Generative Engines Are Breaking Web Analytics and Hurting Their F...
I was looking at our LLM filter in Ahrefs Web Analytics and noticed some common generative engines missing from the list. They’re in our filters, but we aren’t seeing any…
Google Responds To Site That Lost Ranks After Googlebot DDoS Craw...
Google responds to a publisher’s concern about crawl budget and rankings due to Googlebot’s requests for non-existent pages The post Google Responds To Site That Lost Ranks After Googlebot DDoS…
Google’s Sundar Pichai Doesn’t Think Web Publishing I...
Nilay Patel of The Verge had a great one-on-one conversation with Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO. Nilay did put on the pressure around how the changes with AI Overviews and AI…
The 9 Best AI Image Generators of 2025 (Tested Firsthand)
Explore my curated selection of the best AI image generators in 2025, featuring top picks for designers, marketers, causal users, and more.
Google Tests AI Overviews Follow Up In AI Mode vs Dive Deeper in ...
Google is testing replacing the “Dive deeper in AI Mode” button with “Follow up in AI Mode.” This is the button you can sometimes see at the bottom of the…
Local SEO ranking factors: Your complete guide
Everything you need to know to get your local business ranking higher in search
Pichai: Google AI Mode Will Be Incorporated Into The Main Search
Lex Fridman had a really great interview with Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai. In that interview, Sundar explained that the “current plan is AI mode” will remain in a separate tab…
Google Calm Storm – Heated Weekend Search Volatility But Ch...
Normally, when I see a lot of chatter within the SEO community, I also see the third-party Google search ranking volatility tools heat up. Now I am seeing the tools…
Generative Engine Optimization: The New Era of Search
GEO is the practice of optimizing content to appear in AI-powered search engines like ChatGPT and Google.
How to Drive More Traffic to Your Website: 14 Tactics to Win the ...
Explore 14 proven tactics for increasing your website traffic. From competitive traffic analysis to traffic generation marketing techniques, you‘ll learn how to drive more traffic to your website and win…
Google AI Mode Reporting Coming To Search Console
Google has confirmed that AI Mode reporting will be coming to Google Search Console. It is currently not yet in Search Console, but it will be coming as part of…
What 75,000 Brands Taught Us About Getting Mentioned in AI Overvi...
Soon it won’t be a case of “Should I, or shouldn’t I optimize for AI Overviews?” If you want any chance of search visibility, you’ll need to understand how to…
Google Offers Voluntary Buyouts To Core U.S. Teams Amid AI Push
Google voluntary buyouts target U.S. Search and Ads staff amid AI restructuring. What does this mean for future layoffs and team priorities? The post Google Offers Voluntary Buyouts To Core…
Google AI Mode Live In US: Tests Deep Search, Live Search, Person...
Google had a lot of news out of Google I/O, as you would expect. The big item, which we predicted, was that AI Mode is now available to all US…
AI Overviews research: Media source presence and paywalled conten...
Find out which media sources are cited in AIOs the most, how often they appear, and how Google handles paywalled content in its AI responses.
Google Tests AI Overviews At Bottom Of Search Results Page
We generally see the AI Overviews show at the top of the Google search results page, I mean, it is an overview, so you’d expect them at the top. But…
Google LSAs Tests Replacing Google Screened With Google Verified
Google is testing replacing the “Google Screened” label with a “Google Verified” label for the Local Service Ads. I am also seeing these results come up with no labels at…
Stop Focusing On Google, It’s Time to Focus On Being Visible
Your customers are searching across ChatGPT, Reddit, Pinterest, and more. Is your brand showing up where it counts? The post Stop Focusing On Google, It’s Time to Focus On Being…
SEO Complaints About Google’s Live Broadcasting & Index...
I am seeing a number of complaints from the SEO industry in India and those regions around Google not indexing live broadcast types of content fast with the Google Indexing…
AIO Hurting Traffic? How To Identify True Loss With GA4, GSC &...
Is AIO stealing your traffic? Learn how to measure AIO impact, assess SEO damage, and update your strategy in our free on-demand webinar. The post AIO Hurting Traffic? How To…
Newly Released Data Shows Desktop AI Search Referrals Dominate
New data shows that AI search traffic overwhelmingly comes from desktop devices rather than mobile. The post Newly Released Data Shows Desktop AI Search Referrals Dominate appeared first on Search…
Local SEO backlinks: How to build them and why they matter
Discover the techniques you need to build local SEO backlinks and boost your search visibility.
Google Search Console Now Counting AI Mode Clicks, Impressions &a...
Google has now officially confirmed that Google Search Console is counting AI Mode data. Google said, “AI Mode is now counting towards totals in Search Console.” We saw this when…
Google AI Mode Could Reshape Search: What SEOs Should Know
Google’s AI Mode is changing search with overtaken SERPs and limited tracking. Learn how it impacts SEO.
Almost Half of Google Searches Are Branded. Here’s Why That Matte...
But our latest study might surprise you: Nearly half of all Google searches (45.7%) are branded searches—meaning people are actively seeking out specific companies and products they already know. Yep,…
The AI Bots That ~140 Million Websites Block the Most
There’s a cost to bots crawling your websites and there’s a social contract between search engines and website owners, where search engines add value by sending referral traffic to websites….
Is SEO Still Relevant In The AI Era? New Research Says Yes
New study of 25,000 searches shows that top Google rankings still matter for ChatGPT, Perplexity, and AI search results. The post Is SEO Still Relevant In The AI Era? New…
Google Search Broken – Not Serving New Content
Google Search, the main search engine, is not serving new content. It might be an indexing issue or a serving issue, but if you try to find new content across…
AI Content Marketing 101: Strategies from Someone Who Lives It
It gives me a “second brain” and superhuman speed, and takes care of all the tedious tasks I dislike about my job. Sure, maybe one day AI will replace my…
Effective Marketplace SEO Is More Like Product Growth
Marketplaces win when SEO is baked into the product. Kevin Indig breaks down what’s working, and what AI will eat next. The post Effective Marketplace SEO Is More Like Product…
We Studied the Impact of AI Search on SEO Traffic. Here’s What We...
Our research shows AI search visitors could surpass traditional search visitors in 2028. Plus much more.
Google Claims AI Search Delivers ‘Quality Clicks’ Despite Traffic...
Google claims AI search delivers “more qualified clicks” despite traffic losses. Are these changes helping publishers, or boosting its ads business? The post Google Claims AI Search Delivers ‘Quality Clicks’…
Respected SEO Rockstar Deconstructs SEO For Google’s AI Search
A respected SEO expert calls out marketers who overstate the complexity of Google’s AI search The post Respected SEO Rockstar Deconstructs SEO For Google’s AI Search appeared first on Search…
The Ultimate HTML Tags List + Free Checklist
Get a comprehensive HTML tags list + free checklist categorized by function to boost your site‘s SEO
The Great Decoupling (or Why Your Clicks Are Down and Impressions...
The roll-out of AI Overviews now creates two opportunities for top-ranking content to log impressions for a given keyword, while simultaneously reducing the number of people who click from the…
What Are Meta Keywords? + Why to Avoid Them
Learn why we don‘t recommend using meta keywords or meta keyword tags as part of your SEO strategy.
Google Business Profiles Bug Hides Right Knowledge Panel
For the past few weeks or so, Google has a bug where the right side knowledge panel goes missing for business owners when you try to bring up your business…
How To Build Local Citations
What are local citations and how can they help?
Ask An SEO: Why Didn’t My Keywords Come Back After I Changed My P...
Changes to content won’t hold rankings if your site has technical issues or poor structure. This edition of Ask An SEO looks at why. The post Ask An SEO: Why…
Google AdSense Ad Intents New Display Ads Option
Google has added a new display ads option for ad intents. The new option lets you pick between always show display ads with organic search results or show search ads…
June 2025 Google Webmaster Report
It’s time for the big Google Webmaster report where I recap all the big organic Google Search related news I covered here over the past month. We had Google I/O…
Google’s Local Job Type Algorithm Detailed In Research Paper
A Google research paper confirms that a local search indexing system has been in use for over a year in Search and Maps The post Google’s Local Job Type Algorithm…
What’s the Point of AI Detectors?
I was previously a skeptic of AI content detectors, and many people still are. Andrew Holland recently shared a LinkedIn comment that does a good job summarizing common concerns: In…
The Great Decoupling Explained By A Googler
The term, The Great Decoupling has really been catching on over the past couple of weeks. It is being used to describe what we are seeing with impressions and clicks…
Google Tests Search Results Links In Light Blue Cyan Again
Google is once again testing a light blue color, cyan, for its title links in the search results. Google tested this on and off quite a lot over the years,…
Google Shows Why Rankings Collapsed After Domain Migration
Google’s John Mueller showed how to diagnose a search visibility issue that was apparently triggered by a domain migration. The post Google Shows Why Rankings Collapsed After Domain Migration appeared…
Programmatic SEO: What It Is and When to Use It (+ Examples)
Imagine if your website could rank for every single keyword related to your niche. That’s the promise of programmatic SEO. It’s how Tripadvisor creates “Things to Do in” pages for…
Microsoft Is Retiring Bing PubHub
Bing PubHub is being retired, exactly when, I am not sure, but it is going away. Microsoft posted the notice in Bing Webmaster Tools and it links to a document…
Google AI Mode Adds Charting & Data Visualizations (Plus PR S...
When Google announced at Google I/O the launch of AI Mode, Google also announced a number of new features including the ability for Google to take your query and analyze…
Google: Stop Using Indexing API For Unsupported Content
Google’s John Mueller once again told SEOs to stop using the Google Indexing API for unsupported content types. The Google Indexing API is supported for job postings and live stream…
Google Search Results Light Background Shadow Color On Hover
Google is testing another search results snippet hover effect. This one will color the background a light gray shadow like color. We’ve seen variations of this before (see articles below).
Google Is Stealing Your International Search Traffic With Automat...
This coincides with the massive rollout of AI Overviews we saw alongside the March update. AI Overviews are now in 200 countries and 40 + languages. It seems that when…
Live Search Being Tested In The Google Search App
Google recently rolled out the Live Search feature in the Gemini app. But now Google was caught testing that Live Search feature directly in the main Google Search app, the…
The best Google Business Profile cover photo size
Make a great first impression with an optimal GBP cover image
Google Search Tests Link Icon Box With Anchor Feature
Google is testing a new link feature in the search results, it is in the form of a link box, in the search result snippet, that when you click on…
Google Tests New Learn More About Sponsored Results Label
Google is testing a new label on its search ads within the Google Search results that says “Learn more about Sponsored results.” This label is on the bottom right of…
Google Shopping Tests New Menu Under Search Bar With Super G Logo
Google is testing a new menu, tab bar, under the search bar within Google Shopping. This new bar most visibly has the super G logo and then contains additional options…
Meet the New Web Crawlers: AI Bots Are Closing in on Search Engin...
The problem is that AI bots are new to web crawling. They’re still making some silly crawl decisions, bumping around, and wasting a lot of resources. We’ve already seen that…
The Great Decoupling Of Google Search – Clicks vs Impressio...
Since Google began rolling out AI Overviews in Google Search, publishers, site owners, SEOs, etc have been posting screenshots of their Google Search Console performance reports that show how clicks…
Poll: Most SEOs Are Scared About Google AI Mode
With Google rolling out AI Mode in the US and calling it the future of Google Search, many SEOs are worried about how organic search will lead traffic and conversions…
Google Search Team Explains The “It Depends” Response
Why Google’s SEO advice often sounds vague: Search Relations team explains the reasons behind “it depends” answers. The post Google Search Team Explains The “It Depends” Response appeared first on…
Google Ads Lowers Customer Lists To 100 Visitors For Targeting On...
Google Ads, sometime after June 2024 and November 2024, updated the size of your data segment requirement from 1,000 active visitors in a 30-day period to 100 active visitors in…
Good SEO Plus Lazy Marketing Won’t Cut It Anymore
That used to work. But with AI-powered search on the rise, the era of SEOs as technicians is fading, and the era of SEOs as real marketers is here. Search…
Google Is Now Rolling Out AI Mode In The US
At Google I/O, Google said it will roll out AI Mode to all users based in the U.S. Well, that rollout seems to have started some time yesterday. If you…
Google Business Profiles Chat Clicks Performance Analytics
Google added a new type of data point to the Google Business Profiles performance reports named Chat Clicks. Chat clicks show you how many people are clicking over from your…
Google Business Profiles Rolls Out New Interface For Google Posts
Google has rolled out a new interface to view your historical Google Posts within Google Business Profiles. Now the interface is a scrollable list view.
ChatGPT Mostly Source Wikipedia; Google AI Overviews Mostly Sourc...
A study from Profound of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity shows that while ChatGPT mostly sources its information from Wikipedia, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity mostly source their…
9 local SEO statistics that justify doubling down on search
Time to reinforce your strategy based on these local SEO stats?
LLMO Is in Its Black Hat Era
That’s where we are with optimizing for visibility in LLMs (LLMO), and we need more experts to call out this behavior in our industry, like Lily Ray has done in…
Google I/O, Marketing Live, AI Mode, AI Overviews, AI Ads, Search...
This week was a huge week for search; between Google I/O and Google Marketing Live – it was just a lot. We had two unconfirmed Google ranking updates, one on…
How To Create An SEO Roadmap That Actually Drives Results
Too many teams chase SEO wins without direction. Learn how to create a roadmap grounded in strategy, aligned goals, and realistic execution timelines. The post How To Create An SEO…
Google Search Ranking Volatility Heated Today – June 4th
Google Search ranking volatility is heating up today, June 4th. Many of the tools and some of the chatter within the SEO community are showing signs of a Google ranking…
Thought Leadership Content: What It Is + How to Create It
Thought leadership content shares ideas drawn from your knowledge and experience to influence others. Use this guide to create true thought leadership content that makes a lasting impact.
30-Year SEO Pro Shows How To Adapt To Google’s Zero-Click Search
Google’s AIO is wiping out mid-funnel user behavior data. Here are effective responses to zero-click SERPs for SEO. The post 30-Year SEO Pro Shows How To Adapt To Google’s Zero-Click…
Daily Search Forum Recap: June 4, 2025
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…
Daily Search Forum Recap: June 6, 2025
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…
Google Retires 7 Structured Data Features To Streamline Search Re...
Google retires seven structured data features including Book Actions, Course Info, and Claim Review to streamline search results. Rankings unaffected. The post Google Retires 7 Structured Data Features To Streamline…
Daily Search Forum Recap: June 9, 2025
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…
Daily Search Forum Recap: May 27, 2025
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…
Google 3-Pack: How to Locally Optimize Your Online Presence
If you’re a local small business, optimizing your online presence for local clientele should be a top priority.
Google Business Profiles Changes Add Updates To Posts
Google seems to be flip-flopping between calling it Google Posts and Google Updates within Google Business Profiles. When a business owner wants to post an announcement of sorts on their…
How to Measure SEO Share of Voice Using Semrush
Share of voice in SEO tells you how much search engine visibility you have. Measure it with Semrush.
Google Search Product Results Tests Blue Quick View Button
Google is testing a blue “Quick View” button on the popular product listings within Google Search. The funny thing is, prior to 2018, Google did have a quick view button…
Search Everywhere Optimization Guide (+ Free Checklist)
Imagine you’re looking for after shave oil. You type a few keywords into Amazon. A brand called Truly Beauty pops up. You’ve never heard of them. So you go to…
Google Gains Markup Support For Loyalty & Membership Programs
Google added new markup support for loyalty and membership programs with special pricing. This was supported in Google Merchant Center but now is supported in under Organization structured data combined…
The SEO Bots That ~140 Million Websites Block the Most
Blocking these bots will mostly impact the link index of the tools. They won’t be able to crawl the pages, so they can’t check where those pages are linking. It…
Ask An SEO: How Do We Shift Google From Our Old Brand Name to Our...
Dealing with outdated brand mentions in search? Here’s a clear breakdown of how to shift visibility from your old brand name to your new one. The post Ask An SEO:…
How to Set Up 301 Redirects in an .htaccess File
Adding 301 redirects in .htaccess files is useful to preserve ranking authority. Here are two methods.
OpenAI Rolls Out Update To ChatGPT Search
OpenAI quietly updated ChatGPT search to improve its ability to understand user queries and to answer increasingly complex questions. The post OpenAI Rolls Out Update To ChatGPT Search appeared first…
Google Ads Graphs Gain Embedded Performance Explanations
Google Ads has added explanations for your performance changes directly in the charts and graphs in your Google Ads console. You can click the highlighed section of the graph to…
Google Ads Policy Update: Individual Accounts Can Be Paused Over ...
Google has added a new section to its policy on pausing Google Ads accounts. It says Google “may pause your individual account if it is linked to a Manager account…
Websites Using AI Content Grow 5% Faster [+ New Research Report]
In this article, we’re looking at the performance of AI content. Does it rank? Does it perform better or worse than human content? Is it riskier than human content? Websites…
Google AI Overviews With Author Names & Citations
Google seems to be testing showing author names and website citations in the AI Overviews. I am honestly not sure if this is new but Christian Kunz said it was…
Google’s Update To Recipe Structured Data Confirms A Ranking Crit...
Google confirms that Recipe Rich Results and text search results select images using different criteria. The post Google’s Update To Recipe Structured Data Confirms A Ranking Criteria appeared first on…
Google Business Profile posts: Examples, sizes & scheduling
Learn how to maximize the impact of your Google Business Profile posts for better visibility and improved conversions
What Are Heading Tags? & Why They’re Important for SEO
Learn how to use HTML heading tags to improve your SEO and structure your content effectively.
My 11 Favorite ChatGPT Alternatives for 2025 (Tested Manually)
I tested the top ChatGPT alternatives and shortlisted 11 of them. Read this guide to explore their features and choose the best option for your needs.
Google Ads Confirms Issue – Maybe Ads Not Displaying
Google has confirmed an issue with Google Ads this morning, saying, “We’re investigating reports of an issue with Google Ads. We will provide more information shortly.”
HTML Link Code: How to Create Hyperlinks on Your Site
HTML links (also called hyperlinks) are some of the most important functions of the internet. Google literally relies on them to find, crawl, index, and rank pages. Links have a…
80% of Our AI Search Traffic Goes to Our Homepage, Product Pages,...
To answer this question, I decided to look at the referral traffic from AI Search using Ahrefs Web Analytics and compare that to traffic from Organic Search for ahrefs.com. We…