Google must give UK publishers AI click data by 3 December, and says it has nothing to announce yet

Under a conduct requirement from the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Google must give publishers impressions, clicks and click-through rates for its AI Overviews and AI Mode from 3 December 2026. So far Google reports AI impressions only, and AI clicks are mixed into ordinary web clicks. On 2 November Google’s Gary Illyes said there was “nothing to announce yet” on adding the click data to Search Console (Search Engine Journal; CMA summary).

Why this matters

If you run a website, this is the first time any regulator has required Google to show whether its AI answers send you visitors. Publishers are holding off on decisions about opting out of AI features until they can see the numbers, according to Digiday. The requirement applies to the UK only, and Google has not committed to sharing the data elsewhere.

For the background on Google’s UK opt-out for AI features, see our earlier report.

What to watch: whether the data appears by 3 December. Google’s first compliance report to the CMA is due on 3 January 2027, and page-level controls are due on 3 March 2027.