UK CMA Requires Google to Separate AI Search Click Metrics for Publishers

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has required Google to give publishers more detailed reporting on engagement with its search-generated AI features. The Publisher Conduct Requirement (PCR) covers AI Overviews and AI Mode, and calls for publisher-level metrics that separate AI search exposure from standard organic search results.

For publishers trying to understand whether AI search is creating discovery, reducing referral traffic, or doing both, the requirement is significant. Google currently provides some AI-related impression information in Search Console, but publishers do not yet have a separate dashboard for AI-feature clicks and click-through rate (CTR).

What the CMA has required Google to provide

The PCR follows the CMA's designation of Google as having Strategic Market Status for general search services. Under the requirement, Google must provide clear and detailed engagement metrics for its search-generated AI features.

The required reporting includes:

• Impressions, clicks and CTR associated with search-generated AI features.
• Data aggregated across AI Overviews and AI Mode.
• Publisher-level breakdowns.
• A distinction between exposure in AI features and exposure in conventional organic search.

The requirement also addresses transparency beyond traffic measurement. Google must provide information about how publisher content is used, attributed and presented to end users. It must also publish Explanatory Information concerning attribution and grounding.

The CMA's Publisher Conduct Requirement sets out these obligations and the implementation timetable. The accompanying Interpretative Notes provide further context on how the requirement should be understood.

The deadlines publishers should track

Google's compliance deadline is 3 December 2026. It then has an additional three months to roll out a page-level grounding control, with a target date of 3 March 2027.

The reporting process begins before the public can evaluate a full year of data. Under the CMA's Publisher CR Notice, Google's first compliance report covers 3 June through 3 December 2026 and is due on 3 January 2027. A non-confidential version of that report must be published.

Why the distinction in reporting matters

Search Console performance data has historically made it possible to analyse clicks, impressions, CTR and average position for standard Google Search results. AI-generated search experiences complicate that analysis because a page may be used to ground or support an answer without receiving a click.

The new requirement is intended to make that separation more visible. A publisher could assess AI-feature impressions, AI-feature clicks and AI-feature CTR independently from its ordinary organic performance, rather than treating all Search Console activity as one undifferentiated channel.

That does not mean an AI impression will automatically represent a visit, a citation, or commercial value. Impressions, clicks and CTR remain different measures. A high level of AI-feature exposure may coexist with few referrals, while a smaller amount of exposure may produce more valuable visits. The CMA requirement improves the potential for analysis, but it does not itself establish that AI visibility causes traffic, conversions or revenue.

As Search Engine Journal's reporting notes, Google currently reports AI impressions through the Generative AI Performance Report in Search Console. AI clicks remain included in the standard Performance report, rather than being available in a distinct publisher-level AI clicks and CTR view.

What UK publishers should do before the reporting change

The requirements are UK-specific, so publishers should not assume that equivalent reporting will immediately be available everywhere. Still, organisations with UK audiences can prepare their measurement processes now.

First, document current baselines. Keep records of organic impressions, clicks, CTR, landing-page performance and referral patterns before the new reporting is expected. A historical baseline will make later AI-specific data more interpretable.

Second, review reporting definitions. Analytics, SEO and editorial teams should agree on how they will distinguish standard organic visibility, AI-feature impressions, AI-feature clicks and direct or referral traffic. This avoids comparing metrics that describe different user actions.

Third, establish ownership for publisher and page-level analysis. The new reporting is expected to be broken down by publisher, while the future grounding control introduces a page-level element. Content, technical SEO, legal and commercial teams may all need input into how that information is evaluated.

Finally, avoid treating this as a reason to optimise only for an unknown metric. The available CMA materials establish reporting and transparency obligations, not a new Google ranking system. Useful measurement should support better decisions about content accessibility, attribution, visibility and audience outcomes.

For teams building a clearer baseline before AI-specific reporting changes, create a GEO Search Leads account. It can help you assess website GEO readiness and identify optimisation opportunities around how clearly your content, entities and pages can be understood in AI-powered discovery. Use those findings alongside your existing Search Console and analytics reporting, rather than treating one score as proof of visibility or performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

When must Google provide the new AI search metrics to UK publishers?

Google's compliance deadline for the CMA Publisher Conduct Requirement is 3 December 2026. Its first compliance report is due on 3 January 2027.

Which Google AI search features are covered?

The requirement covers Google's search-generated AI features, including AI Overviews and AI Mode. The metrics are to be aggregated across those features.

Will publishers receive separate AI clicks and CTR in Search Console today?

No separate publisher-level AI clicks and CTR dashboard is available yet. AI impressions are reported in the Generative AI Performance Report, while AI clicks remain included in the standard Performance report.

Does the requirement apply globally?

The CMA requirement applies in the UK. The supplied materials do not establish that Google must provide the same reporting in every market.

What is the page-level grounding control deadline?

Google has an additional three months after the 3 December 2026 compliance deadline to roll out the page-level grounding control, targeting 3 March 2027.

Conclusion

The CMA's requirement moves AI search measurement beyond broad impression reporting toward publisher-level data on impressions, clicks and CTR. For UK publishers, the immediate task is to prepare meaningful baselines and reporting definitions so that the new data can be interpreted in context when Google's compliance obligations take effect.