Google ordered to put clearer links in AI search and let UK publishers opt out

Published: 1 day ago (June 3, 2026 at 04:26 PM EDT)

7 min read

Source: Ars Technica

Google Must Change AI Overviews After Claiming Users Don’t Want “Lots of Sources”

UK regulators have ordered Google to add clearer attributions and links to publishers’ content in its AI‑generated search features. The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also requires Google to give publishers a way to opt‑out of AI features in search.

Key Points

Effective opt‑out tools – Publishers can now prevent their content from being used to power AI features such as AI Overviews.
Clear attribution – Google must display proper links to the original publisher in AI‑generated results.
No penalty for opting out – Google may not down‑rank publishers that choose to opt out of AI.
Compliance timeline – Google has nine months to meet all requirements, with early rollout of key controls expected.
Transparency reports – Google must publish compliance reports with data and metrics showing the changes made.

“In a world first, publishers will now have effective tools to prevent their content being used to power AI features in search, such as AI Overviews,” the CMA said in its announcement.
— CMA press release

Background

AI Overviews often provide confident‑sounding answers to queries, but the source links may not always support those answers.
The CMA’s decision follows its determination that Google holds “strategic market status” in general search services.
The regulator is also conducting investigations into Apple and Microsoft (Digital Markets Unit investigations).

Image

[Image: Sign at the Google I/O Developers Conference in Mountain View, California on Tuesday, May 19, 2026.]
Credit: Getty Images | Bloomberg

Sources

CMA announcement – “CMA secures fairer deal for publishers and improves Google search services in UK” – gov.uk
Digital Markets Unit investigations – gov.uk collections

Google has confirmed it will comply with the CMA decision.

Google opposed “excessive attribution”

Google said last month that it would add more links to websites in AI Overviews, but it opposed the attribution requirement in its formal response to the CMA proceeding in February. Google said it is “already motivated to strike the right balance between attribution and usability.”

“Excessive attribution of lots of sources may worsen the user experience and lead to fewer clicks; not more,” Google told the CMA.
“But too little attribution and publishers may decide to opt out, depriving Google of their content for grounding Search gen‑AI features.”

Google also objected to the CMA’s opt‑out rule. Now that the proceeding is over, Google today announced new controls for website owners in response to the UK directive.

“Today, we’re beginning to test a new control that lets website owners manage how their links and content appear in generative AI Search features,” Google said.
“With this new toggle in Search Console, website owners can decide if they want their site to appear in and help ground responses in our generative AI Search features (like AI Overviews, AI Mode or AI Overviews in Discover). Sites that opt out will not receive traffic or impressions from our generative AI features. This control will not be used as a ranking signal for search results outside of these generative AI Search features.”

Google also said it is giving website owners more data through Search Console, including impressions metrics and information about which pages appear in AI responses and in what countries. The changes are currently being provided to a subset of website owners in the UK, allowing for thorough testing before a global rollout.

Google Says It Will Comply

While Google announced that the Search Console changes will eventually roll out globally, the blog post did not specify whether the UK‑mandated changes to attributions and links will be available everywhere. Google also did not answer that question when contacted by Ars today.

Google told Ars that it will fully comply with the CMA’s new conduct requirements and said its recent announcements of additional links to web content in AI search results apply globally:

Explore Web with Generative AI Search –
Original High‑Quality Content Search –

Google’s blog post did not detail the specific changes it will make to meet the requirement for clearer attribution and links to publishers in AI results, but it noted that the firm is “continuing to experiment with a range of new link designs in our AI experiences to make them more useful.”

CMA Requirements

Notice – The CMA requires Google to “take reasonable steps to ensure that Search Content in search generative AI features is attributed clearly, accurately, and that end users are provided with a clear means to access that Search Content.”
Decision – The CMA’s decision highlighted that some stakeholders reported inaccurate attribution and a lack of clarity in generative AI features.

The CMA also required Google to publish explanatory information describing how it meets the new attribution requirement and how it ensures and measures the factuality of search generative AI features.

“As set out in consultation, we consider that transparency over attribution is important so that publishers can trust that, where Google uses Search Content in search generative AI features, it is sufficiently and accurately attributed,” the CMA said. “This, in turn, helps publishers make properly informed and meaningful decisions about whether and how they interact with Google in respect of general search services. Transparency measures also bring benefits to end users as they help them understand how Google has attributed responses and therefore help them to trust the responses they receive.”

Opt‑out dispute

The CMA notice states that Google shall provide publishers with effective controls to withhold their Search Content from being used in generative AI services and features.
The opt‑outs must cover:

the training and grounding of Google’s broader generative‑AI services, and
Google’s AI search features.

For the AI search features, the CMA requires opt‑outs to be available to publishers at both the directory and page levels.

Google’s response

In February, Google argued that its current opt‑outs are sufficient and effective. The company told the CMA that offering page‑level opt‑outs would be “disproportionate” because:

Constantly crawling and re‑crawling content that is being opted in and out would increase Google’s costs and, consequently, crawl costs for publishers.
It could lead to user confusion and a fragmented, inconsistent user experience.

CMA decision

The CMA’s final decision rejected Google’s argument, noting that regulators have not seen evidence that page‑level controls would require increased crawling activity. Google eventually conceded that page‑level controls could be introduced given enough time.

The nine‑month deadline should provide “sufficient time to carry out additional technical work to design and implement these aspects of the control effectively.”
Google must submit an implementation plan within one month.

Industry reaction

The News Media Association (NMA), a UK trade group, said the legally enforceable Conduct Requirements for Google Search are “a significant step towards leveling the playing field and building a fair, transparent digital economy where premium content is properly respected and fairly compensated.” The NMA called on the UK to implement robust enforcement.

“The legally enforceable Conduct Requirements for Google Search published today are a significant step towards leveling the playing field and building a fair, transparent digital economy where premium content is properly respected and fairly compensated.” – News Media Association

About the author

Jon Brodkin is a Senior IT Reporter for Ars Technica. He covers the telecom industry, FCC rulemakings, broadband consumer affairs, court cases, and government regulation of the tech sector.

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