I recently discovered that Google is considering ways to allow websites to opt out of its AI-generated search features, such as AI Mode and AI Overviews. Naturally, I was curious about how the SEO community felt about it, so I conducted a poll on X to see if site owners would actually opt out.
The results were intriguing. Out of over 350 respondents, the majority mentioned they wouldn’t opt out. However, around one-third indicated they would prefer to block or opt out of these features. Here’s how the responses broke down:
Question: Would you block Google from using your content for AI Overviews and AI Mode?
- 33.2% – Yes, I’d block Google
- 41.9% – No, I wouldn’t block
- 24.9% – I am not sure yet.
Here’s the actual poll for reference:
But how do you opt out? Right now, that remains a mystery. Google has only mentioned it is exploring possibilities, without providing a clear mechanism. Frankly, the ease or difficulty of opting out could significantly influence decisions. If it’s straightforward, more sites might choose to opt out; if not, fewer will do so.
So why does this matter? We won’t truly know how many sites will opt out until Google officially offers a way to do so. Rest assured, once they do, there will be extensive reporting on the number of sites that decide to opt out.
To give you an idea, The Press Gazette recently reported that around 79% of nearly 100 top news websites in the UK and US are already blocking at least one AI training crawler, including OpenAI’s GPTBot, ClaudeBot, and others.
My advice is simple: Once Google makes this opt-out feature available, give it a test. See firsthand what the impact of opting in or out could be.
Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
