# Check AI search visibility in Google Search Console

> Use Google Search Console's Generative AI performance report to record AI Overviews and AI Mode impressions, with clear limits on what the data covers.

By BIG CHANGE Editorial

Published: 2026-10-19T15:49:17.808Z
Updated: 2026-10-19T15:49:17.808Z
Canonical: https://bigchange.ai/blog/google-search-console-ai-search-visibility-guide

![Conceptual charcoal illustration of one person viewing an unbranded phone with blank search-page shapes and an orange band.](https://bigchange.ai/api/media/file/google-search-visibility-phone-v2.png)
AI-generated conceptual illustration by BIG CHANGE; no actual Google result, Search Console interface, impression data or BIG CHANGE test is depicted.

Google Search Console now has a dedicated **Generative AI performance report (Search)** for impressions from AI Overviews and AI Mode. A website owner or analyst can use it to record where a site's links appeared in those Google Search features. Google says the report reached websites worldwide on August 31, 2026, although a property with too few qualifying impressions may have no report to show. The instructions here come from Google's documentation, checked October 19, 2026. BIG CHANGE did not test a Search Console account. [Google Search Central announcement](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/06/gen-ai-performance-reports) [Search Console Help](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16984139)

## The big change

- **What changed:** Search Console offers a separate impressions view for generative AI features on Google Search, alongside its broader performance reporting.
- **What it shows:** The Search report covers AI Overviews and AI Mode, with page, country, date and device groupings. Google documents an impressions metric for this view.
- **What it cannot answer:** It does not measure whether a page appears in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity or another assistant. Google's Discover generative AI report is separate, too. [Search Console Help](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16984139)

This guide is for someone with access to the site's Search Console property who needs a dated record of **Google Search** AI-feature visibility. You need the property name or URL, a date range to inspect, and a place to store the result. An owner or a Search Console user with report access can read it; Google's permission table says owner, full-user and restricted-user roles can view reports. A property must first be added and verified by an owner, or an existing owner must grant access. [Managing users and permissions](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7687615) [Getting started](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/10267942)

## Check the Search report

1. **Open the correct property.** Sign in to [Search Console](https://search.google.com/search-console/), use its property selector to choose the website you mean to measure, and write down that property's name. Google documents the selector for accounts with multiple properties. If the property is absent, ask its owner for access or follow Google's verification instructions; switching to a different property would change the result. [Add a property](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/34592) [Verify ownership](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9008080)
2. **Open Google's Search report.** Use the official Help page's [**Open the Generative AI performance report** link](https://search.google.com/search-console/performance/search-analytics/ai). Confirm that the report is **Generative AI performance report (Search)** for the selected property. This direct link is Google's documented entry point; the Help page does not specify a sidebar path, so there is no sidebar sequence to follow here. The separate Discover report answers a different question. [Search report Help](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16984139) [Discover report Help](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16983858)
3. **Choose and record a date range.** Set the period you want to examine using the report's date-range control, then write down its start and end dates. Google's Help page confirms that date ranges can be changed but does not prescribe a particular range or name preset options. The **Dates** table groups data by day, week or month, and Google says those dates use Pacific Time. The newest chart segment may be dotted because the data is preliminary and can change. [Search report Help](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16984139)
4. **Record the documented measure.** Copy the chart's **total impressions** for the selected period. In this report, an impression means a link to the site was shown to a user in a supported generative AI feature on Google Search. Google says the chart is aggregated by property: two results from the same site in one generative AI search feature count as one chart impression. If you use a URL filter, chart aggregation changes to URL level, so note the filter beside any total. [Search report Help](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16984139)
5. **Add only useful breakdowns.** Select the documented tabs above the table: **Pages**, **Countries**, **Dates** or **Devices**. Pages uses the final linked URL after redirects, with most data assigned to the canonical URL. Countries means where the search originated; Devices separates desktop, tablet and mobile. The report also documents a top **Search type** filter with **Web: text-based** and **Web: multimodal** choices. Record a choice if you apply it. A page table and the property chart may have different totals because Google aggregates them differently. [Search report Help](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16984139)
6. **Save an evidence sheet.** Record the date you checked, property, report name, start and end dates, time zone, any Search type or URL filter, chart impressions, and the page/country/device/date rows needed for your question. The report has an **export** button for chart and table data. If you export, retain the selected settings alongside the file: Google says displayed `~` or `-` values become zero in the download. Label those exported zeros carefully. [Search report Help](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16984139)

The task is complete when your dated sheet identifies the property and period, contains the documented Google Search impression total and any labeled breakdowns you chose, and explicitly says **“Google Search AI Overviews and AI Mode; other assistants not measured.”** A blank or unavailable report is a recorded outcome, not evidence that the site never appeared anywhere in AI search.

## If access or data is missing

If the property is missing, check that you signed in with the Google Account granted access and that the selected property covers the site you intend to examine. An owner can inspect **Settings > Users and permissions** or grant access; someone without owner rights should ask the owner. [Managing users and permissions](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7687615)

If the Generative AI performance report does not appear, Google's Help page says the usual reason is too few impressions from the supported Google Search features. Google also points to a property's **Search generative AI** control as a possible reason for exclusion. Ask the owner to inspect its existing setting before drawing a conclusion; changing that setting can affect where the site appears and is a site decision, not a measurement step. Check the selected property and date range again. Do not turn a missing report into a zero for other platforms. [Search report Help](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16984139) [Search generative AI control](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16908024)

If chart and page totals disagree, compare their aggregation and any URL filter. Google also notes the usual performance-report limits, including a 1,000-row table limit. For a recent period, note preliminary data and recheck it after collection settles rather than treating a dotted segment as final. [Search report Help](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16984139)

## What this evidence can and cannot establish

This report measures Google Search impressions for AI Overviews and AI Mode. It does not report clicks, click-through rate, ranking position, the user's exact prompt or a count of how often an AI answer used your content without showing a link. It also excludes Search Labs experiments. Google has a separate report for generative AI features in Discover. [Search report Help](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16984139) [Discover report Help](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16983858)

The report cannot show visibility in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity or other assistants. A vendor's prompt tracker may run sampled queries or model an estimated presence across services; that would be a different method and dataset. Keep those results separate from Search Console's observed Google impressions. This guide does not evaluate or endorse any such tracker.

Treat Search Console access and exports as site data. Share the sheet only with people allowed to see the property's performance, and have a human check the property, range, filters and interpretation before using it in a report or decision. The cited Google pages do not state an additional price for this report. No purchase or subscription is part of the documented steps, but this guide does not establish a price for third-party tools or a Search Console account. The interface and supported features may change; check the live Help page before repeating the task.

## Sources & further reading

- [Google Search Central: Introducing Search Generative AI performance reports in Search Console](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/06/gen-ai-performance-reports) — June 3, 2026 announcement, with an August 31, 2026 worldwide rollout note. It describes the separate Search and Discover views and the initial dimensions. Read October 19, 2026.
- [Google Search Console Help: Generative AI performance report (Search)](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16984139) — living instructions for the Search report's included features, controls, impressions, dimensions, aggregation, export and no-report explanations. No page update date is displayed; read October 19, 2026.
- [Google Search Console Help: Generative AI performance report (Discover)](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16983858) — establishes the separate Discover scope. No page update date is displayed; read October 19, 2026.
- [Google Search Console Help: Managing owners, users, and permissions](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7687615) — explains who can view reports and who can grant property access. No page update date is displayed; read October 19, 2026.
- [Google Search Console Help: Search generative AI control](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16908024) — explains the optional property inclusion control referenced in the report's missing-data guidance. No page update date is displayed; read October 19, 2026.

## Sources

- [Introducing Search Generative AI performance reports in Search Console](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/06/gen-ai-performance-reports) — Announcement and worldwide rollout note; the current Help page governs detailed steps.
- [Generative AI performance report (Search)](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16984139) — Living official Help for report scope, controls, metric, dimensions, export, aggregation and missing data.
- [Generative AI performance report (Discover)](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16983858) — Confirms the separate Discover report and its distinct scope.
- [Managing owners, users, and permissions](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7687615) — Documents report-view rights and owner-managed user access.
- [Search generative AI control](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16908024) — Documents a possible property exclusion behind absent Search AI impressions.