Generative AI appearance in Search Console

Google Search Console reports how often your pages appeared inside Google's generative-AI surfaces (for example, AI Overviews). This card shows those numbers verbatim — we do not add, invent, or estimate anything Google did not send.

What we read

We call the Search Console API with dimensions=['searchAppearance'] over the last 28 days ending three days ago (Google's own reporting lag). Every row Google returns is classified from primary Google documentation:

• Known generative-AI values map to a stable label.
• Unknown values pass through as Other with the raw name preserved for support review — never silently reclassified as generative.

States

• Available — Google returned at least one recognized generative-AI row. The card shows the exact clicks, impressions, CTR, and average position Google sent, per appearance row.
• Unavailable — Google returned no recognized generative-AI row for this property and window. This is different from a zero — it means Google did not report the surface at all. We do not zero-fill.
• Partial — Google returned rows but flagged the response as partial (rate limit, truncation). The rows we did receive are still displayed.
• Reconnect required — the Google connection needs to be reconnected. Open the site's Google workspace and follow the reconnect prompt.

Separate from provider metrics

Generative-AI appearance is a first-party Google signal. It is displayed on the Google workspace next to your other Search Console cards. It is never merged with the mention and share-of-voice charts on the AI Visibility workspace — those come from a different provider and measure a different thing.

What this does not tell you

Search Console reports impressions and clicks — how often Google chose to include your page inside a generative surface. It does not tell you whether the AI answer named you, linked you, quoted you, or preferred a competitor. For that, use AI Visibility.

Back to the docs index