As publishers await click data, Google’s AI visibility push complicates the opt-out decision

Digiday reports that Google is pushing AI visibility as a carrot for publisher opt-out decisions, complicating the publishers' choice. The search engine giant is simultaneously working towards the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority-mandated search opt-out publishers have long sought, while enhancing AI Overviews in ways that could make opting out less appealing.

The opt-out feature, available on Search Console, allows publishers to exclude their content from Google's AI features, following the CMA's first conduct requirement on Google over the summer. The U.K.-only ruling was expanded to worldwide sites on August 31, with page-level grounding controls due by March 3, 2027.

Brief written by urgent.news from Digiday's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.