The new reports in Search Console provide information on how often specific URLs from a site appear in AI features on Search and Discover. The data can be broken down by dimensions such as pages, countries, devices, and dates.
In addition to measurement data, a new control is also being introduced where website owners can choose whether their content should be displayed and form the basis for answers in the generative AI features. According to Google, the tools are initially being rolled out to a small test group of website owners in the UK for evaluation before a wider launch.
The Significance for E-commerce
AI Overviews has over 2.5 billion active users per month, while AI Mode has surpassed one billion users. Given Google's recently launched Universal Cart and Universal Commerce Protocol features, which enable purchases directly within the AI interface, visibility in these surfaces becomes an integral part of e-commerce merchants' future purchasing flows.
Pontus Vippelius, Head of SEO at Adrelevance, comments on the new update:
Until now, we have had to estimate how sites perform in AI Overviews and AI Mode. That data has been embedded in the regular report, but without the ability to break it out. That is changing now, and it was honestly not something I expected Google to give us this quickly.
Lack of Click Data
The current version of the AI reports focuses exclusively on impressions and visibility. Specific data for clicks and click-through rate (CTR) is initially missing, but Google states that they plan to add more metrics over time.
Vippelius notes this limitation but still sees the value in the tool:
Impressions without click data only give half the picture. The central question for an e-commerce merchant is not just whether product pages are visible in AI answers, but whether it leads to visits and purchases. But this is an important first step and provides very good information.
Opportunity for Strategic Adjustments
With the help of the new reports, e-commerce merchants can in the future analyze whether it is specific product pages, category pages, or information pages that are picked up by Google's AI. The tool enables a direct comparison between the site's organic ranking and its performance in AI answers.
If you run an e-commerce business with thousands of products, you can now start to see which of your pages Google highlights in AI Overviews and AI Mode. Compare that to your organic ranking. Does it align, or do AI answers prioritize differently? That insight can be worth a lot when you decide where to put your SEO resources, says Pontus Vippelius.