Google Embeds Top Stories in AI Overviews, Raising Opt-Out Stakes

Google merges news placement with AI summaries

Google has begun embedding Top Stories carousels directly inside AI Overviews rather than displaying them as standalone modules lower on search results pages, according to tracking data from NewzDash, a visibility analytics firm serving news publishers.

Among news searches where Google displayed Top Stories at all, 15.5% in the United States and 17.46% in the United Kingdom showed the carousel integrated within the AI Overview. Entertainment queries showed the highest integration rates in both markets. NewzDash founder and CEO John Shehata reported that the two placements never appeared together in tracked results—it's one or the other, not both.

The data does not specify sample size, total search volume covered, or the exact timeframe of observation. No click-through rate comparisons between the integrated and standalone versions are yet available.

The opt-out complication

Google's Search Console now includes a control allowing site owners to opt out of AI features, which covers AI Overviews among other products. Google began honoring this setting on June 17, initially rolling it out to a subset of UK site owners before expanding to additional website owners.

Shehata interprets the policy to mean that publishers who opt out would lose their placement in Top Stories carousels embedded within AI Overviews, since those carousels are publisher links displayed inside a covered feature. He characterizes this as a high-confidence interpretation rather than confirmed behavior, noting that NewzDash plans to test the assumption.

Google has not explicitly clarified how the opt-out affects carousel placement. The company's help documentation states that links and content from opted-out sites will not appear in covered features, but does not address individual components within those features.

Google-Extended is separate

Shehata notes confusion among publishers between two distinct controls. Google-Extended, a separate crawler directive, determines whether content trains future Gemini models and supports grounding in Gemini Apps and Vertex AI. Blocking Google-Extended does not affect Google Search presence or remove sites from AI Overviews, AI Mode, or Top Stories placements.

Why it matters

The integration of Top Stories into AI Overviews transforms the opt-out calculus for news publishers. Previously, the decision centered on whether Google could use editorial content to generate AI summaries. Now, the same control potentially governs headline visibility in a prominent search placement. Publishers must weigh editorial objections to AI summarization against uncertain traffic consequences, with no clear data on how opting out affects news discovery. Google has indicated the opt-out setting will expand to cover additional features over time, meaning the scope of the decision will only grow.

Looking forward

Google has stated it expects to add more features to the opt-out control as it develops Search capabilities, suggesting the current list of three covered features will expand. For now, the setting affects only the subset of sites that have received access to the control.

These details were first reported by NewzDash and covered by Search Engine Journal.