Daily Search Forum Recap: November 7, 2025
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…
Google dropped a number of search features and structured data types. Google is testing a new version of AI Mode. Google AI Mode gained three new agentic capabilities. Google AI…
Google added a new promotion targeting option to Google Merchant Center for audience targeting. The option is labeled “preferred audience” and is available when setting up a promotion.
Google announced it has added Waze ads inventory to Performance Max for store goals campaigns and Channel performance reporting is now available in all Performance Max campaigns in Google Ads.
Google has been adding AI features to Google Finance – like what can go wrong? Recently Google’s Rose Yao announced Google Finance added live audio, instant transcripts and AI insights.
Google added a new navigation button to Google Merchant Center labeled “Creative Content.” I believe this is where you access Product Studio, and all your videos and assets for your…
As VP of Engineering for Search at Google, Rajan Patel said months ago – “We’re experimenting with various approaches to X in Discover.” Google has been super busy with testing…
We examined 300,000 domains to understand how widely LLMs.txt is used and whether it impacts AI citations. See what our findings show.
Google’s Preferred Sources tool is surfacing parked domains, spammy domain squatters, and random websites, detracting from legit sites that should be benefiting. The post Google’s Preferred Sources Tool Is Jammed…
Google published guidance emphasizing context-driven technical SEO audits over tool-generated scores, explaining when high 404s are normal. The post Google Warns Against Relying On SEO Audit Tool Scores appeared first…
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Google dropped a…
The discovery stack is evolving from crawl and index to retrieval and reasoning, changing how authority and attribution are built. The post The New Optimization Stack: Where SEO Meets AI…
Google’s John Mueller announced Google is “simplify the search results page” by removing “some features that aren’t being used very often and aren’t adding significant value to users.” This means…
Google is testing a tinted brownish/yellowish background color for the search results page. It turns the white background into a brownish/grayish/yellowish background and then the gray boxes into a darker…
Google updated its Circumventing systems policy to add a new section for Advertiser verification. In short, and as Google wrote, “Providing false or fraudulent information as part of our Advertiser…
Google is testing replacing the definitions box in the search results with AI Overviews. I am personally able to replicate this but this was posted in Reddit a couple of…
Google has released version 2.11 of the Google Ads Editor, which includes over 15 new features and removes a couple of older features.
Google Maps is getting an update from Gemini where you can ask Google Maps questions about locations, where Google Maps can give you more human directions and Google Maps with…
Traditional SEO optimizes for search engines like Google. AI SEO optimizes for AI platforms and search features.
Check out our AI Mode shopping analysis: see why eBay leads, high-rated products get priority in listings, and Reddit shapes product trust.
This year? We barely talked about algorithms. Instead, more than 500 marketers gathered and listened raptly as every conversation circled back to AI. Its meteoric impact on our industry cannot…
Learn how to get cited by AI search engines like ChatGPT and Google in 7 straightforward steps.
Unlock the secrets of AI content creation that actually gets cited. Learn how to enhance your visibility with unique AI-generated articles. The post Why AI Content All Sounds the Same…
Google will deprecate practice problem structured data in January and clarifies Dataset markup is only for Dataset Search. Book actions remain supported. The post Google Deprecates Practice Problem Structured Data…
Managing local search marketing for one location is straightforward. But managing multi-location SEO — whether it’s 10, 50, or 100 branches — gets complicated fast. Each location needs unique content….
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Google AI Overviews…
When marketing and technology clash, SEO and site performance suffer. Bill Hunt outlines how to unify both for long-term digital resilience. The post The CMO-CTO Power Struggle: Solving The Web…
How do you optimize for AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and SGE? Get expert-backed frameworks to improve visibility, measure impact, and lead in AI-powered search. The post AI Search Playbook: The Strategy…
Earlier this year, we covered that Google’s AI Overviews are killing click-through rates from the Google Search results. Well, Seer Interactive updated the numbers and that CTR decline has continued…
Google is testing a new version of AI Mode responses in the wild, directly in the Google Search AI Mode interface. Google even tells the searcher, “You’re giving feedback on…
Google added a new promotion method in Google Merchant Center for Top-performing products. This lets you just promote your best performing products in Google Shopping and Google Search.
Google is testing an update to the reviews services summary box. We know Google does ask for services attributes and other attributes from both the business owner and reviewers but…
Google’s Robby Stein announced three new agentic capabilities within AI Mode – (1) booking event tickets (2) booking beauty appointments and (3) wellness appointments.
A way to understand why Google AI Mode ranks web pages, and how to adapt to those changes. The post AI SEO: How To Understand AI Mode Rankings appeared first…
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Google added a…
Despite strong early growth, LLM referral traffic is fading fast as model changes and AI Overviews make clicks obsolete. The post LLM Traffic Is Shrinking appeared first on Search Engine…
Google is supposedly testing an endless, infinite scroll for Google Discover. When I scroll through Google Discover, it eventually just stops and doesn’t keep going. But Gagan Ghotra said he…
Did you know that Google Merchant Center will automatically crop your product images in Google Shopping if it thinks it will look better in Google Search? Did you know that…
We had a few unconfirmed but big Google search ranking updates but we are still waiting on an official core update…
Google Search Console has a bug with its API when filtering on the searchAppearance dimension. This bug occurs when using the notEquals or notContains operators, it will only return rows…
Google added a new user agent to the Googlebot’s user-triggered fetchers documentation. The new user agent is for the Chrome Web Store named Google-CWS.
Ahrefs’ Brand Radar data shows that brand mentions are an important factor in AI search visibility. The post Ahrefs Data Shows Brand Mentions Boost AI Search Rankings appeared first on…
These are the top 50 countries with the biggest proportion of AI Overviews worldwide. We pulled data from our search index and calculated how many keywords appear in AI Overview…
AI search traffic went up 527% in just a year. Here are some more AI SEO statistics—with sources.
There’s been a lot of buzz around llms.txt. But no major AI platform has confirmed that they use it. Not yet, anyway. And there’s no evidence that any major large…
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Google Search new…
Grokipedia, an AI-generated online encyclopedia launched a week ago with over 800,000 AI-generated pages, and both Google and Bing have already indexed hundreds, if not thousands, of those AI-generated pages.
A few weeks ago, Google launched a new ad layout with the large “Sponsored results” label that groups numerous ads under that one label, and then sticks a “Hide sponsored…
Google’s John Mueller posted a PSA yesterday, reminding SEOs and developers to verify the host name of cloud providers they are using to host images, videos, and other content. Specifically,…
Raptive, an advertising-sales company representing thousands of websites (content publishers), filed a 93-page complaint against Google in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The suit…
Reddit announced earnings late last week and it boggles me how people love this stock. I am not a financial expert of analysis but Reddit has been saying for some…
Google says AI surfaces businesses the same way people do, by checking what others recommend online. The post Google Discusses Digital PR Impact On AI Recommendations appeared first on Search…
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Google says Google…
This week, we covered more Google Search ranking volatility mid-week. Google Search Console launched query groups reports. Disney’s sitelinks in Google Search seemed to have been hacked. Google reminded us…
Robby Stein, VP of Product for Google Search, was interviewed on the Silicon Valley Girl channel by Marina Mogilko about AI Search at Google. He explained how to do SEO…
Google may have a new chart in the Google Ads overview tab named cross campaign metrics. It seems similar to the Cross-Media Reach Measurement but this is shown in the…
Google seems to have added a download option to the Google Merchant Center promotions section. when creating promotions in Google Merchant Center, the download button will be on the bottom…
Robby Stein, VP of Product for Google Search, was interviewed on the Silicon Valley Girl channel by Marina Mogilko about AI Search at Google. And one of the questions she…
Microsoft is testing a “see more” link within the Bing Search image carousel on search result snippets. Sometimes Microsoft will show an image carousel below a search result snippet, sometimes…
The post exploded. 500+ likes, 400+ comments, and people are loving it. But SEOs didn’t. I can’t believe we’re still talking about this at the end of 2025. I want…
At first glance, it looks like only big brands get cited in AI answers. Wikipedia alone accounts for over 2 million citations across major AI platforms. But these brands aren’t…
It measures where the brand is mentioned in AI search platforms, how often, how accurately, and based on which sources. Here’s a step-by-step process for how you audit your brand’s…
That’s what a brand gap analysis enables. It also turns brand visibility from a vague concept into something measurable and fixable. Here’s how. A brand gap analysis measures the difference…
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web…
With Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI leading the agentic shift, marketers face a new era of machine-mediated discovery and engagement. The post How Agentic Browsers Will Change Digital Marketing appeared first…
When Google’s algorithm updates hit your rankings, keep leadership calm and focused with a data-led, long-term SEO recovery plan. The post Ask An SEO: How To Manage Stakeholders When An…
About a week ago, if you searched for [disney account] and looked at the Disney search result listing in Google Search, you’d see a sitelink that reads, “Black hat SEO…
Google Merchant Center Next added new analytics data to the Promotions tab/section. This shows you two new analytics charts including “Your promotions at a glance” and “Performance in the last…
Google updated the Google Ads Gambling and Games policy this week to define that sweepstake casinos are not social casino games. Google said this update was added on October 28,…
Google’s John Mueller reminded us about when case sensitivity matters for Google Search and SEO when it comes to your URLs. In short, Google will probably figure it out based…
Microsoft is testing a way to change the country and region you are in when doing searches on Bing. There is a new country/region selector for this, similar to how…
Anthropic’s research explores how large language models perceive and structure text instead of simply producing it word by word. The post Anthropic Research Shows How LLMs Perceive Text appeared first…
But updating website content shouldn’t just mean changing a publish date. It’s a chance to improve user experience, build your owned audience, and shape how AI represents your brand. I’ll…
Google reports that AI features are adding searches rather than replacing them, pointing to more AI-led sessions and steady traffic flowing to sites. The post Google Q3 Report: AI Mode,…
Microsoft Advertising advertiser web interface is down and Microsoft’s Navah Hopkins said the “engineering team is investigating this issue with priority.” This only impacts the web interface, according to Hopkins…
Google Chrome will enable “Always Use Secure Connections” by default in October 2026, warning users before accessing public sites without HTTPS encryption. The post Chrome To Warn Users Before Loading…
Both Google and Microsoft reported its earnings today; Alphabet’s Q3 2025 earnings and Microsoft’s Q1 2026 earnings. Google reported ad revenues up by XX% with $ and Microsoft reported ad…
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Google Search ranking…
There may have been another Google Search ranking algorithm tweak around October 28th or so. I am seeing some rumblings both within the SEO community chatter and the third-party Google…
We all knew it was coming and now Google is roll out early access to Gemini for Home voice assistant in the U.S. You can either say “Hey Google” to…
Google Merchant Center now lets some merchants and advertisers define an audience for a promotion. This allows you to restrict who sees the promotion in Google Search for your Merchant…
A judge has ruled, giving Google a blow in its ad tech monopoly legal battle. This ruling should help the plaintiffs suing Google not get hung up in court as…
Harry Clarkson-Bennett dissects the Google Discover leak to expose the real signals behind “trusted” content and sustainable visibility. The post How Google Discover REALLY Works appeared first on Search Engine…
Google is testing adding to the call and message button on Local Service Ads a reviews and sometimes overview button. Reviews takes you to the reviews but the overview button…
There may be an undocumented Google user agent named GeminiiOS. GeminiiOS is apparently used when a user clicks on a source link from the Gemini app on their iPhone.
If your business depends on local traffic, this audit checklist highlights where to focus for stronger visibility in both organic and AI search. The post How To Do A Complete…
See how to measure and grow your brand’s visibility in ChatGPT, Google AI, and more using Semrush. Follow this step-by-step guide to get started.
Learn why an audit is essential for addressing the AI visibility gap and driving organic traffic to your site. The post The AI Search Visibility Audit: 15 Questions Every CMO…
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Google Search Console…
Google added a very useful feature to the Google Search Console Insights report named query groups. It does what it is named, it groups similar queries together as one, so…
Knowing when to refresh content versus create new pages comes down to user value, topical focus, and measurable SEO outcomes. The post Ask An SEO: Is It Better To Refresh…
Google has expanded access to the Google Business Profiles’ what’s happening feature to multi-location restaurants and bars in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. When…
Google Ads has supposedly added more integration between the main Google Ads platform and reporting and the niche Local Service Ads platform. Some can now see conversion tracking actions in…
Google is rolling out map pin clicks in the Google Ads and Google Local Service Ads reporting. This can be found under Campaigns view, then under Segment, and then under…
Google’s John Mueller was asked what is the best CMS, content management system, is for SEO and ranking well on Google Search. John replied that all the modern CMS platforms…
Turn one piece of content into many. Learn a 5-step multimodal content strategy to expand reach, repurpose efficiently, and improve AI visibility.
Google’s John Mueller said case sensitivity matters and SEOs shouldn’t just hope it works. The post Google’s Advice On Canonicals: They’re Case Sensitive appeared first on Search Engine Journal.
You can repeat this analysis yourself pretty easily. Just do an open database search in Brand Radar, head to the “Cited pages” report for your desired AI assistant, and export…
Explore the key trends from the AI Visibility Index after three months of tracking AI search‘s leading brands and tactics.
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Google local reviews…