SEO News
& Updates
Algorithm updates, Google announcements, AI search and agent developments, and industry shifts. We cover what happened and what, if anything, you need to do about it.
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Apple Launches Siri AI With Web Answer Generation: What Publishers Need to Know
Apple's WWDC 2026 Siri AI overhaul brings web answer generation via Applebot. The updated documentation gives publishers two distinct opt-out controls.
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Demand for Non-AI Search Has Measurably Risen Since Google I/O 2026
Since Google's AI Mode announcement at I/O 2026, DuckDuckGo's no-AI page visits are 84% above baseline, installs peaked at 30% growth, and both DuckDuckGo and Bing have launched opt-out tools.
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Google Analytics to Add Google Business Profile Data
Google is rolling out a native integration linking Google Business Profile to Google Analytics, bringing calls, directions, and bookings data into GA reports.
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Google Launches Search Profiles for Publishers and Creators
Google has officially launched Search Profiles, letting publishers and creators with 100,000+ followers claim a customisable page in Search and Discover.
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Google Adds AI Performance Reports and Opt-Out Toggle to Search Console
Google launched an AI performance report and opt-out toggle in Search Console for UK publishers, following CMA requirements under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act giving publishers formal controls over AI search.
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Microsoft launches Web IQ: Bing-powered grounding API for AI agents
Microsoft's Web IQ connects AI agents to Bing's index via passage-level grounding APIs. It already powers Copilot and ChatGPT's web responses.
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Google Preferred Sources Now Surface in AI Overviews and AI Mode
From 27 May 2026, preferred publishers are highlighted with badges inside AI Overviews and AI Mode. Google also confirmed preferred sources will influence citation frequency in AI responses.
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Google May 2026 Core Update
Google's May 2026 core update ran from 21 May to 2 June 2026. More volatile than March, with significant ranking movement on 23 May and 30 May.
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Google I/O 2026: Information Agents bring 24/7 background search to Google Search
Google announces Information Agents at I/O 2026: always-on background agents that monitor the web and send synthesised updates, launching summer 2026.
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Google I/O 2026: New Search box, AI Mode at one billion users, and conversational AI Overviews
Google redesigns its Search box for the first time in 25 years and announces AI Mode has reached one billion monthly users, with AI Overviews at 2.5 billion.
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Google I/O 2026: SynthID and Content Credentials come to Search and Chrome
Google is bringing AI content watermarking and C2PA provenance verification to Google Search and Chrome, with OpenAI and others adopting SynthID.
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Shopify Ships llms.txt and Agentic Discovery Files to Every Store
Shopify quietly added llms.txt, agents.md, and sitemap_agentic_discovery.xml to every store in May 2026, but AI crawlers aren't reading the new files yet.
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Google officially positions AI search optimisation as SEO, not a separate practice
Google publishes AI optimisation guide confirming traditional SEO tactics remain foundational for generative AI features.
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Google Analytics Adds AI Assistant as Default Channel Group for Traffic Attribution
Google Analytics 4 now automatically classifies traffic from AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini as its own channel, replacing manual tracking workarounds.
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Google Search Console's 50-Week Impressions Logging Error Is Fixed
A GSC logging error inflated impression counts for 50 weeks from May 2025. Google fixed it going forward in April 2026, but historical data will not be corrected.
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Google Drops FAQ Rich Results from Search
Google has stopped showing FAQ rich results in Search as of 7 May 2026, with Search Console reports and API support to follow in June and August.
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Google Updates AI Overviews and AI Mode to Drive More Clicks to Publishers
Google announced five updates to AI Overviews and AI Mode on 6 May 2026, making inline links more prominent, adding hover previews, and surfacing subscription and social content.
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Google Brings Reddit Quotes Into AI Overviews as 'Expert Advice'
Google updated AI Overviews and AI Mode on 6 May 2026 to surface direct quotes from Reddit and other forums in a new section labelled Expert Advice, with full creator attribution.
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Google Preferred Sources Now Supports All Languages Globally
Google expanded Preferred Sources to all languages on 30 April 2026. Marked publishers get 2x click-through rates; 200,000 unique sites already selected by users.
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Adobe Completes $1.9 Billion Semrush Acquisition
Adobe completed its acquisition of Semrush on 28 April 2026, folding the SEO platform into a new Adobe CX Enterprise system alongside GEO and agentic search optimisation.
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Gemini in Chrome: Skills, Auto-Browse, and a Browser-Wide AI Assistant
Google launched Skills in Gemini for Chrome on 14 April 2026, adding reusable AI prompts to a browser already gaining auto-browse and APAC availability.
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Google Classifies Back Button Hijacking as Spam, Enforcement Starts 15 June 2026
Google confirmed back button hijacking as a spam violation on 14 April 2026, with manual actions and demotions starting 15 June 2026.
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Google March 2026 Core Update
Google's first broad core update of 2026 ran from 27 March to 8 April, producing the most volatile ranking shifts in recent memory. Around 80% of top-three results changed position.
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Google March 2026 Spam Update Completes in Under 24 Hours
Google's March 2026 spam update rolled out on 24 March 2026, completing in under 24 hours. It was one of the fastest completions of any pre-announced Google update.
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GSC Branded Queries Filter Reaches Full Rollout on 11 March 2026
Google Search Console's branded queries filter became available to all eligible sites on 11 March 2026, enabling native separation of branded and non-branded traffic.
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AI Overviews Are Cutting Organic CTR: What the Data Shows
Studies tracking the click-through rate impact of Google AI Overviews show organic CTR falling 61% on affected queries. Being cited in an AI Overview drives significantly more clicks than organic ranking alone.
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WebMCP: Chrome's Early Preview of an Agent-Ready Web Standard
Chrome's WebMCP lets websites expose callable tools to in-browser AI agents. In early preview since February 2026; broad rollout expected mid-to-late 2026.
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Google's First Dedicated Discover Core Update Targets Clickbait and Boosts Local Content
Google's February 2026 Discover core update, the first of its kind, ran from 5 to 27 February 2026 and promotes locally relevant content while reducing sensational material.
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Google AI Mode Adds Personal Intelligence for Paid Subscribers
Google AI Mode, available to all US users since June 2025, gained a personal intelligence feature in January 2026 letting AI Pro and Ultra subscribers connect Gmail and Photos for contextualised search responses.
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Google December 2025 Core Update
Google's final broad core update of 2025 began on 11 December, hitting major news publishers hard while favouring focused, single-intent pages and established eCommerce brands.
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Search Console Adds AI-Powered Report Configuration
Google added an AI-powered configuration feature to the Search Console Performance report in December 2025, letting users set up filters and comparisons using plain-language prompts.
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Ahrefs Launches $29 Starter Plan and Expands AI Overview Tracking
Ahrefs launched a $29 (approximately £22) per month Starter plan on 1 October 2025, alongside AI citations charts and a ChatGPT integration in the same feature update.
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Google August 2025 Spam Update
Google's August 2025 spam update targeted two specific behaviours: low-quality AI-generated content published at scale, and manipulative inorganic link-building techniques.
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Publishers Report Double-Digit Traffic Losses as AI Overviews Expand
Data from across the publishing industry shows significant organic traffic declines for informational content following the global expansion of Google's AI Overviews through 2025.
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Google June 2025 Core Update
Google's June 2025 core update was one of the larger algorithm shifts in recent years, causing high volatility across YMYL, travel, and e-commerce. Some sites hit by the 2023 helpful content update saw partial recoveries.
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AI Search Engines Take Measurable Share of Informational Queries
By mid-2025, Perplexity, ChatGPT Search, and other AI-native search tools had established measurable query share for informational searches, particularly among younger and technical audiences.
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Ahrefs Adds Global Keyword Metrics to Free Webmaster Tools
Ahrefs added global keyword metrics to its free Webmaster Tools in May 2025, letting site owners see worldwide search volumes and country-level ranking data without a paid subscription.
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Google March 2025 Core Update
What happened during Google's March 2025 core update, which sites were affected, and what the pattern of volatility suggests.
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Google Rolls Out AI Overviews in the UK
Google confirmed the UK rollout of AI Overviews on 15 August 2024, expanding the generative answer feature to the UK, India, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, and Brazil.
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