New Google Search Console Reports in 2026: A Guide for UK Websites

Google Search Console has changed more in the past year than in most years before it. On 3 June 2026 Google launched Search Generative AI performance reports and a control to opt out of AI features, first for a subset of UK sites and then for every website worldwide by 31 August 2026. On 24 September 2026 it added reporting for multimodal searches such as Google Lens. For UK websites, these are the first official figures on how often your pages appear inside AI Overviews and AI Mode.

What happened

Here are the main additions since late 2025, newest first:

Generative AI performance reports

Google announced these on its Search Central blog on 3 June 2026. There are dedicated reports for Search and for Discover, showing impressions from generative AI features. You can break the data down by page, country, device (Search only) and date, at hourly, daily, weekly or monthly granularity. The same data is still included in the overall Performance report. The new reports simply isolate it.

There are two important limitations. The reports show impressions only, not clicks. And according to Search Engine Roundtable, the data starts on 18 May 2026, with no earlier history. Google said it would add more metrics over time.

The AI opt-out control

Alongside the reports, Google added a toggle under Settings. It lets a site choose whether its links and content appear in, and help ground, generative AI features. Google was clear about the trade-off: "Sites that opt out will not receive traffic or impressions from our generative AI features." It also said the control "will not be used as a ranking signal for search results outside of these generative AI Search features."

The control followed the UK Competition and Markets Authority's publisher conduct requirement of 3 June 2026. That requirement also asks Google to offer page-level controls by 3 March 2027. The current toggle works only for the whole property.

Multimodal search reporting

Announced on 24 September 2026 by Harsh Kharbanda (Google Lens) and Moshe Samet (Search Console), this adds a multimodal "search type" filter. It appears in both the Search results report and the Generative AI report. It shows how your pages surface when people search with images rather than words. Data appears only if your site gets this kind of traffic.

Branded queries filter

First announced on 20 November 2025 and available to all eligible sites from 11 March 2026, this filter uses an AI-assisted system to classify queries as branded or non-branded, including misspellings. It is only available for top-level properties with enough query volume, not URL-path or subdomain properties.

What this means for UK businesses

For the first time, UK businesses can measure their AI visibility with Google's own data rather than third-party estimates. That matters because research such as the Authoritas study of UK news queries has linked AI Overviews to sharp falls in click-through rate.

The missing click data is the catch. You can see that a page appeared in an AI Overview 5,000 times, but not how many people clicked through from it. The CMA's publisher requirement asks Google to provide "clear and detailed metrics on user engagement", and it comes into force on 3 December 2026, so richer data may follow. For now, treat the AI impressions report as a visibility signal, not a traffic report.

The branded filter is useful in a different way. Many small UK businesses get most of their organic clicks from people already searching for their name. Separating those clicks shows whether your SEO work is winning new customers or just serving existing ones.

What to do now

1. Open the Search Generative AI report. Note which pages appear in AI features and in which countries. Confirm that the UK is where your visibility actually is.
2. Compare AI impressions with organic clicks. Pages with high AI impressions and falling clicks are where AI answers are likely replacing visits. Make those pages worth clicking: add prices, local detail, tools and first-hand expertise.
3. Turn on the branded filter. Track non-branded clicks month by month as your real measure of SEO growth. Use the new weekly view to smooth out daily noise.
4. Add annotations. Mark site changes, migrations and Google updates on your Performance charts so future drops are easier to explain.
5. Check the multimodal filter if you sell physical products. Retailers, florists, furniture makers and fashion brands are most likely to see Lens traffic. Good product images with descriptive alt text and file names help.
6. Leave the opt-out alone unless you have a clear reason. For most UK small businesses, AI visibility is worth keeping. Record any change so you can measure its effect.
7. Fix what Search Console cannot. Search Console reports problems but does not test your whole stack. Run a free website audit with MakeItFlow to check on-page SEO, Core Web Vitals, robots.txt, sitemaps and security headers in one scan. If you look after several client sites, the MakeItFlow agency plans add bulk scans and white-label PDF reports. Our SEO audit checklist and guide to "crawled, currently not indexed" cover the next steps.

Frequently asked questions

Why can I not see the generative AI report in my Search Console?

Google says the reports rolled out to all websites worldwide as of 31 August 2026. If you see nothing, your site may not yet have impressions in AI features, or you may be looking at a property type with limited data. Check that you are using a domain property.

Does opting out of AI features remove my site from Google?

No. The toggle covers only generative AI features: AI Overviews, AI Mode and AI Overviews in Discover. Your pages can still rank in normal results. Google says the setting is not used as a ranking signal for those results.

Can I export the new data?

Yes. The multimodal data can be exported from the Performance report, and Google's announcement highlights the "Export" option. Exports follow your chosen granularity, so a weekly view exports weekly rows.

Related reading

• CMA Rules on Google Search: What UK Businesses Need to Know: The CMA has imposed fair ranking and publisher rules on Google Search. Key dates for UK businesses, from AI opt-outs to advance notice of ranking changes.

Sources

• Google Search Central: Introducing Search Generative AI performance reports in Search Console (3 June 2026)
• Google Search Central: Announcing web multimodal Search performance reporting in Search Console (24 September 2026)
• Google Search Central: Introducing the branded queries filter in Search Console (20 November 2025)
• Google: New opportunities, control and insights for website owners
• Search Engine Roundtable: Search Console AI performance report and AI blocking controls
• PPC Land: Google Search Console adds weekly and monthly aggregation views