What does Google say about SEO?

Do you really have to wait 24 hours for robots.txt changes to take effect with Google?

Gary Illyes Feb 03, 2026 ★★

robots.txt files are cached by Google for a duration that can extend up to approximately 24 hours. Modifications made to robots.txt are therefore not immediate but remain the most sensible method for controlling crawl activity.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO PDF & Files Web Performance

Should you replace GET parameters with PUT requests to protect your crawl budget?

Gary Illyes Feb 03, 2026 ★★

It is very rare that Googlebot uses HTTP PUT requests. Using PUT requests instead of GET parameters for actions like adding to cart would help prevent these URLs from being crawled.

Crawl & Indexing HTTPS & Security AI & SEO Domain Name

Is faceted navigation really eating up half of your crawl budget?

Gary Illyes Feb 03, 2026 ★★★

Faceted navigation (filters and sorting on e-commerce sites) accounts for nearly 50% of crawl problem reports received in 2025. It creates URL combinations that can overwhelm servers because Googlebot must crawl a large volume of URLs to determine wh...

Crawl & Indexing E-commerce AI & SEO Domain Name Pagination & Structure Search Console

Should you really block faceted navigation in robots.txt?

Gary Illyes Feb 03, 2026 ★★★

To control the crawling of faceted navigation, the most reasonable method is to use robots.txt to block these paths. Google's robots.txt file provides examples of parameter combinations to allow or block, applicable to faceted navigation.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Pagination & Structure PDF & Files

Is Google really acting as a technical consultant for WordPress plugin developers?

Gary Illyes Feb 03, 2026 ★★

Google's Search Relations team identifies WordPress plugins generating crawl problems and submits issues on their open source repositories. WooCommerce quickly resolved a reported problem concerning action parameters.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

Are short URL parameters really draining your crawl budget?

Gary Illyes Feb 03, 2026 ★★

Irrelevant parameters (UTM, session IDs) make up 10% of reported issues. Google handles standard parameters well like session_id, j_session_id or utm_medium, but short non-standard parameters (like s=) cause problems because their meaning is ambiguou...

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Search Console

Why does Googlebot need to crawl massive amounts of a new site before deciding if it's worth its attention?

Gary Illyes Feb 03, 2026 ★★★

Googlebot, despite nearly 30 years of experience, can only determine if a new URL space is relevant after crawling a large portion of it. During this phase, intensive crawling can render the site unusable before Google detects the overload.

Crawl & Indexing JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name

Why Will Google Gemini Remain Ad-Free While ChatGPT Integrates Them?

Google Jan 27, 2026 ★★★

Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, confirmed at the World Economic Forum in Davos that Google has "no plans" to integrate advertising into Gemini. This statement comes just after OpenAI's announcement regarding the upcoming arrival of ads in Cha...

AI & SEO

Should you implement an LLMs.txt file to improve your SEO?

John Mueller Jan 27, 2026 ★★★

John Mueller from Google clarified that the presence of LLMs.txt files on certain Google sites does not in any way represent a recommendation or endorsement from the company. This clarification follows a question asked on Bluesky by Esben Rasmussen, ...

Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO PDF & Files

Will Google's Universal Commerce Protocol Really Kill E-commerce SEO?

John Mueller Jan 20, 2026 ★★

An SEO professional named Ramon Eijkemans expressed strong concerns, claiming that "SEOs are screwed" with the arrival of UCP (Universal Commerce Protocol). According to him, UCP will handle all optimizations and clients will only be able to process ...

Domain Age & History Content E-commerce AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Are favicons disappearing from SERPs a signal of a Google penalty?

John Mueller Jan 20, 2026 ★★★

John Mueller confirmed on LinkedIn that the display or disappearance of favicons in Google search results is not affected by core updates. This clarification follows the complaint of a user whose favicon had disappeared from the search results interf...

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Social Media

Should you abandon SEO to focus on GEO (AI optimization)?

John Mueller Jan 13, 2026 ★★★

On Reddit, John Mueller reframed the SEO/GEO debate as a resource allocation question rather than a terminology issue. Fundamentally, John Mueller neither validates nor rejects the term GEO, which refers to visibility optimization in AI engines like ...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Social Media International SEO

Why Are Your Pages Disappearing from Google with the 'Pages Indexed Without Content' Error?

John Mueller Jan 13, 2026 ★★★

John Mueller explains that the "Page Indexed without content" error in Search Console typically indicates a blockage at the server or CDN level, not a JavaScript issue. This is an urgent situation, as affected pages risk disappearing from Google. Joh...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Search Console

Why is Google installing hidden LLMs.txt files on its own sites without having planned it?

John Mueller Jan 13, 2026 ★★

A few weeks ago, the existence of LLMs.txt files was discovered on several sites linked to Google. According to John Mueller, these files were not added intentionally to facilitate AI discovery, but as part of a global CMS change, sometimes without t...

Content AI & SEO PDF & Files

Can you really succeed in SEO without experts or specialized tools?

Danny Sullivan Jan 08, 2026 ★★★

Many sites succeed in search without even thinking about SEO. They simply focus on creating exceptional content for users. This is the foundation on which all search success is built.

Content

Is Google really saying what SEO professionals claim it does?

Danny Sullivan Jan 08, 2026 ★★★

Some claim that Google recommends certain practices, but these are often personal interpretations. You must ask to see where Google states this directly and clearly distinguish facts from interpretations.

AI & SEO

Can you really guarantee results in SEO?

Danny Sullivan Jan 08, 2026 ★★★

Claims are just claims. Nobody can guarantee improved rankings, specific traffic, or that results will last over time before that actually happens.

Should you adapt your content specifically for LLMs and generative AI?

Danny Sullivan Jan 08, 2026 ★★★

Google doesn't want creators to break up their content into tiny pieces to please LLMs, nor to create two distinct versions of their content. Google wants content to be created for humans, not optimized specifically for search systems.

Content AI & SEO

Is SEO still the right term when you're optimizing for ChatGPT or Gemini?

Danny Sullivan Jan 08, 2026 ★★★

AEO, GEO, and other new terms are actually subcategories of SEO. These optimization practices for AI or chat formats are still part of the broad SEO category, because they are methods people use to perform searches.

AI & SEO International SEO

Why is knowing Google's guidelines non-negotiable before hiring an SEO specialist?

John Mueller Jan 08, 2026 ★★★

Site creators must first understand Google's official guidelines to assess whether an SEO provider is following best practices or optimizing irrelevant factors while claiming to have secret tricks.

AI & SEO