Google adds its AI Overviews opt-out to its content controls page
Google added its AI Overviews opt-out to the Search content controls page, site-wide through Search Console. It is a documentation update, not a new feature.
What it means for you
Decide on purpose whether your site stays in AI Overviews, before anyone touches a setting.
Should my Shopify brand opt out of Google's AI Overviews?
Our take
On 21 October Google updated its Control what you share with Google Search page. It now lists the robots meta tag, data-nosnippet, X-Robots-Tag and the Search generative AI control, which Google calls existing options. The new section says site owners can manage inclusion in generative AI features, including AI Overviews and AI Mode, with the Search generative AI control in Search Console.
The control is site-wide, not per page. Nothing new can be switched on, and Google presents it as housekeeping.
My read: the useful part is the placement. The AI Overviews opt-out now sits on the same page as noindex and robots.txt, so it reads like a normal choice every site owner should make on purpose.
Do this this week
Open Search Console and find the Search generative AI control for your site.
Write down whether AI Overviews and AI Mode send you any visits you can see today.
Decide whether to stay in, and record why, before anyone changes a setting.
Keep answering your customers' questions on your own pages, so the answer is yours wherever it shows.
Rather we did it for you? See how we run traffic for Shopify brands.