Google's AI search reports: what local businesses should track
Recent Search Console updates give businesses more ways to understand visibility beyond traditional text searches.
Search visibility is no longer only about a list of blue links. Google has announced reporting changes that help site owners inspect AI and image-led search. Here is the distinction between what Google announced and what we would measure for a local business.
What Google announced, and when
On 3 June 2026, Google announced dedicated Search Console reports for visibility in generative AI features, including AI Overviews and AI Mode. Its announcement was updated to say the insights had rolled out worldwide by 31 August 2026. The views cover impressions, pages, countries, dates and, for Search results, devices. Read Google's AI reporting announcement.
On 24 September 2026, Google also announced multimodal reporting for searches using images, including Lens, Circle to Search and image uploads. It said this would roll out globally and appear where sites receive that traffic. Read the multimodal reporting announcement.
What we would look for
Start with the pages connected to your business goals. Are your core services appearing, or only an informational article? Are people finding product photographs, completed work or content that explains what you offer?
For a Hertfordshire restaurant, print business or agency, those paths can have different value. Record the question each page answers and the next action it offers. Compare changes over a useful period instead of treating a single appearance as a permanent result.
An appearance is not a new customer
Keep visibility, visits and enquiries separate. An impression does not prove that a person visited your website, that an AI system recommended your business, or that a booking followed. Use reporting alongside real enquiries and booking information, with privacy-conscious measurement.
If a new report has little or no data, do not fill the gap with estimates presented as results. Check access and data availability, then use the information the account actually provides.
The practical next step
Review your important service pages, make the offer and contact route clear, and keep useful project photographs close to the information they support. Use the reporting to decide what to improve next, not as a reason to publish large amounts of generic content.
These are reporting announcements, not a promise that changing a page will improve its ranking or earn an AI citation.
Sources
- Google: AI performance reports, announced 3 June 2026; worldwide rollout update 31 August 2026
- Google: multimodal reporting, announced 24 September 2026
Sources checked on 13 October 2026.
