page. It only removes your business from it, so a competitor gets the mention instead.
AI answers are where people now ask questions. Searches like “how much is a dental implant in KL” or “licensed money lender Selangor requirements” increasingly get an AI answer first. Being the source that is linked is free visibility.
Your business sells a service or product, not the article. A clinic, renovation company, lender, beauty brand or online shop earns money when a person contacts them. A mention inside an AI answer still leads to that.
You cannot measure what you would lose. The generative AI report shows impressions but not clicks yet, so it is hard to prove opting out helped you.
Google says AI traffic converts well. Google claims clicks from search results pages with AI Overviews are of higher quality, meaning visitors tend to stay longer. Treat this as Google’s claim, and check it in your own analytics.

Our view: for a typical Malaysian clinic, service business, lender or online shop, keep the setting on Include. Blocking AI answers will not bring customers back. It just hands the visibility to someone else.

How to check your setting and your AI report

Even if you do not plan to change anything, check the setting once. Someone else with access to your Search Console, such as a past agency or staff member, may have changed it.

Sign in to Google Search Console and choose your website property.
Open Settings and find Search generative AI. Confirm it says Include (or Inherit, if a parent property is set to Include).
Open the Performance section and look for the generative AI report. It shows how often your pages appeared in AI features, broken down by page, country, device and date.
Filter the country to Malaysia to see your local AI visibility.
Note which pages appear most. Those are the pages Google already trusts for AI answers, and they are worth keeping accurate and up to date.

If you do not see the report, your website may not have enough AI impressions yet. Google has not published the minimum.

How to opt out, and how to undo it

If you have weighed the points above and still want to opt out:

Make sure you have owner-level access to the property in Search Console.
Go to Settings, then Search generative AI, and choose Exclude.
If you have a domain property and URL-prefix properties for the same site, check that the child properties are set to Inherit or Exclude, so the setting is consistent.
Write down the date. Allow one to two days for the change to take effect, then compare your normal Search clicks and your enquiries over the next four weeks.

To undo it, return to the same setting and choose Include. Your pages become eligible for AI answers again, but there is no guarantee they will be picked as quickly as before.

The better option for most SMEs: become the source AI answers cite

Instead of hiding from AI answers, make your website the clearest source for your topic and area. The same steps help normal search too:

One page per service, with what it is, who it is for, the price or price range, the service area and how to enquire.
A short, direct answer near the top of each page. Two or three sentences that answer the main question plainly. This is the text AI answers are most likely to use.
Real FAQs taken from the questions customers ask you on WhatsApp every week.
Consistent business details across your website, Google Business Profile and social pages, so Google is confident your site is the official one.
Structured data that tells search engines what your business is, where it operates and which questions your FAQ answers.
Check for accidental blocks. Make sure no important page carries noindex or nosnippet by mistake.
Keep facts current. Old prices or closed branches quoted in an AI answer cost you trust.

We explained how Google changed the links inside AI answers this month in our article on the Google AI search update.

How DCraft builds websites for AI search

Every website we build is set up to be cited, not hidden: separate service pages, a quick-answer paragraph at the top, FAQs with structured data, consistent business details and a WhatsApp button with a prefilled message. We also check Search Console settings, including the generative AI control, when we hand over a website. See our business website design service or compare packages on our website prices page.

Not sure how your website appears in AI answers? Ask us on WhatsApp and we will check your Search Console settings with you.

Frequently asked questions

Can I opt out of Google AI Overviews?

Yes. Since 31 August 2026 every website can use the Search generative AI control in Google Search Console. Setting it to Exclude removes the site from AI Overviews, AI Mode and generative AI features in Discover, both as a link and as a source.

Will opting out of AI Overviews hurt my Google ranking?

Google says the setting is not used as a ranking signal for regular Search, so your pages keep appearing in normal results. You do lose all impressions and visits that came from AI features.

Does opting out stop Google from training AI on my website?

No. AI training for Gemini is controlled separately through the Google-Extended setting in robots.txt. The Search generative AI control only covers AI features in Google Search and Discover.

Can I opt out only some pages of my website?

Not with the Search generative AI control, which applies to the whole property. Page-level controls are expected by March 2027. Today, the nosnippet tag can keep a single page out of AI answers, but it also removes that page’s normal text snippet.

How long does the AI Overviews opt-out take to work?

Usually one to two days. Some content can take longer because of caching. You can switch back to Include at any time.

Should a small business in Malaysia opt out of AI Overviews?

Usually not. The AI answer still appears without you, so a competitor gets the mention instead. Most SMEs earn money from enquiries, not from the article itself, so being cited in AI answers is free visibility.

Sources

Photo: Lisa Fotios on Pexels

Google AI Overviews opt-out: should your business block Google’s AI search?

The control at a glance

What the Search generative AI control is

How it came about: a short timeline

What happens when you opt out