BRUSSELS, ⁠Sept 1 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators are seeking feedback from ⁠publishers on Google's proposal to let them opt out of ‌AI search without affecting their rankings in search results, a questionnaire seen by Reuters showed.

The publishers' feedback could determine the outcome of an ongoing EU investigation ​that could result in yet another hefty ⁠fine for Google if ⁠the proposal fails to address competition concerns and publishers' worries about ⁠unfair ‌use of their content.

Google announced its AI opt-out for publishers in June, the same day the UK antitrust watchdog ⁠ordered it to allow publishers the option to ​stop their content ‌being used to power its AI features.

The U.S. tech giant, ⁠which plans ​to roll out the opt-out globally, declined to comment and referred to its June 3 blog post on the topic.

Its AI Overviews, which ⁠are AI-generated summaries that appear above traditional ​hyperlinks, have triggered EU antitrust complaints by publishers concerned about falling traffic and declining revenues.

The EU questionnaire, sent out in July with ⁠an August 28 deadline for replies, asked if publishers will make use of the opt-out and the factors influencing their decision.

The document also asked publishers for their views on changes to Google's ​search box announced in May which included ⁠bringing AI Overviews and AI Mode into one AI Search.

The world's most ​popular internet search engine has racked ‌up more than 10 billion euros ​in EU antitrust fines for various violations over nearly two decades.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)