Artificial intelligence is gradually transforming the way people use Google. With AI Overviews, AI Mode, and new generative search experiences, users are increasingly getting answers directly in search results without necessarily clicking through to a website.
For businesses and SEO professionals, this raises an important question: how can you tell whether your website is visible in AI-generated responses?
Until recently, getting a clear answer was difficult. Google included this data within standard Search Console performance metrics. Now, that is changing with the introduction of a new report dedicated to generative AI performance.
So, what does this new report actually offer? What data can you analyse? And, most importantly, what does it mean for your SEO strategy? Let’s take a closer look.
Google Search Console Adapts to the AI Era
Over the past few months, Google has been progressively integrating AI-powered features into its search engine.
These include:
- AI Overviews, which provide AI-generated summaries directly in search results
- AI Mode, which offers more conversational and in-depth answers
- certain generative AI features within Google Discover
These new formats are changing the way users discover online content. People are increasingly interacting with AI-generated answers while still visiting websites that provide reliable, relevant, and useful information.
As search behaviour evolves, Google is also adapting its analytics tools to help website owners better understand their visibility.
A New Report Dedicated to Visibility in AI Responses
Google is gradually rolling out a new Generative AI report in Google Search Console.
Its purpose is straightforward: to help website owners understand how often their pages appear within Google’s generative AI features.
Until now, these impressions were included in the overall performance report. As a result, it was difficult to distinguish visibility generated by traditional search results from visibility within AI-powered experiences.
With this new report, website owners can more easily monitor how their presence in these emerging search environments evolves over time.
What Data Is Available?
The new report mainly focuses on one key metric: impressions.
In other words, it measures how often a link to your website appears within a Google AI-generated response.
The data can then be analysed using several dimensions.
Pages
You can identify which URLs on your website appear most frequently in Google’s AI-generated responses.
This can help you understand which pages and content are gaining the most visibility within these new search experiences.
Countries
The report also shows the countries where your website is receiving visibility through Google’s AI features.
This information can be particularly useful for businesses operating across multiple markets.
Devices
As with other Search Console reports, performance can be analysed by device type:
- desktop
- mobile
- tablet
This allows you to see whether your AI visibility differs depending on how users access Google.
Dates
Finally, the report lets you track impressions over time.
This makes it easier to assess whether an SEO optimisation, content update, or newly published page has had an impact on your visibility within AI-generated search experiences.
What the Report Cannot Measure Yet
While this new feature represents an important step forward, it still has some limitations.
At this stage, Google does not provide:
- the number of clicks generated from AI responses
- the click-through rate (CTR)
- the queries that triggered an appearance
- a breakdown between different features such as AI Overviews, AI Mode, or generative experiences in Discover
In practical terms, you can now see whether your content appears in an AI-generated response, but you cannot yet accurately determine the impact of that visibility on your website traffic.
However, Google has indicated that these reports will continue to evolve over time.
Why Is This New Report Important for SEO?
The introduction of this report confirms a broader trend: search visibility is no longer limited to traditional organic results.
AI-generated answers are becoming an increasingly important part of the search experience.
For businesses, this means producing high-quality content that can be understood, trusted, and potentially selected as a source by Google is becoming even more important.
Although the available data is still limited, the report can already help you:
- measure your presence in new search experiences
- identify the content receiving the most AI visibility
- monitor changes related to Google’s AI features
- complement your traditional SEO performance metrics
In other words, AI visibility is becoming another valuable indicator to include in your SEO reporting.
How Can You Improve Your Visibility in AI Responses?
Google states that there are no special optimisation techniques required specifically for its AI features.
The fundamental best practices remain largely the same as those used for traditional SEO.
Create Useful Content
Your content should provide clear and relevant answers to users’ questions.
In-depth, well-structured content that demonstrates genuine expertise is more likely to provide value to both users and search engines.
Demonstrate Your Expertise
Google continues to emphasise trustworthy and helpful content.
Sharing first-hand expertise, citing reliable sources, providing practical examples, and publishing verifiable information can all strengthen the quality and credibility of your content.
Optimise the User Experience
A fast, secure, and mobile-friendly website makes it easier for users to access your content and for Google to crawl it effectively.
A strong user experience also contributes to the overall performance of your website.
Keep Your Content Up to Date
Keeping your pages accurate and regularly updated helps maintain their relevance.
This is particularly important for topics that evolve quickly, where outdated information can reduce the usefulness and credibility of your content.
Another Step Towards GEO?
A new term has been gaining attention in digital marketing: GEO, or Generative Engine Optimization.
GEO refers broadly to practices aimed at improving the visibility of content within AI-powered search and answer engines.
Although this field is still evolving, one thing remains clear: the fundamentals of SEO are still essential.
Creating useful, reliable, well-structured, and user-focused content remains one of the strongest approaches, whether your goal is to appear in traditional search results or gain visibility within AI-generated answers.
Key Takeaways
The introduction of the Generative AI report in Google Search Console marks an important development for SEO professionals and website owners.
It is now possible to better isolate and analyse a website’s visibility within Google’s AI-powered search experiences.
While some valuable metrics, such as clicks and search queries, are not yet available, the report already provides new insights into how search behaviour and SEO performance are evolving.
As generative search continues to develop, monitoring these new indicators is likely to become an increasingly valuable addition to traditional SEO analysis.
Is Your Website Ready for Generative Search?
The evolution of search engines highlights one thing: creating high-quality, useful content has never been more important.
At cat2lion, we help businesses develop effective SEO strategies that address both the fundamentals of traditional search and the emerging challenges of AI-powered search.
Sources
- Google Search Central Blog – Introducing generative AI performance reporting in Search Console: https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/06/gen-ai-performance-reports
- Google Search Console Help – What are impressions, position and clicks?: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7042828
- Google Search Console Help – Generative AI performance report: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16984139
- Blog du Modérateur – Google Search Console mesure désormais votre visibilité dans les réponses des IA: https://www.blogdumoderateur.com/google-search-console-visibilite-ia/