Should I opt out of Google AI Overviews?

What is happening?

Google has started rolling out controls that let website owners opt out of appearing in AI Overviews — those AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of search results.

This comes after pressure from the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which has been investigating whether Google's AI features unfairly reduce traffic to third-party websites.

Why it matters to your business

If your business gets customers through Google search, AI Overviews could be taking your traffic. Here is the issue: when Google summarises an answer at the top of the page using AI, many users read the answer and never click through to the actual website. Your content gets used but you get no visit, no lead, no sale.

For some businesses this is fine. For others, especially those whose value comes from detailed guides, how-to content, or local search results, it can mean a real drop in visitors.

Should you opt out?

It depends on what your website is for.

Opt out if:

• Your site is content-heavy (guides, how-tos, articles)
• You rely on organic traffic for leads or sales
• You are a local business where people need to click through to find your number or address

Stay in if:

• You want maximum visibility even if some users do not click
• Your site is primarily transactional (people come to buy, not to read)
• You are less reliant on Google traffic

How to opt out

Google has not fully rolled out the opt-out controls yet, but here is how it will likely work:

1. Log in to Google Search Console at search.google.com/search-console
2. Go to your property settings
3. Look for AI Overviews controls (this is being phased in during 2026)
4. Select which pages or sections to exclude

You can also use meta tags in your page code to signal to Google that you do not want content included in AI features. Your developer (or AI, if you use Bolt or Lovable) can add this.

The bigger picture

This is a fast-moving area. Google, Bing, and others are all building AI into search, and the question of who benefits and who loses is not settled yet. Keep an eye on your traffic in Google Search Console. If you notice organic clicks dropping while impressions stay the same, AI Overviews may be the cause.

AdaHQ will track this as it develops.