Google expanded Merchant Center AI performance insights

Google expanded Merchant Center AI performance insights on September 16, 2026

Google announced on 2026-09-16 (September 16, 2026) that AI performance insights in Merchant Center were available to businesses in Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, and the United States.¹ The report shows how a retailer's brand and products are discovered across AI Mode and AI Overviews by comparing share of voice with other brands. Google's current help page says the report is for English-language queries, and its current data covers organic AI traffic rather than paid Ads traffic.²

What did Google make available on September 16, 2026?

On September 16, 2026, Google announced that Merchant Center AI performance insights were available to businesses in Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, and the United States.

Google described the feature as a way for retailers to see how their brands and products are discovered across AI Mode and AI Overviews.¹ The standing answer on choosing who gets you onto AI search covers the broader provider and eligibility question. This story records the narrower Merchant Center reporting change.

What does Merchant Center AI performance insights measure?

Merchant Center AI performance insights compares a retailer's share of voice with other brands across AI Mode and AI Overviews.

Google defines share of voice in this report as a brand's or product's AI impressions divided by the total impressions from the defined Merchant Center competitors and the retailer's own impressions for related queries.² The percentage change uses the report's selected time-period filter, so a comparison is tied to the period selected in Merchant Center.

The report is a Merchant Center view of product and brand discovery. It is not a general measure of every appearance in every AI search surface. The report's comparison set and the selected time period determine what its share-of-voice figure describes.²

Who can use the report right now?

Google's current help page lists English-language queries for Merchant Center accounts in Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, and the United States.

The availability statement applies to the account and query conditions Google names. It does not support treating the feature as available to every Merchant Center account, every country, or every query language.²

How do I find AI performance insights in Merchant Center?

In Merchant Center, sign in, choose Analytics, choose Products, and then choose the AI performance tab.

Google gives this menu path for opening the report:²

1. Sign in to your Merchant Center account.
2. Open Analytics in the left-hand navigation.
3. Select Products.
4. Select the AI performance tab at the top of the page.

If the tab is not present, first check the country, account, and English-language query conditions in Google's current availability statement. Those conditions describe who the report is currently available to, not a promise that every account will display the tab.²

Does the report include paid Ads traffic?

The report's current data is limited to organic AI traffic, such as free listings, and does not include paid Ads traffic.

Google states this limit in its Merchant Center Help. A retailer should therefore keep the report beside paid advertising reporting, not combine the two into one discovery result.²

What should a retailer check after opening the report?

An eligible retailer should review the comparison set, time period, and product-data opportunities shown by the report as it updates.

Google says the report continues to update regularly and may provide new opportunities to review and incorporate changes into product data.² A practical review sequence is:

1. Confirm that the report covers the intended Merchant Center account and the current time period.
2. Read the listed competitors before comparing a share-of-voice change.
3. Separate organic AI traffic from paid Ads traffic when reviewing the result.
4. Revisit relevant product data when the report updates and a new opportunity appears.

The report gives a retailer an observation about discovery in the named AI surfaces. It does not guarantee that a product will appear in a particular answer or that a change will produce a sale.

FAQ

Google's September 16, 2026, change gives eligible Merchant Center retailers a way to inspect organic AI discovery for products and brands in a defined comparison set. The report excludes paid Ads traffic and does not promise a placement or sale.

Is AI performance insights a general AI-search visibility report?

No. AI performance insights is a Merchant Center report for the account and English-language query conditions Google currently lists. It compares brand and product discovery across AI Mode and AI Overviews, with current data limited to organic AI traffic.^1,2

Does a higher share of voice guarantee that a product will appear?

No. Share of voice describes the report's AI-impression comparison for its defined competitors, related queries, and selected time period. It is an observation in that report, not a promise of a particular answer or sale.