What to remember:

  • Google will deploy AI Overviews in France by September 23, 2026, as well as AI Mode, its conversational version powered by Gemini.
  • The company sent a letter to press publishers on Monday June 29 to formalize this arrival, which had until then been delayed for regulatory reasons.
  • Three guarantees were promised to publishers: control over their appearance in AI functionalities, transparency over the impressions generated, and remuneration under neighboring rights.
  • The 450 publishers already paid under classic neighboring rights will also receive compensation for the content included in the AI ​​engine.

A few days ago, we were talking about the imminent arrival of AI Overviews in France. The territory was one of the last major markets not to have this functionality, mainly due to the French and European regulatory framework, which is stricter than elsewhere on issues of copyright and neighboring rights. This barrier now seems to have been lifted, and Google has chosen to address press publishers directly to anticipate their concerns.

A letter to reassure publishers

According to the information reported by Ouest-France relayed by several SEOs including Lou Pichard And David EichholtzerGoogle sent this letter on June 29 to publishers, who are concerned about this arrival. The American group’s message is structured around three commitments.

  • First of all, the ability to control : each site editor will be able to choose whether or not to appear in Google’s AI features.
  • Afterwards, transparency : Publishers will be informed of the number of impressions generated by AI Overviews, separately from traditional search results.
  • Finally, remuneration under neighboring rights, the mechanism already in place allowing 450 French publishers to be paid for the distribution of protected content. This remuneration will now be extended to content appearing via the AI ​​engine and consulted by Internet users.

What this changes for websites

Concretely, an AI-generated summary will be displayed at the top of certain results pages, before the usual organic links. In markets where the functionality is already active, such as the United States, we observe a significant drop in the click rate on the first position when an AI summary appears above the classic results.

This does not mean that Google is losing influence over site traffic, quite the contrary. The company is changing the way Internet users access information. Being well positioned in the results will no longer be enough alone to generate traffic: its content will also need to be included, cited or sourced, in the summaries generated by the AI ​​itself.

AI Mode arrives at the same time

THE AI modethe conversational counterpart to AI Overviews working with the Gemini model, will launch at the same time. This feature allows users to ask questions in a more natural way and obtain answers constructed from multiple sources, in a format similar to an exchange with an assistant.

For publishers and SEO professionals, this double arrival marks a turning point in the way organic traffic will be built in France in the months to come.

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