Google lets any website leave its AI features through one Search Console setting, the Search generative AI control. It reached all websites on August 31, 2026.
On October 21, Google refreshed its page on controlling what you share with Search and listed the control next to noindex. That was a documentation update, not a launch.
For a firm deciding whether to opt out of AI Overviews, the law firm question is simple: what does it gain, and what does it give up?
A law firm can opt out of AI Overviews, AI Mode and generative AI features in Discover through the Search generative AI control in Search Console.
Opting out removes the firm’s links and content from those features, but it does not affect regular rankings or AI training, and other sites’ content can still appear in its place.
What Google’s Search Generative AI Control Does
Google’s Search generative AI control decides whether a site’s links and content can appear in AI Overviews, AI Mode and generative AI features in Google Discover, according to Google’s Search generative AI control help page.
The setting sits under Settings in Search Console and has three choices:
- Include: the default. The site can appear as a link and help ground AI answers.
- Exclude: the site’s links and content stop appearing in those features, and the site gets no traffic or impressions from them.
- Inherit: the property follows its parent property’s setting.
A change generally takes a few days. Google says content is excluded within one to two days, though caching can delay some of it.
What Opting Out Does Not Do
Opting out does less than it sounds, per the same help page.
- It does not change rankings elsewhere. Google says the control “isn’t used as a ranking or inclusion signal” for other parts of Search.
- It does not stop AI training. Google points to Google-Extended for that.
- It does not remove the site from Search. Google points to noindex for that.
- It does not keep competitors out. Other sites’ content stays, and Google says it “may appear similar to yours.”
That last point matters most. If a firm leaves, the client’s question still gets answered from someone else’s page. Firms weighing where law firm pages still earn the click in AI Mode should factor that in.
Three Questions to Answer Before a Law Firm Opts Out
Are AI features sending the firm visits now?
Google names a Generative AI performance report in Search Console for seeing how content performs in these features. A firm getting clicks from AI Overviews gives those up by leaving.
Is the real worry AI training?
If the concern is Google training its models on the firm’s pages, this control is the wrong tool. Google says it does not affect training and names Google-Extended as the separate choice.
Is the worry one section, not the whole site?
A firm may only be uneasy about one part of its site, such as an old resource library.
Opting Out One Section With a URL-Prefix Property
A law firm can set the control for one folder instead of the whole domain. Google’s help page says a child property can set its own value instead of inheriting it. Verify the folder as its own URL-prefix property in Search Console, such as https://example.com/resources/, then change the control there. The domain property owner sees a notice when a child overrides the parent.
Frequently Asked Questions
Opting out of AI Overviews does not change a law firm’s rankings in regular Google results, according to Google. Its help page says the control is not used as a ranking or inclusion signal for other parts of Search. The firm only loses traffic from the AI features themselves.
The AI Overviews opt out generally takes a few days. Google says content is excluded within one to two days after the setting goes live, but caching across Google systems can make some content take longer to leave AI Overviews, AI Mode and Discover.
The Search generative AI control does not stop AI training on a firm’s pages. Google says the control only affects whether content appears in certain Search AI features. To limit training of the models behind those features, Google points site owners to Google-Extended.
A law firm can opt out only part of its website by verifying that section as its own URL-prefix property in Search Console. Google lets a child property set its own Search generative AI control instead of inheriting the domain’s setting, and the domain owner is notified of the override.
- The control covers AI Overviews, AI Mode and AI features in Discover, and reached all sites on August 31, 2026.
- Excluding a site removes it from those features but is not a ranking signal elsewhere in Search.
- AI training is a separate choice, handled through Google-Extended.
- A URL-prefix property can set its own control for one section of a site.
Deciding Whether to Opt Out of AI Overviews as a Law Firm
For most firms, the better move is to stay in. Leaving AI Overviews does not protect rankings, stop training or remove the question from Google. It only removes the firm’s answer, and competitors whose pages stay in will fill that space.
The stronger play is to make the pages AI features draw on accurate, current and easy to quote, and to save the opt out for sections the firm truly wants hidden. Lexicon’s legal content experts can run a law firm website content audit that shows which pages need work before anyone touches the setting. Call 877-486-8123 to start the review.
