The watchdog last year labeled Google a “strategic” player in online search advertising, using new digital powers to promote more competition by forcing changes to the company’s business practices.

The CMA’s report noted that news publishers have suffered a drop in traffic since Google rolled out its AI Overviews – summaries that appear at the top of some search queries – because fewer users are clicking through to the original articles.

The watchdog said Google should give publishers “meaningful choice” over how their content is used in AI-generated responses; be more transparent about the process; and properly cite content used in AI results.

Google said it was looking forward to engaging with the watchdog and would continue discussions with website owners.

“We’re now exploring updates to our controls to let sites specifically opt out of Search generative AI features,” Ron Eden, Google’s principal for product management, said in a blog post.

“Our goal is to protect the helpfulness of Search for people who want information quickly, while also giving websites the right tools to manage their content.

Will Hayter, the CMA’s executive director for digital markets, said in a blog post that the measures would support the “long-term sustainability” of publishers and “help people verify sources in AI-generated results and build trust in what they see.”

The CMA also recommended that Google rank its search results fairly, and not give priority to websites that have advertising or other business deals with Google.

And it proposed making it easier for people to switch their default search engine by requiring choice screens on Android devices and the Chrome browser.

The watchdog will make its final decision after gathering feedback in a consultation that ends on February 25.