Illyes says click data is unlikely to join Google's AI report

An SEO who wants to see how often an AI answer sends a visitor has no number to read. Gary Illyes at Google replied to a LinkedIn comment on Sunday. The comment said click and query data were coming to the AI performance report in Search Console. He said the team has nothing to announce. Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Roundtable reported the exchange.

The AI performance report shows how often a site appears in AI Mode and AI Overviews. It does not show clicks or queries. Those are the two numbers SEOs use every day in the main performance report.

What Illyes wrote

A Googler had said on a Google Search Central live session that click and query data were the most-asked-for set. The Googler said the team expected the data to come to Search Console. The quote was not credited to a named Googler.

Illyes replied on LinkedIn. He said Google had not phrased it like that. He said the team wants to give more data, and only data that makes sense. He said the team has nothing to announce.

Schwartz read this as Illyes casting doubt that click or query data was the data Google would add. John Mueller at Google replied on Bluesky. He said this was a strange reading of the comment. He did not confirm that click data was coming.

Why the two numbers matter

The main Search Console report shows impressions, clicks and queries for a URL. SEOs use the three together. They tell what people looked for. They tell how often the page showed up. They tell what fraction of readers clicked.

The AI performance report shows only impressions. A site owner sees that an AI answer surfaced the page. The owner does not see whether a reader opened it. Clicks are also how Google charges for its own ads. The pay-per-click model is the whole PPC industry.

The measurement gap stays open

The report is the only place inside Google that measures a site's AI performance. Clicks staying out of it means Google holds the number teams want. Shopify's dashboard, OpenAI's partner panel and Perplexity's own panel each hold their own share. No one place reads them all together.

Google has said for years that it wants to give more data. It rarely says when or what. On the AI side, that line held again this week. A site owner planning for AI search in 2027 should not expect Google to count visitors from an AI answer. The practical fix is to read the server logs, the referrer and the AI product's own panel instead.

Source

• Illyes's comment: LinkedIn post thread
• Reporting: Barry Schwartz, Search Engine Roundtable
• Mueller's response: Bluesky post