Should You Opt Your Website Out of Google’s AI Search?

Since 2024, AI has been a significant part of the Google search experience. This comes primarily in the form of AI Overviews at the top of traditional search results, but you can also find AI responses in Google’s “People Also Ask” search feature and — most notably — in Google’s dedicated AI Mode.

Until recently, these AI search features haven’t been entirely optional. Although Google allows publishers to block AI training, doing so can still come at the cost of website traffic. The only reliable way to prevent your business website from appearing in AI search was to opt out of Google crawling altogether, which would essentially kill your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. But that might be about to change.

New information from Google indicates that an option may be coming that will allow websites to opt out of AI search without being removed from Google search results entirely. But is that something your business should do? That’s the question I’ll be answering on this page. Below, I’ll cover the following:

• What is Google’s AI search opt-out?
• Why is Google considering the AI search opt-out?
• Why might businesses want to opt out of Google’s AI search?
• Should you opt out of Google’s AI search features?
• Who might benefit from the AI search opt-out?

Without further ado, let’s jump in!

What is Google’s AI search opt-out?

Google recently published a blog post where they made the following statement:

As far as official statements go, this is relatively vague. It’s not clear exactly what the opt-out feature would look like, how businesses would access it, or when it would be available. But the gist of it is there — that Google may allow websites to opt out of appearing in AI search features while still letting them appear in traditional rankings.

This marks a change from the existing setup. As mentioned earlier, Google does technically allow websites to block Google’s AI from training on their content. But in practice, many sites still experience loss of traffic (and, subsequently, loss of leads and revenue) as a result.

For that reason, there have been numerous calls for Google to more thoroughly separate their AI and search crawlers, enabling publishers to prevent AI Overviews from stealing their content without having to sacrifice their revenue to do so. This new announcement from Google marks the first step in that direction.

Why is Google considering the AI search opt-out?

As the Google blog post explains, this decision comes in response to an open consultation from the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) about potential new requirements for Google search. These requirements would include the ability for websites to opt out of AI search.

The CMA’s proposal includes numerous rules governing how Google handles AI search. While I won’t list all of them here, the most relevant parts include the following:

• Google must let publishers prevent their content from being used in AI search features like AI Overview and AI Mode.
• Publishers must be able to opt out of AI search while still appearing in traditional search results as normal.
• The opt-out must be available both for entire websites and for specific pages on those websites.
• Google cannot penalize or downrank sites in any way due to them opting out of AI search.

Of course, it’s worth pointing out that this is not yet set in stone. None of these proposed rules have been made official yet, and Google’s blog post says only that they are “exploring updates.” It remains to be seen whether Google will actually provide this option at all.

Even so, it’s worth preparing for the possibility, which leads us to the question of whether this is something your business should take advantage of.

Why might businesses want to opt out of Google’s AI search?

AI search features have had a big impact on businesses, and not all of it has been positive. Many businesses feel frustrated by AI Overviews detracting from their search traffic — and worse yet, the AI Overviews often pull information from those businesses’ websites. So, in short, these businesses find their own content being used against them to steal their traffic.

Naturally, that leaves many website owners frustrated with Google’s AI search features. And of course, others simply distrust AI responses in general and don’t want their brand associated with them. As a result, many businesses want a way to opt out. In fact, one poll found that 1/3 of businesses would choose that option if it was available.

You may be one of those businesses. If so, I can understand your desire to keep your website out of AI search. But the question is, should you?

Should you opt out of Google’s AI search features?

The short answer is, probably not. Let me explain.

On the one hand, it’s true that AI Overviews are stealing a lot of traffic from business websites. So, I’m not going to pretend that websites aren’t getting kind of a raw deal here. However, opting out of AI search isn’t the best response. If anything, it will only make the problem worse.

That’s because opting out of AI search features only decreases your visibility further. AI Overviews will be present in search results whether you let them pull from your site or not. But at least if you let them access your content, there’s a chance that they’ll cite your business as a source. That increases your visibility, along with the likelihood that people will click on your website.

If you exclude your site from AI responses, it just means those responses will be pulling from your competitors instead. That isn’t going to help you get your traffic back. So, for most businesses, the best approach is actually to optimize your content for AI citations. That’s the most effective way to boost your search visibility.

Who might benefit from the AI search opt-out?

While most website owners would be better off optimizing for AI search instead of opting out of it, that’s not necessarily the case for everyone. A small subset of site owners might actually have good reason to block AI Overviews from accessing their content. That subset includes the following:

1. Businesses worried about AI inaccuracy
2. Businesses with tons of proprietary data
3. Non-business websites

Get more details about each of those below.

1. Businesses worried about AI inaccuracy

AI responses have a tendency to oversimplify nuanced topics and mesh multiple types of content together. This is a particularly big problem in sensitive industries like healthcare and law, where the details are of paramount importance.

For that reason, some businesses may be concerned about AI search features pulling from their data in ways that misrepresent or oversimplify that data, rendering it less trustworthy or accurate while still attributing it to the businesses it was pulled from. That’s harmful for brand integrity, and it may lead such businesses to opt out entirely.

One example of this is recipe bloggers. If an AI Overview cites one of your recipes, it will likely combine it with bits and pieces from other recipes, mangling it so badly that anyone attempting to follow its instructions will be driven away from your site, not toward it. That’s one situation where it’s better not to be cited at all.

2. Businesses with tons of proprietary data

If the majority of your content consists of original, proprietary data, you may want to block AI search tools from crawling your site. Since your data is 100% original and unique to you, your audience won’t be able to find it anywhere else, so you don’t have to worry about competing with other sites offering the same thing.

If AI Overviews can simply regurgitate your content, though, you lose that advantage. Users can get the data from the AI response without leaving search results. To avoid that, you can block AI search from pulling from your content, so that the only way for users to access your data is to visit your website.

3. Non-business websites

For business websites, it’s almost a given that online visibility is a big priority. But among non-commercial websites, that may not always be true. Some sites aren’t necessarily concerned with high Google rankings or driving tons of traffic, because that isn’t a source of revenue for them. For those websites, opting out of AI search features may not have any downsides.

Build an AI-ready SEO strategy with WebFX

For better or worse, appearing in Google’s AI search features is now essential for online visibility. But it’s also easier said than done. If you’re struggling with the process of optimizing your content for AI search, you may want to consider partnering with an experienced SEO agency like WebFX.

We have over 30 years of experience helping businesses increase their visibility online, and we’ve honed our approach for the age of AI search. If you’re interested in partnering with us for our AI-ready SEO services, just give us a call at 888-601-5359 or contact us online today to get started!