Last Updated on June 28, 2026
Google has quietly handed UK website owners a new switch inside Search Console. One part shows you how your pages perform inside AI answers. The other lets you block your content from appearing in those answers at all.
It is rolling out to a subset of UK businesses first, before the rest of the world. So if you run a small business website, you may be one of the first people on earth staring at a button that says, in effect, “remove me from AI.”
Plenty of owners will press it. That is the mistake.
- Google added an AI performance report and an AI blocking control to Search Console on 3 June 2026.
- Both are rolling out to UK website owners first.
- Blocking AI does not bring your clicks back. It hands your visibility to a competitor.
- The smart move is to be the business AI quotes, not to hide from it.
What actually happened
On 3 June, Google added two things to Search Console.
First, a Generative AI performance report. It shows impressions and clicks from Google’s AI experiences, not just the old blue links. For the first time you can see whether AI answers are sending you anything.
Second, a control to keep your content out of those AI answers. Your pages still show in normal search. They just stop feeding the AI summary at the top.
Both features are starting in the UK. That is unusual, and it means UK owners are making this decision before almost anyone else.
Why so many will get it wrong
Here is the panic logic. “AI summaries answer the question, so people stop clicking my site. If I block AI, I protect my clicks.”
It sounds sensible. It is backwards.
Blocking AI does not bring the click back. It just removes you from the place more and more people now look first. The customer still asks the AI. The AI still answers. It just uses a competitor instead of you.
You have not protected your traffic. You have handed your visibility to whoever stayed in.
| If you block AI | If you get cited by AI |
|---|---|
| You vanish from the answer box | Your name appears where buyers look first |
| The click still does not return | Ready to buy customers click through |
| A competitor fills the gap | You become the trusted source |
The principle: do not hide from where buyers are looking
Whito has one rule that sits under all of this. Structure before scale.
The structure question here is simple. Where do your customers start their search now? More of them start by asking an AI. That is the channel. You do not win a channel by leaving it.
The click did not disappear because AI exists. It changed shape. Some people read the answer and move on, the same way they always read the weather and moved on. The ones who were going to buy still want a name, a price, a phone number, a real business. Your job is to be the business the AI names.
Blocking yourself guarantees you are not.
What to do about it instead
Do not press the block button. Use the report, then fix your foundations.
Start: check the report before you touch anything. Open the new AI performance view in Search Console. See if AI is already sending you impressions or clicks. Most owners have never looked. You cannot make a calm decision while you are guessing.
Build: make your pages easy to quote. AI answers lift clear, factual lines. Give it some. Put your prices in plain text, not buried in an image. Answer the real questions on the page, in short sentences. Add a simple FAQ section. State who you are, where you work, and what you charge. Clarity is what gets cited.
Build: keep one source of truth. If your prices, services and area say one thing on your site, another on Google Business Profile, and a third on a directory, the AI gets confused and trusts you less. Make them match.
Scale: only later, only if you must. There are narrow cases for blocking, for example paid content you do not want summarised for free. That is a deliberate choice for a specific page. It is not a panic switch for your whole site.
The takeaway
A button that says “hide from AI” feels like control. It is not. It is the fastest way to disappear from the place your next customer is already looking.
Do not block. Get found. Open the report, tidy your pages so they are easy to quote, and let the AI send people who are ready to buy. The businesses that win the next year are not the ones who hid. They are the ones who were clear enough to be the answer.
Frequently asked questions
What did Google add to Search Console?
Two things, announced on 3 June 2026. A Generative AI performance report that shows impressions and clicks from Google’s AI answers, and a control that lets you block your content from appearing in those AI answers while still showing in normal search.
Should I block my content from AI answers?
For almost every small business, no. Blocking does not bring your clicks back. It removes you from where buyers increasingly start, and a competitor fills the gap. The exception is narrow, such as paid content you do not want summarised for free.
Why is the UK getting this first?
Google is rolling both features out to a subset of UK website owners before a wider global release. UK owners are therefore making this decision earlier than almost anyone else.
How do I get my business quoted by AI instead?
Make your pages easy to quote. Put prices in plain text, answer real questions in short sentences, add a simple FAQ, and keep your site, Google Business Profile and listings saying the same thing. Clarity is what gets cited.
