AI search · 4 min read
How to read Search Console’s generative AI report
Use it to see which URLs appear in Google’s AI surfaces. Use a site audit to see why the others never do.
Published
Google’s generative AI performance report shows impressions when a link to your site appeared in Search generative AI features: AI Overviews, AI Mode, and (as the list grows) related surfaces.
It is a Search Console report. It is not Profound, not Ahrefs Brand Radar, and not a ChatGPT panel.
What an impression means here
An impression is: a user saw a generative AI feature that linked to your site. It is assigned much like the classic performance report — usually to the canonical URL. You can split by page, country, date, and device.
It is not a click. It is not “we were the answer.” It is not proof the model quoted your paragraph.
Pair it with the inclusion control
The Search generative AI control rolled out worldwide on 31 August 2026. Default is include. Exclude if you do not want the site in those AI surfaces. Exclusion is not a ranking boost for blue links. It just removes you from those features.
If the report is empty, check the control before you rewrite content.
How to use it in a week
- Sort pages by impressions. Those URLs are already eligible enough to appear sometimes.
- Open the zeros that should be sources — pricing, docs, the definition page. Run crawl and snippet checks.
- Do not chase a page that appears in the report with a second “AI version.” Improve the paragraph on the URL that already exists.
Siteory cannot read Search Console. It can tell you if those zero-impression URLs are noindexed, canonicalized away, or empty in the first HTML. Start with the SEO audit and the AI Overviews eligibility note.