Welcome back, SEO friends!
Every week I like to sit down and talk about what’s happening in our world like I’m sharing a coffee with you, not lecturing from a podium. This week felt like riding a roller coaster—Google’s spam update is shaking things up, while AI search is opening doors we couldn’t have imagined a year ago. Whether you’ve been practicing SEO for a decade or just Googled “what is SEO” yesterday, I promise there’s something here for you.
Let’s unpack the headlines with simple explanations, real-world context and actionable insights that will help you stay ahead without feeling overwhelmed.
TL;DR
Spam update fallout: Google rolled out a spam update on Aug 26 targeting manipulative tactics like doorway and spun pages. It’s expected to run for about three weeks.
AI search goes global: Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) is now live in 180 countries and offers new “agentic” capabilities—think booking reservations right from search results.
Rivals respond: Microsoft’s Bing tested a persistent Copilot chat box, and Perplexity launched voice-enabled AI browsing plus a GPT‑4 Turbo mode.
Google’s spam update is like a hygiene check for the web. Starting Aug 26, it’s running about three weeks and targets pages built purely to manipulate search results—think doorway pages or automatically spun content. Unlike link penalties, it focuses on blatant policy violations. If you’ve seen sudden ranking drops, audit your content for quality and remove anything that might look spammy. Recovery can take months, so the sooner you clean up, the better.
Court documents from Google’s antitrust case gave us rare insight into how the index works. Every page gets a unique document ID (DocID) and a hidden “spam score”. Your crawl frequency is influenced by that score: high‑quality pages get crawled more often; pages perceived as spam get less attention. Even though PageRank still matters, most quality evaluation now comes from on‑page signals.
Another revelation was the “Glue” system, which logs queries, results and user interactions like clicks and dwell time. In plain language: Google watches how searchers engage with your snippet. Compelling titles and meta descriptions aren’t just to entice clicks; they teach Google that your result satisfies users.
Google tested minor interface tweaks like a shaded header and sticky search bar. In local packs, it’s A/B testing labels for the “Directions” button (“Map it,” “Route,” “Get there”). U.S. courts ruled Google won’t be broken up but may need to share search data, and the EU fined Google €3.1 billion. Meanwhile, a Bloomberg report suggests Apple might partner with Google to power an AI‑driven search feature in Siri by 2026.
SGE (Search Generative Experience) is Google’s answer to conversational search. Available in 180 countries, it uses AI to craft a mini‑summary right on the results page. It’s still English‑only, but now it can perform tasks for you—like booking restaurant reservations—and gives personalized recommendations for users who opt in. You can even share your AI answer via a link.
Do AI snippets steal traffic? Google insists clicks remain “relatively stable” with AI results. Independent research backs this up: a SparkToro study found no significant drop in traditional search engagement and only ~4 % of people never click after viewing an AI overview.
Google’s Gary Illyes confirmed that ads will soon appear within AI snapshots. This could push organic results further down, so watch your click‑through rates and coordinate with your paid teams.
Microsoft tested a floating Copilot chat box that suggests follow‑up keywords as you scroll. It’s also trying an expandable related‑searches UI.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT unveiled enterprise features and is even hiring an SEO strategist.
Perplexity rolled out a new iOS app, voice dictation, GPT‑4 Turbo (“GPT‑5 thinking”) and a Study Mode for students; they also improved context memory and added slash commands for multi‑step tasks.
Anthropic’s Claude 2 is in beta as a search assistant on DuckDuckGo and Slack.
Each page has a DocID and a hidden spam score that influences crawl frequency. Most of Google’s quality evaluation now comes from on‑page factors. This means that even if your site has high-quality backlinks, thin or unhelpful pages can drag down your overall crawl frequency.
Google tracks clicks, hovers and dwell time through its “Glue” system. Think of this as a user‑experience scorecard. If your snippet underperforms, consider rewriting your title and description to better match search intent.
Google’s Preferred Sites feature lets news publishers signal official status, potentially boosting visibility in Top Stories. For local businesses, Google now verifies appointment, menu and order links daily, so double-check that these links are direct and unblocked.
A recent crawling bug (Aug 8 to 28, 2025) affecting sites on certain hosts has been fixed. John Mueller reminds us that crawl spikes or drops don’t indicate a core update. However, some SEOs are speculating about new AI-focused crawlers, so monitor your logs and keep your robots.txt clean.
Quality is grounded in your page content. Marie Haynes urges SEOs to focus on E‑E‑A‑T and user satisfaction because high spam scores or low engagement can limit your crawl and rankings. Glenn Gabe observed dramatic drops for sites with programmatic or thin doorway pages during the spam update.
FAQPage schema and concise summaries help your content get surfaced in AI answers. Aleyda Solis reports that clients saw higher click‑through after implementing FAQ schema and appearing in SGE.
Google is experimenting with different labels for the “Directions” button in the local pack — “Map it,” “Route,” and “Get there”. Watch your local listing CTR to see which one resonates.
Google now crawls and verifies appointment, menu and order links daily. Ensure these links are direct, accessible and relevant to avoid removal.
If you publish news, submit your site as a Preferred Site to boost Top Stories visibility.
Aside from the spam update, search results were relatively stable this week. Use Google Search Console (GSC) to track impressions and clicks. Compare pre‑ and post‑update trends to spot anomalies.
Google is adding filters, regex and anomaly detection to Search Console. Practice building dashboards in Looker Studio combining GA4 and GSC data. For deeper analysis, connect GA4 to BigQuery and use AI tools like ChatGPT’s Code Interpreter to process large datasets.
Google hinted at a new GSC filter that will show impressions and clicks from AI Overviews. When it launches, use it to see how often your site appears in generative results and adjust your strategy accordingly.
A popular n8n template automatically extracts site data, sends it through GPT‑4 and produces an SEO audit. There are several beginner-friendly guide shows how to build an AI workflow in 10 minutes, handling tasks like text summarization and meta description generation.
Zapier and Make.com offer GPT and Claude integrations. Use them to automate FAQ generation, keyword expansion or Slack alerts.
Retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG) combines search with language models. LangChain lets you build Q&A systems on top of your content. There’s also an open-source Prompt Engineering repository that compiles best practices for crafting prompts.
Google’s Generative AI learning path and the Microsoft+LinkedIn certificate teach effective prompt techniques. The open-source prompt engineering repo offers examples from beginner to advanced levels.
1. FAQ Schema & AI citations:
Implement FAQPage schema on five high‑traffic pages and monitor whether they appear in SGE snapshots. Track changes in impressions and clicks when the AI traffic filter becomes available.
2. Automated spam audit workflow:
Build an n8n workflow that identifies low‑quality pages, sends them to GPT‑4 for quality analysis and recommends updates or deletions. Compare recovery speed to a manual audit to see which approach is more efficient.
3. RAG-powered internal search:
Use LangChain to build an internal Q&A feature that searches your site’s content and returns AI‑generated answers. Measure improvements in user engagement (time on page, conversions) to gauge its impact.
| Experiment | Impact | Ease | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clean up spam signals: Audit thin, doorway, or spun pages and disavow toxic links. Taking early action can prevent months-long recovery. | High | Moderate | Low |
| Enrich content for SGE: Identify your pages featured in AI Overviews. Add sections that answer missing questions or clarify details. This won’t directly boost rankings but can position your site as a cited source. | Medium | Easy | Low |
| Enable Preferred Sites & verify links: News publishers can submit their site to Google’s Preferred Sites list to improve Top Stories visibility. Local businesses should ensure appointment, menu, and order links are direct and accessible. | Medium | Easy | Very low |
Marie Haynes: She digs into court documents to understand Google’s ranking signals and advises focusing on E‑E‑A‑T and user satisfaction. She reminds us that high spam scores or low engagement can limit crawling and rankings and highlights the importance of compelling titles and descriptions.
Glenn Gabe: He notes that sites with programmatic or thin doorway pages suffered dramatic drops during the spam update. He also underscores Apple’s potential search partnership with Google and suggests preparing for voice‑assistant search.
Lily Ray: She calls out the myth that “SEO is dead” by pointing out that OpenAI is hiring an SEO strategist. She emphasizes quality content, human fact‑checking for AI‑assisted writing and the industry’s demand for AI traffic data.
Aleyda Solis: She champions AI search optimization—using FAQ schema and concise summaries to get cited in SGE—and highlights AI use-cases for international SEO, like rapid content localization and automating hreflang checks. She also cautions not to neglect site speed and structured data.
Barry Schwartz: He reports on every development and notes the tension between Google’s claim of stable clicks and its rapid rollout of AI features. He urges agility and reminds us that good SEO practices remain the foundation.
Spam update completion:
If Google announces the spam update is finished, check your analytics. If you still see declines, then you were likely hit and need to continue cleaning spam signals.
Possible September updates:
September often brings core or Helpful Content updates. If you notice ranking fluctuations outside the spam timeline, then prepare for a new update by auditing content quality.
Ads in AI answers:
With ads coming to AI snapshots, if you spot sponsored links in SGE, then monitor CTR and coordinate with your paid media team to leverage new placements.
AI Overview metrics:
Google may introduce a Search Console filter for AI Overview traffic. If it appears, then analyze how often your site is cited and refine your content accordingly.
Crawl & indexing oddities:
If you see unusual crawl patterns or indexing delays, then monitor official channels; new crawlers or rendering updates could be rolling out.
New search players:
Amazon is rumored to enhance its e‑commerce search with AI and Apple’s iOS 17 could change Spotlight search. If big announcements drop, then plan to diversify your traffic sources beyond Google.
Search is evolving faster than ever, but that doesn’t mean SEO is dead—it means we need to adapt. This week’s spam update reminds us to keep our content clean and useful, while the global rollout of SGE shows the promise of AI‑powered search. Invest in your skills, embrace no‑code automation and continue focusing on E‑E‑A‑T. By staying curious and experimenting with new tools, you’ll not only survive but thrive in the AI era. Join us again next week for more insights.
Published by: Manikandan Nagappan
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