# Search Console AI reports for AI Mode and AI Overviews

> Use the Search Console Generative AI performance report and control: what it measures, its limits, page analysis and an export routine.

Source: https://mentionx.ai/learn/gemini/gemini-search-console-ai-reports  
Author: Dipuck Jones, founder of MentionX  
Updated: 5 November 2026  
Level: Practitioner

**Search Console is the only first-party Google source for AI Overviews and AI Mode visibility. Since 31 August 2026 every website has had two things there. The Generative AI performance report shows how often links to your site appeared in AI Overviews and AI Mode. The Search generative AI control lets you include or exclude your site from those features. The report counts impressions, not clicks or queries, and it has the usual Performance report limits. Used well, it tells you which pages Google's AI features show, where and on which devices, and whether a content change moved anything. This lesson covers how to read it, what it can't tell you, and a repeatable export routine.**

> **Key takeaways**
>
> - The **Generative AI performance report** shows **impressions** of links to your site in **AI Overviews and AI Mode**. Discover has its own generative AI report.
> - Dimensions: **Pages** (canonical, after redirects), **Countries**, **Dates** (Pacific Time) and **Devices**. Search type filter: **Web: text-based** or **Web: multimodal**.
> - Its data comes from the **Web search type** of the Performance report, so AI feature clicks are counted inside overall Performance data but not shown separately.
> - Chart totals are aggregated by property and table rows by page, so totals can differ. The 1,000-row limit applies, and Search Labs data is excluded.
> - The report may be missing if impressions are too low, or if you've excluded the site with the control.

*Checked 5 November 2026 (CET) against Gemini Apps Help, the Gemini release notes, Google Workspace Help, Google Search Central, Search Console Help, the Gemini API docs and the Google blog posts cited in Sources. Google renames and moves Gemini features often, so confirm labels and limits in your own account. "Our view" marks MentionX opinion. Ledgerline is a fictional company used for illustration.*

## What does the report include?

| Item | Detail (Search Console Help) |
|---|---|
| Features covered | AI Overviews, AI Mode ("We expect to update this list over time") |
| Metric | Impressions: how many times links to your site were shown in a generative AI feature |
| Dimensions | Pages, Countries, Dates, Devices |
| Search type filter | Web: text-based (search bar); Web: multimodal (Google Lens, Circle to Search, uploaded images, Chrome image search) |
| Chart aggregation | By property; with a URL filter, by URL |
| Table aggregation | Country, device and date by property; pages by page |
| Data source | The Web search type in the Performance report |
| Excluded | Search Labs experiments |
| Export | Chart and table; "~" or "-" values become zeros |
| Limits | Same as the Performance report, including the 1,000-row table limit |

What it doesn't include: queries, clicks, CTR, position, or which competitors appeared alongside you.

## How do you open and configure it?

1. Search Console > choose the property (a Domain property gives the fullest view).
2. Performance > **Generative AI** (Search).
3. Set the date range. Start with the last 3 months, compared with the previous period.
4. Choose a search type: Web: text-based first, then check multimodal separately if you sell visual products.
5. Open the **Pages** tab to see which URLs are linked, then **Countries** and **Devices**.
6. Export to Sheets each month to keep a history.

If you don't see the report, check Settings > **Search generative AI**. An Exclude setting at your property, or Inherit from an excluded parent, removes you from the features. Otherwise your site may simply not have enough impressions yet.

## How do you use it with the Performance report?

| Question | Report | How |
|---|---|---|
| Which pages appear in AI features? | Generative AI | Pages tab, sorted by impressions |
| Do those pages get clicks overall? | Performance (Web) | Filter by the same page and compare clicks and CTR trend |
| Are AI impressions growing faster than total impressions? | Both | Index both to 100 at the start month |
| Which countries see us in AI Mode or AIO? | Generative AI | Countries tab |
| Do visual searches show our products? | Generative AI | Web: multimodal filter |
| What queries trigger it? | Neither directly | Use Performance query data for the page as a proxy, and your prompt tracking |

> **Pro move:** create an "AI share of page impressions" ratio for your top 50 pages. Divide each page's Generative AI impressions by its total Web impressions in the Performance report for the same period and country. A page with a high organic impression count but almost no AI impressions is ranking but not being used as a supporting link, which is usually a content specificity problem. A page with a high ratio and falling clicks may be answered in full on the results page, which calls for a stronger reason to click. Keep the ratio as a directional diagnostic. The two reports aggregate differently, so the numbers aren't strictly comparable.

## What does the Search generative AI control change in the report?

| Setting | Effect |
|---|---|
| Include (default for top-level properties) | Eligible; impressions appear in the report |
| Exclude | No links, grounding, traffic or impressions from these features; report may disappear |
| Inherit (default for child properties) | Follows the closest parent with a set value, else the top-level domain |

Changes generally take a few days. Google says exclusion applies within 1-2 days after the control goes live, and some content may take longer because of caching. Annotate the date of any change in your export sheet. See [Google-Extended, Googlebot and the Search generative AI control](https://mentionx.ai/learn/gemini/gemini-google-extended-googlebot-controls) for when to use it.

## How do you build a monthly export?

A simple sheet layout:

| Tab | Columns |
|---|---|
| gen_ai_pages | month, page, impressions, search_type, country (optional) |
| web_pages | month, page, impressions, clicks, ctr (from Performance) |
| ratio | month, page, ai_impressions, web_impressions, ai_ratio |
| notes | date, change (content update, control change, Google announcement) |

Use the Sheets AI function ([lesson 7](https://mentionx.ai/learn/gemini/gemini-sheets-data-analysis)) to label pages by type (product, comparison, blog, glossary), then pivot impressions by type. *Our view:* the page-type pivot is the most useful single view for content planning, because it shows which formats Google's AI features actually use from your site.

For bulk Performance data, see [Search Console API for AI analysis](https://mentionx.ai/learn/search-console/search-console-api-ai-analysis) and [BigQuery bulk export](https://mentionx.ai/learn/search-console/search-console-bigquery-bulk-export). Check the current API documentation before assuming generative AI data is available there.

## Worked example: Ledgerline

*Ledgerline is a fictional accounts-payable software company. Details are illustrative.*

| Page type | Gen AI impressions, Oct 2026 (illustrative) | Web impressions | AI ratio | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Integration pages | 9,800 | 41,000 | 24% | Grew after the NetSuite rewrite |
| Comparison pages | 7,200 | 22,000 | 33% | High ratio; clicks falling |
| Benchmark report | 5,100 | 18,500 | 28% | New since refresh |
| Blog (definitions) | 1,400 | 96,000 | 1.5% | Ranks, rarely used |
| Pricing | 3,900 | 12,000 | 33% | Possible official-page section |

### Walkthrough

1. The SEO lead exported Generative AI Pages and Web Performance pages for October.
2. She labelled pages by type with the Sheets AI function and checked a sample by hand.
3. The ratio showed definition posts ranking but rarely being linked, so they were added to the non-commodity rewrite list.
4. Comparison pages had high AI ratios and falling clicks, so the team added an interactive cost calculator as a reason to click.
5. The notes tab recorded the 15 October Search update, so later changes weren't credited only to content work.

## Common mistakes

- **Reading impressions as traffic.**
- **Comparing chart totals to table sums.**
- **Forgetting the control** when the report disappears.
- **Ignoring multimodal** for product brands.
- **Not exporting monthly**, which leaves you without a history.

## Try it yourself

Open the Generative AI report, export the Pages tab for the last 3 months, and export the same pages from Performance (Web). Calculate the AI ratio for your top 20 pages and list the three lowest-ratio pages with high Web impressions.

## Quick quiz

**1. Which features does the report cover?**

*Answer:* AI Overviews and AI Mode.

**2. Does it show queries?**

*Answer:* No. Its dimensions are pages, countries, dates and devices.

**3. Why might the report be missing?**

*Answer:* Too few impressions, or the site is excluded with the Search generative AI control.

## What should you check before the next lesson?

- The control setting is confirmed.
- A 3-month export is saved.
- AI ratios are calculated for your top pages.

Previous: [Track Gemini and AI Mode traffic in GA4](https://mentionx.ai/learn/gemini/gemini-ga4-referral-tracking). Next: [Track Gemini visibility with a monthly routine](https://mentionx.ai/learn/gemini/gemini-visibility-tracking-monthly-routine). Or return to the [Gemini for Marketers track](https://mentionx.ai/learn/gemini/gemini-for-marketers). Related: [The Generative AI performance report](https://mentionx.ai/learn/search-console/search-console-generative-ai-performance-report), [What Search Console AI Overviews data shows](https://mentionx.ai/learn/measurement/search-console-ai-overviews-data-shows), [Search Console for marketers](https://mentionx.ai/learn/search-console/search-console-for-marketers).

## Common questions

**What does the Generative AI performance report show?** Impressions of links to your site in AI Overviews and AI Mode, by page, country, device and date, with Web text-based and multimodal search type filters.

**Does the report show queries or clicks?** No query dimension is offered. It reports impressions, and the usual 1,000-row table limit applies. AI feature clicks are counted within the overall Performance report under the Web search type.

**Why is my generative AI report missing?** It may not appear if your site has too few qualifying impressions, or if you have excluded your site with the Search generative AI control.
## Sources

- Search Console Help, [Generative AI performance report (Search)](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16984139?hl=en)
- Search Console Help, [Search generative AI control](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16908024?hl=en)
- Google Search Central, [AI features and your website](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features)
- Google Search Central, [Optimizing your website for generative AI features](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide)
- All accessed 5 Nov 2026.

## Frequently asked questions

### What does the Generative AI performance report show?

Impressions of links to your site in AI Overviews and AI Mode, by page, country, device and date, with Web text-based and multimodal search type filters.

### Does the report show queries or clicks?

No query dimension is offered. It reports impressions, and the usual 1,000-row table limit applies. AI feature clicks are counted within the overall Performance report under the Web search type.

### Why is my generative AI report missing?

It may not appear if your site has too few qualifying impressions, or if you have excluded your site with the Search generative AI control.

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Written and reviewed by Dipuck Jones for MentionX Learn. The HTML version of this page: https://mentionx.ai/learn/gemini/gemini-search-console-ai-reports