Search Console's Generative AI report: what it shows a store, and what it doesn't

TL;DR: Search Console has a Generative AI report that counts how often your pages were shown in AI Overviews, AI Mode and Discover's AI features. It shows impressions only: no clicks, no queries. It is not available through the Search Console API, so the only way to keep its history is to export it by hand. Do that monthly, starting now, and use it to track one number no Search Console report shows: the share of each page's web search impressions that come from AI Overviews and AI Mode.

What changed

Google added a Generative AI report to Search Console in June 2026, and finished rolling it out to sites worldwide on August 31. It is the first Google-native view of how often a site's pages appear inside Google's AI answers.

The report has two views. The Search view covers AI Overviews and AI Mode. The Discover view covers AI features in Discover. Each view breaks impressions down by page, country, date and, for Search, device.

What it shows a store

• Which pages Google's AI answers link to. If a product or guide page appears in AI Overviews or AI Mode, it shows up here with an impression count.
• Whether that is growing. The date view lets you see whether AI appearances rise or fall over time.
• Where. The country split shows which markets see your pages in AI answers.

What it doesn't show

• No clicks. You can see that a page appeared, not whether anyone visited from it.
• No queries. You can see that a page appeared, not for which question.
• No API access. The Search Console API still offers only web, image, video, news, Google News and Discover as search types. There is no AI Overviews or AI Mode type. So no tool can pull this report automatically today, and its data can only leave Search Console as a manual export.

One more detail matters when you compare numbers. Your ordinary Search Console web impressions already include appearances in AI Overviews and AI Mode. They are not a "classic search only" figure.

That detail is also the most useful thing in the report. Because the AI numbers sit inside your web numbers, you can divide one by the other for each page: impressions from the report's Search view (AI Overviews and AI Mode) over web search impressions. That gives you the share of a page's web search impressions that now happen inside an AI answer. No report in Search Console shows that share, and it is the number to watch. A page whose share climbs while its clicks stay flat is worth a closer look: it is showing up in answers more, without more visits to show for it.

What to do this week

1. Open the report in Search Console and check that it shows data for your property.
2. Export it once a month and keep the files. With no API, a monthly export is the only way to keep your own record and build a baseline.
3. Work out the AI share for your top pages: Search-view impressions (AI Overviews and AI Mode, not Discover) divided by web search impressions, for the same page and month. Put it next to that page's clicks. Start with pages that have a high share and few clicks.
4. Be careful with tools that promise to import this report automatically. Ask how, since Google does not expose it through the API.

Why it matters

On some searches, Google now shows an AI answer above the regular results. Until now, a store could not see from Google itself whether its pages were part of those answers. This report is a first step: it shows that you appear. What it cannot show is why a page was chosen, or what the shopper asked. For that, you still need to test the questions your buyers are likely to ask.

Sources: Google Search Console Help, Search Console API reference (searchanalytics.query), Search Engine Journal (worldwide rollout).