Google is rolling out more AI search data across Search Console and Merchant Center, but the most valuable metrics remain hidden. For UK plumbers, electricians, dentists and other service businesses trying to understand how AI search affects their visibility, the gaps matter more than the additions.
Google is adding AI search data to Search Console and Merchant Center, but clicks, individual queries, and key reporting details remain missing — leaving UK service businesses blind to how AI search actually affects their lead flow.
According to Search Engine Journal on 21 July 2026, Google is expanding the AI search data available to businesses, but the expansion stops short of the metrics that matter. You still cannot see which specific queries triggered your business in AI Overviews, how many people clicked through, or how AI search performance compares to traditional organic results.
For a Nottingham plumber or a Cardiff dentist, that gap is not academic. AI Overviews now appear for a growing share of local service searches. If your business is invisible in those results, you are losing enquiries. If you are visible but cannot measure clicks or conversions, you are flying blind.
The new data gives you aggregate impressions — how often your site appeared in AI Overview results — but stops there. You cannot drill down into the queries that triggered those impressions. You cannot see click-through rates. You cannot compare AI search traffic to traditional organic traffic in any meaningful way.
Search Console already shows impressions and clicks for traditional search results, broken down by query, page, device and date. The AI search data does not offer that granularity. Google is giving you a number without the context needed to act on it.
Merchant Center is receiving similar updates for product listings, but service businesses do not sell widgets. A Bristol electrician or a Leeds solicitor needs to know which local searches are triggering AI Overviews, which of those Overviews mention their business, and whether anyone is clicking through to book a call or request a quote.
AI search is not a novelty feature. It is becoming the default experience for a significant share of Google users, particularly on mobile. When someone in Manchester searches 'emergency plumber near me' or 'family dentist open Saturday', they increasingly see an AI-generated answer at the top of the page, often with a short list of businesses mentioned by name.
If your business is not in that list, the searcher may never scroll down to the traditional organic results. If you are in the list but cannot measure how many people clicked your website, called your number, or requested your address, you cannot tell whether AI search is helping or hurting your lead generation.
The missing query data is particularly painful. Traditional SEO relies on knowing which keywords drive traffic, so you can create content, optimise pages, and bid on ads accordingly. Without query-level data for AI search, you are guessing. You might be visible for dozens of high-intent local searches and never know it. Or you might be invisible for the exact searches that drive your competitors' calendars full, and have no way to diagnose the problem.
First, accept that AI search visibility is not optional. The share of searches answered by AI Overviews is only going to grow, and waiting for perfect data before you act is a losing strategy. You need to be present, accurate and prominent in the sources Google uses to generate those Overviews.
That means your Google Business Profile must be complete, current and actively managed. Your NAP — name, address, phone number — must be consistent across every directory, review site and citation source Google might scrape. Your website needs structured data markup so Google can parse your services, service areas, opening hours and contact details without ambiguity.
It also means publishing regular, locally relevant content that answers the questions your customers actually ask. AI Overviews pull heavily from authoritative, well-structured content that directly addresses search intent. A Southampton dentist who publishes a clear, detailed page on 'what to do if a filling falls out' is more likely to be cited in an AI Overview than a competitor whose website is five years old and three pages deep.
Second, track what you can. Even without query-level data, you can monitor aggregate AI search impressions in Search Console and compare them month-on-month. If impressions are rising, your visibility is improving. If they are flat or falling while your traditional organic impressions grow, you have a problem.
You can also track total enquiry volume, call volume and conversion rates. If AI search impressions are climbing but enquiries are not, the issue may be your click-through rate, your landing page, or your call-to-action. You will not have the granular data to diagnose it precisely, but you will know where to focus your effort.
Rosie is The AIgency's rankings and visibility Agent. She publishes fresh, locally relevant content to your website, optimises your Google Business Profile, and ensures your business appears in the directories and citation sources that feed AI Overviews.
Rosie does not guess at what Google wants. She builds structured, question-focused content that directly answers the searches your customers are making, in the format AI search engines prefer. She keeps your NAP data consistent, your schema markup current, and your local signals strong.
While Google withholds the query and click data you need, Rosie makes sure your business is present, accurate and prominent in the sources Google does use. That is the foundation of AI search visibility, and it is the part you can control today.
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