# Search Console has a Search generative AI setting. Should I change it?

> Read Search Console’s generative AI setting. Exclusion affects covered AI features, without changing other Search ranking or participation in Shopping.

September 11, 2026 · Sources checked October 12, 2026 · Changed August 31, 2026

https://app.ai-commerce-ready.com/blog/google-search-generative-ai-control-worldwide-2026-08/

## When this applies

Someone offers to remove your store from AI Overviews, or you are deciding whether the storefront should keep appearing in Google's generative AI features. [1]

## When this does not apply

This setting controls covered AI-feature visibility. Other Search ranking and inclusion are unchanged; training uses Google-Extended. [1]

## Why this matters

The control sits at property level with include as the default, so one value covers every page under a domain property, and excluding removes the site from AI Overviews, AI Mode, and generative AI features in Discover. [1]

## What to do

Read each property’s choice in Search Console > Settings > Search generative AI. Keep Include unless you intend to leave the covered AI features. [1]

## When you’re done

You can name the current value on every Search Console property that covers a store address, and the reason it is set that way. [1]

## What this cannot prove

The setting states whether Google may use your content in those features. It does not prove that AI Overviews or AI Mode showed a product, or that a shopper who saw one bought anything. [1]

## Paid help and free options

- When paid help makes sense: Paid help is worth it only where the Search Console property structure has to be sorted out first, because a child property can inherit a value from a parent and end up on a setting nobody chose for it. [1]
- What’s already free: The control is a setting on a Search Console property you already verify, so no app, plugin, or subscription supplies it. [1]

**Keep Include unless you intend to remove your pages from Google's generative AI features.** Check Search Console > Settings > Search generative AI, including inherited choices.

Google's [control documentation](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16908024) says it reached all websites on August 31, 2026.

## Read the property setting

| Value | Effect |
|---|---|
| Include | Default. Content may appear as links or support AI responses. |
| Exclude | Content and links are excluded from covered AI features. |
| Inherit from parent | Uses the parent property's choice. |

The control covers AI Overviews, AI Mode, and generative AI features in Discover. It does not change other Search inclusion or ranking, override Merchant Center or Google Ads participation, or control training. Google-Extended is the separate training control. Content may still help Google Search understand queries and pages.

## Check the whole address range

A domain property covers its subdomains and pages. A URL-prefix property covers that prefix. There is no page-level setting. Excluding a blog while retaining products requires a property structure that separates them.

Changes generally take about one to two days after the control goes live; cached content can take longer.

Record the current choice and reason for every property covering a store address. Include preserves eligibility for these features; it proves no product appearance or sale. Exclude is a deliberate visibility choice, not a ranking improvement.

## Sources

1. [Search generative AI control](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16908024)