On September 23 the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published revised plans that would make Google ask Android and Chrome users which search service they want, first when they set up a phone or open Chrome, then once a year. Under the revision, AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Perplexity could appear on that screen if they meet criteria that include crediting the websites behind their answers.
Nothing changes yet. These are proposals, open for comment until 9 October, and the CMA expects to decide by the end of the year. But the direction matters to anyone whose traffic depends on how people in the UK search: publishers, brands and the teams building AI products.
- 01A choice screen at first use, then a prompt every year.For Chrome on any platform and Android phones where Google Search comes preinstalled as the default.
- 02AI assistants can qualify.The CMA proposes dropping the rule that search must be a service’s core product.
- 03Qualifying services must credit their sources.Any AI summary has to attribute web content clearly and give users a way to reach it.
- 04Comments close 9 October; a decision is due by year end.No start date is set. The rules apply once the requirement fully comes into force.
01 — The proposalWhat the CMA wants Google to ask users
The CMA’s announcement sets out three requirements: a choice of search services at first use followed by a yearly prompt, room for AI assistants that meet the criteria, and fair attribution of publisher content by any service that appears. The 72-page consultation document fills in how it would work.
New phones, new Chrome installs, and existing Chrome
Existing Chrome users would see it with the first major update after the rules take full effect.
A skippable reminder that opens the screen
Google may skip it for anyone who deliberately changed their default in the previous six months.
A test drive of any listed service
Google sets the length, but the CMA says it should not be shorter than a week.
The scope is wide. It covers Chrome on any desktop, phone or tablet system, including Windows, Android and iOS, wherever Google Search is the browser’s default, and Android phones sold in the UK where the manufacturer preinstalls Google Search as the default in the search bar or Chrome.
We’ve listened carefully to feedback and are responding quickly to the rise of AI assistants, which people are increasingly using as their search service, but aren’t included on Google’s choice screens.Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive, Competition and Markets Authority
02 — EligibilityWho gets on the screen
Google would decide which services qualify, using only the CMA’s criteria, and would rerun the approval process every six months. The revised draft keeps three criteria and drops a fourth.
| Criterion | Plain meaning | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Covers what people search for | Handles finding a site, buying something, simple facts and open-ended questions, including by searching the web. It needs up-to-date answers but not its own index, and any AI summary must credit its sources with a way to reach them. |
| 2 | Works properly | A functioning search experience in the search bar and browser address bar, meeting minimum security standards Google is expected to set. |
| 3 | Seen as a search service by its users | A significant share of the service’s own UK users must consider it a general search service. Survey evidence can count. |
| Dropped | Search as the core product | The January draft required search to be central to how the service is run and marketed. The CMA proposes deleting it, which removes the main obstacle for AI assistants. |
The CMA’s reasons for deleting the fourth criterion are telling. It says the rule was not forward-looking, given how much search itself is changing, and that it could exclude a service that answers many search queries alongside even more requests of other kinds. That describes most AI assistants.
03 — The designHow the screen would work
- Twelve or fewer qualifying services: all are shown, in fully random order, and users must scroll the whole list before confirming.
- More than twelve: the CMA expects the five most popular plus seven chosen at random, with the rest one step away. Popularity would first use a measure such as Play Store downloads, then, after six months, how often each service is picked when shown.
- A short description for each service, which must say if it charges users or limits free queries.
- An information screen beforehand explaining what a search service is and what the choice changes.
One idea from January is gone: the CMA no longer proposes letting users reopen the choice screen from their settings, citing the technical difficulty and effect on user experience. Changing the default manually remains possible.
The CMA commissioned tests with 80 members of the public, run by Thinks Insight & Strategy. Many rushed the choice, skimmed the information and picked services they already knew. A screen explaining the choice beforehand made testers slow down, and the trial option got some to consider services they did not know. For a newer service, that means recognition built before the screen appears will do most of the work.
04 — PublishersThe attribution rule is the part publishers should read
Under the proposed interpretative notes, a qualifying service must make sure its AI-generated summaries credit web content clearly and accurately, and give users a clear way to reach that content. Each provider chooses how. Its error rate must also not be significant.
This builds on the controls the CMA already imposed on Google in June, which let publishers opt out of AI features in Google’s results; our post on the CMA’s AI Overviews opt-out covers the original proposal. If this requirement is confirmed, the AI assistants that most want a place on UK phones will have a regulatory reason to cite and link their sources. For brands, being a cited source in those answers becomes a UK distribution question, not just a visibility metric. Our analysis of AI referral traffic shows where that traffic comes from today.
05 — DecisionWho should respond before 9 October
06 — ConclusionAI assistants are about to count as search in UK regulation
Read the consultation, and make sure the AI assistants that matter to your market can find and cite your pages
The proposal treats an AI assistant that searches the web and credits its sources as a search engine. Brands that are cited well in those answers gain from that; brands that are invisible there lose ground. If you want to know where you stand in AI answers and how to improve it, our agentic SEO team measures and builds AI search visibility.