Honestly, at this point Google just can’t quit us SEO folks. After New York, Madrid, Dubai and Zurich, Search Central Live is rolling back into Paris. June 25, 2026. And yep, for the second time, I’ll be in the room.

Real talk though: it’s not that Google loves us. It’s that we can’t help showing up the second a Googler starts talking. Win-win, so nobody’s complaining.

So here’s the deal. Google Search Central Live Paris is a full day of talks and Q&A with Google’s Search teams, same vibe as the previous editions. But this time the French context makes it way more interesting than your usual SEO pep talk. Let me walk you through why, and what to expect.

What’s Google Search Central Live Paris, exactly?

New here? Search Central Live (formerly the Webmaster Conference) is Google Search’s flagship event series. The idea’s simple: the Search teams put up their slides, run through what’s new, then open the floor for questions. You get to mingle with Googlers, other Google teams, and the local search crowd.

You sign up on the official event page on Google’s side. Like always, it’s free but invite-only: you apply, and Google confirms your spot by email.

Me? I got my confirmation. Phew.

One detail that really matters: these events aren’t recorded or streamed. That’s literally why they’re called “Live.” If you’re not in the room, you’re stuck with the recaps. Like mine. More on that in a sec.

Hey, at least it gives you a reason to swing back by the blog. Just like last year for the Search Central Live in Zurich, I’ll drop a recap with the announcements, the highlights and my hot takes.

Are AI Overviews and AI Mode coming to France?

This is the real story. And it’s exactly what makes a Paris edition of Search Central Live spicier than the rest.

Quick recap, because the whole thing is a bit absurd. Since March 2025, AI Overviews have rolled out across most of Europe: Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland. AI Mode followed on October 8, 2025, in 40+ countries. And France? Left out on purpose. As of today, neither AI Overviews nor AI Mode are live on google.fr.

The funny part is that it’s not even a technical thing. French is handled just fine, see Switzerland and Belgium. The block is 100% legal: French press neighboring rights, the 2019 law, and that lovely 250 million euro fine Google got slapped with in March 2024. Until there’s a global deal with publishers, Google’s playing it safe.

Nick Fox, Google’s head of Search, said it himself back in October 2025: the issue is regulatory, and no, no timeline. Even Google I/O 2026 in May came and went without unblocking France. So yeah, we’re all waiting on a signal.

So will Paris be where we finally learn more? Honestly, I have my doubts. Googlers are pros at dodging timeline questions (remember Zurich, when AI Overviews data in Search Console got a well-rehearsed “no date”?). But an SEO event in Paris is exactly where the French crowd will turn up the heat. That alone is worth the trip.

That said, a lot has shifted since last year. I’m thinking specifically about the opt-out setup rolled out for some news sites in the UK.

If something similar landed in France, it could lift one of the biggest blockers to AI Overviews and AI Mode showing up here.

Why this should be on your radar right now

Because the day it drops, it stings. In markets that already have it, organic CTR falls by nearly two thirds in the top spot on affected queries. Generic content gets hammered, while expert, well-structured content holds up better.

Bottom line: the French exception is a window, not a shield. Now’s the time to get your GEO game in order. I’m thinking in particular of the GEO checklist put together by a dev who works at Google.

Who’s going to be at Google Search Central Live 2026?

For the Paris edition, we’ve got:

• Martin Splitt
• John Mueller
• Daniel Waisberg

But two other names really caught my eye.

• Shiwani Gupta, whose presence could hint at sessions around trust, safety, spam and AI-generated content.
• Faten Dubarry, who leads media partnerships for France, the Middle East and Africa.

In a context where AI Overviews and AI Mode are still MIA in France, having a media-relations lead in the room is pretty telling. It could mean we’ll get a few hints about the ongoing talks between Google and news publishers, especially around the opt-out setups already being tested in other countries.

What Google might pull out at the Paris Search Central Live

If we go by what Google’s been pushing lately, here’s what stands a good chance of making the cut.

The new AI report in Search Console

The hot one. On June 3, 2026, Google rolled out a dedicated AI performance report in Search Console: for the first time, you can isolate your pages’ impressions in AI Overviews, AI Mode and Discover’s generative features. Microsoft fired first back in February with its AI Performance dashboard in Bing Webmaster Tools.

The irony for us: in France, that report stays painfully empty, since neither AI Overviews nor AI Mode are running. We get the measuring stick before we get the thing to measure. Very Google.

On the agenda for Search Central Live Paris

This time, no need to guess: the official program is out. Here’s the afternoon lineup (times in Paris time, UTC+2).

• How Search works / how Search uses AI: the warm-up, the fundamentals and where AI fits in the engine.
• 15:00 – 15:15: AI Overviews / AI Mode, a focus on the new features (flagged “not available in France”).
• 15:15 – 15:30: Search Console update.
• 15:30 – 15:45: Search policies, an update on spam and Back Button Hijacking.
• 15:45 – 16:00: break.
• 16:00 – 16:15: maxing out Discover, strategy and best practices.
• 16:15 – 17:00: Q&A session.
• 17:00 – 17:30: networking.

Three slots worth zooming in on

The Search Console update, and that AI report

As I said, the June 3 AI performance report is the obvious candidate for this slot: impressions in AI Overviews, AI Mode and Discover’s generative features, finally in their own space. If Google demos anything in Search Console, my money’s on this.

Back Button Hijacking: the spam guest to watch

This is the least expected item on the program, and the most interesting on the policy side. Back Button Hijacking is the trick that stops people from going back in their browser, through forced redirects or a messed-up history. Google files it under its anti-spam policies, and sticking it on a Search Central Live agenda is rarely random. Listen closely if you deal with templates that lean on pop-ups, interstitials or aggressive redirects.

Maxing out Discover

Discover’s back, again and again. Same line as Zurich: helpfulness, freshness, visual quality, and a healthy dose of caution around AI-generated content and images. It’s a channel way too many sites sleep on, even though it can pull serious traffic.

What about the community lightning talks?

Search Central Live editions often save a slot for “lightning talks”: short, roughly ten-minute sessions where folks from the community share a real-world takeaway. It’s one of the best parts of these days, because that’s where the people actually doing the work get to speak.

If the format carries over to Paris, we should see a few familiar faces from the French SEO scene take the stage. Nothing announced yet, but I’ll update this post as soon as the program firms up.

FAQ

When and where is Google Search Central Live Paris?

June 25, 2026, in Paris. The exact venue gets shared with registered attendees, like every edition.

How do you sign up for Search Central Live?

These events are free but invite-only. You apply on the official Search Central Live Paris page, and Google confirms the spots by email. That email is your ticket.

When are AI Overviews coming to France?

No official date. The rollout hinges on a deal with press publishers over neighboring rights. Three scenarios are floating around for 2026: a deal and a full rollout, a stripped-down launch without press sources, or a long standstill.

Is AI Mode available in France?

Nope. France was explicitly left out of the European AI Mode rollout on October 8, 2025, for the same legal reasons as AI Overviews. If you want to start tracking your visibility there anyway, I wrote about how to track your AI Mode ranking.

Will there be a replay of Google Search Central Live Paris?

Nope. Google doesn’t stream or record these sessions, hence the “Live” in the name. Which is exactly why recaps matter.

See you on June 25

Google Search Central Live Paris isn’t just another slide-deck marathon. It’s our shot at seeing whether Google finally drops a hint about AI Overviews and AI Mode landing in France, the thing the whole French SEO scene is obsessing over right now.

While you wait for the 25th, warm up with my Zurich Search Central Live recap, it’ll give you a solid feel for the tone and the topics. And swing back here right after the event for the hot Paris recap. Promise I’m taking notes for you.