Why can't I see the generative AI report in Search Console?

Google announced the generative AI report on 3 June 2026 and rolled it out in stages. Around 11 August 2026 the rollout completed globally. Google's help page for the report still says it is rolling out "to a subset of website owners", so the documentation lags the product. If you read that page and assumed you had to wait, you probably don't.

When owners say the report is missing, it is usually one of four things:

• You expect metrics it doesn't have. It reports impressions only. There is no clicks column to find.
• The numbers look broken. A Google-side bug depressed impressions from about 12 August 2026.
• Your pages aren't eligible. No eligibility, no impressions.
• You're looking in the wrong place. The Search Analytics API doesn't expose this surface, and the report doesn't cover the Gemini app.

Each one has a different fix, covered below. For a walkthrough of the report itself, see using Search Console's generative AI report.

The report counts impressions for two surfaces: AI Overviews and AI Mode. You can break those impressions down by page, country, date and device. That is the whole report as of October 2026.

It does not show:

• Clicks or click-through rate. Google has described more metrics only as a future intention. See whether you can see AI Overview clicks.
• Position. No rank inside an AI answer is reported, so no third-party "AI rank" can be checked against Google's data.
• Gemini app activity. The Gemini app is a separate product, governed by the Google-Extended control rather than Search. More on Gemini app citations in Search Console.
• An API feed. Tools can't pull the report automatically, which is why AI visibility tools can't import it.

Google also says AI Overviews and AI Mode "may use different models and techniques" and can show different links. Read the two surfaces separately rather than as one blended number.

What it means: the report tells you whether Google showed your pages in its AI features. It can't tell you whether that produced visits or revenue.

Google confirmed a bug that depressed impressions in both the Search performance report and the generative AI report starting around 12 to 13 August 2026. That is the same week the global rollout completed, so many owners met the report for the first time with broken numbers.

What this means for you:

• A sudden drop starting in mid-August may be Google's bug, not a change on your site.
• Any trend that spans that window compares healthy data with depressed data. Don't report it as a real decline.
• Check Google's current status for the issue before you build a trend line or a client report on these dates.

If your drop started at a different time, work through why AI impressions drop suddenly.

An empty report can be accurate. Google states that to appear as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode, a page must be indexed and eligible to show in Search with a snippet. It adds that there are no additional technical requirements, and that indexing and serving aren't guaranteed. AI Overviews also don't trigger on every query.

Three on-page controls remove eligibility: noindex, nosnippet and max-snippet:0. The data-nosnippet attribute hides marked sections from display. These often arrive through a template nobody remembers editing.

Then there is the AI features control in Search Console. Inclusion is opt-out: it is the default for all properties, and it covers AI Overviews, AI Mode and Discover generative AI features. Child properties inherit the parent's setting by default. A property opted out, on purpose or by inheritance, will show little or nothing here. Read how the AI features control works and how to audit inherited AI controls across properties.

Nothing you add makes a page more eligible. These are blocks to remove, not levers to pull.

1. Confirm the property. Make sure you're in the property that owns the pages you care about.
2. Set the date range. Exclude or flag mid-August 2026 onward until you've confirmed the bug's status.
3. Check indexing. Use URL Inspection on key pages. An unindexed page can't earn AI impressions.
4. Check snippet controls. Look for noindex, nosnippet, max-snippet and data-nosnippet on templates.
5. Check the AI features control. Look at parent and child properties, if the control is visible to you yet.
6. Accept the limits. For clicks, queries or Gemini app data, you need a different source.

The report can't show what an AI Overview actually said about you. To see the answer text for a query, the AI Overview Checker shows what Google displays for it.

Is the generative AI report still in limited rollout? No, as of October 2026. The rollout completed globally around 11 August 2026. Google's help page still says the report is rolling out to a subset of website owners, so the documentation is behind the product. Don't cite that page as proof the report is unavailable to you. If you still can't find it, check you're in the right property before assuming you're excluded.

Does the report show which searches triggered my AI impressions? No. Its dimensions are pages, countries, dates and devices. There is no query dimension, so you can see which pages appeared but not the searches behind them. Google may also fan one search out into several related searches, which makes the real trigger harder to pin down. See [which searches triggered your AI Overview impressions](/questions/search-console-ai-overview-queries) for what you can and can't infer.

Will adding schema or an llms.txt file make impressions appear? No. Google says structured data isn't required for generative AI search, and its optimization guide says Google Search ignores AI text files such as llms.txt. Ahrefs' matched test found AI Overview citations fell 4.6% after pages added schema. Existing markup does no harm, but it isn't a lever for this report. Eligibility depends on indexing and snippet eligibility.

Can my numbers be trusted after the August bug? Treat data from roughly 12 to 13 August 2026 onward with care until you've confirmed Google's status for the bug. It affected both the Search and generative AI performance reports. Compare periods that sit entirely before or entirely after the issue, and label any chart that spans it. A drop that starts exactly then is more likely Google's problem than yours.