The Great AI Boycott: 1/3 of Publishers Signal They Will Block Google’s AI Overviews

A significant fracture is forming in the digital publishing world as Google prepares to offer new controls for its generative search features. According to a new industry report and community data released this week, 33.2% of publishers say they intend to block Google’s AI Overviews and “AI Mode” once a mechanism becomes available.

The move comes on the heels of a landmark announcement from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on January 28, 2026. The regulator has mandated that Google must provide a “fairer deal” for publishers, including a specific opt-out that allows websites to remain in traditional search results while preventing their content from being “summarized” by AI.

The Poll: Resistance vs. Resignation

A flash poll of over 350 SEO and publishing professionals reveals a deeply divided industry. While a plurality plans to stay the course, a large contingent is ready to pull the plug:

• 41.9% – No: Will continue to allow Google to use content for AI features.
• 33.2% – Yes: Plan to block or opt out of AI Overviews and AI Mode.
• 24.9% – Unsure: Waiting for the technical details of the opt-out mechanism.

This resistance is already visible in technical data. Recent reports show that 79% of top news websites in the UK and US have already blocked at least one major AI crawler (such as GPTBot or Google-Extended), though blocking “AI Overviews” specifically has historically been impossible without also disappearing from regular search results.

The “All or Nothing” Problem

Until now, publishers have faced a “heavy hammer” dilemma. To stop Google’s AI from scraping their content, they had to use tags like nosnippet, which also stripped their descriptions from traditional “blue link” results, devastating their click-through rates.

“Publishers have been in a tough spot,” says digital analyst Adil Raseed. “The proposed update aims to create a third path: letting you stay in the blue links while keeping your content out of the AI’s generative responses.”

Why Publishers are Pushing Back

The primary driver of this boycott is the “Zero-Click” threat. Data suggests that AI Overviews can lead to a 10% to 25% drop in referral traffic because users get the information they need without ever leaving Google.

• Attribution Issues: Many AI-generated summaries fail to provide prominent citations.
• Intellectual Property: Publishers argue that Google is using their proprietary reporting to keep users within its own ecosystem.
• Regulatory Pressure: The CMA’s intervention is expected to force Google to provide a technical “kill switch” by March 2026.

What Happens Next?

Google is currently “exploring” the technical standards for this opt-out. Industry experts recommend that once the tool is released, publishers should run A/B tests: opt out on specific sections of their site to see if the loss of AI visibility is offset by a recovery in traditional search traffic.