Start with the spread. Some small sites have reportedly earned under $1,000 over several months. A mid-tier publisher that joined months ago is at $50,000-60,000. At least one publisher clears more than $1 million a year. Those are the figures The Information reports for a Google pilot that pays about 100 small and midsize blogs and websites when AI Overviews use their content, as summarised by 9to5Google on 30 September 2026; 9to5Google first reported that the pilot exists on 17 September 2026. Google has not published how the payments are calculated. The topics reported to earn higher rates are less widely covered subjects in anime and gaming that draw strong user interest. Some publishers report earnings below one-tenth of 1% of their advertising revenue. Participants reportedly also get insight into how often AI Overviews use their content. Google reportedly says it needs web publishers to stay active for model accuracy, and disputes that AI Overviews significantly harmed publisher traffic.
Credibility: MEDIUM. One outlet (9to5Google) relays a second outlet (The Information); we did not reach The Information's article, and the 9to5Google piece cites no Google statement or official document on the payment terms. The payment figures are unconfirmed by Google. 9to5Google is a Google-focused outlet, so its framing of Google's motives should be read with that in mind.
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For teams that publish content for a living, or advise those who do: look past the $1 million and follow where the money goes. Google's stated reason is that its models need publishers to keep publishing, and the reported rates line up with that reason. The higher rates go to subjects few outlets cover but many readers care about, anime and gaming in the reported examples. That reads like Google paying for content it cannot easily find elsewhere. A client with a deep niche archive has something worth asking about. A client hoping this replaces lost clicks should look at the low end first: some participants report payments under one-tenth of 1% of their ad revenue. The part I would want most is the usage report. It would show, from Google's side for the first time, which pages AI Overviews draw on.
Actions this week:
- Ask the client's Google account contact or publisher-programme representative whether the client is in, or eligible for, the AI Overview payment test. Log the answer and the date.
- Pull the pages your AI-visibility tracker shows cited in AI Overviews now, so the client has a baseline to hold against any usage figures Google hands over.
- Count any payment as upside until Google puts terms in writing. The reported range is too wide to forecast from.
If Google says no, the baseline still earns its keep: it is the cheapest way to see which pages Google already uses without paying.
9to5Google: Here's how much Google is testing paying web publishers for AI Overview usage, 9to5Google, 2026-09-30 — https://9to5google.com/2026/09/30/google-ai-overview-payout-test-details/
The Information: primary reporting on payment amounts, cited by 9to5Google, not reached by us (the URL we tried returned HTTP 404)
9to5Google: earlier report on the pilot's existence, 2026-09-17, cited by the 2026-09-30 article, not opened separately