What does Google say about SEO? /
Artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping search engine optimization and Google's algorithms. This category compiles Google's official statements regarding AI usage in search, including machine learning technologies, large language models (LLMs), and new generative search experiences like SGE and AI Overview. SEO practitioners will find Google's positions on how AI-generated content (ChatGPT, Gemini, Bard) impacts website rankings and organic visibility. Google has clarified its guidelines concerning artificial intelligence for content creation, distinguishing acceptable practices from manipulative techniques that violate search quality standards. Understanding these official declarations is crucial for adapting SEO strategies to algorithmic evolutions, particularly with the increasing integration of machine learning into ranking systems. This category also covers the impact of AI-generated answers in SERPs, E-E-A-T quality criteria applied to AI-assisted content, and recommendations for maintaining organic search presence in the era of generative search. Essential insights include how Google evaluates content quality regardless of production method, focusing on helpfulness and user value rather than creation process. A must-follow resource for staying ahead in modern search engine optimization.
Quick SEO Quiz

Test your SEO knowledge in 5 questions

Less than a minute. Find out how much you really know about Google search.

🕒 ~1 min 🎯 5 questions
★★★ Should you really avoid duplicating your own content for SEO?
Reusing your own content by changing a few words is not contrary to Google's guidelines, but delivers little value. It's better to create fewer, higher-quality articles. Warning: creating many variati...
John Mueller May 08, 2022
★★ Do technical SEO issues really have an immediate impact on your rankings?
Real technical issues (misconfigured robots.txt blocking, server errors) have an immediate impact on indexation. If a problem has existed for a long time without visible effect, then a decline occurs,...
John Mueller May 08, 2022
★★★ Why does Google penalize excessive variations of the same content?
Creating many variations of the same content by simply changing a few words constitutes doorway pages, which goes against Google's Webmaster Guidelines. This dilutes your site's quality instead of rei...
John Mueller May 08, 2022
★★★ Does the disavow tool really erase all traces of toxic links from Google's algorithms?
Links disavowed via the disavow tool are completely removed from Google's systems. They no longer have any effect, neither positive nor negative. Links still appear in Search Console but are ignored i...
John Mueller May 08, 2022
★★★ Why aren't your pages getting indexed even though your site is technically flawless?
When technical aspects are correct and certain pages aren't indexed or ranking well, the problem usually comes from perceived content quality and overall site experience, not from technical infrastruc...
John Mueller May 08, 2022
★★★ Should you really trust rel=canonical to control indexation?
The rel canonical is a signal that helps Google choose which URL to index among duplicate pages. Google doesn't always follow this indication: its systems can decide that another URL is preferable. Th...
John Mueller May 08, 2022
★★★ Does Google really require FAQ Schema content to follow a strict presentation format?
To use FAQ Schema markup, questions and answers must be visible on the page. They can appear in different sections of the page (such as blog section headings), not necessarily in a traditional FAQ for...
John Mueller May 08, 2022
★★ Why have external user studies become essential for diagnosing quality issues that your team can no longer see?
To understand quality problems, it is recommended to conduct user studies with people external to your site. Asking them questions about trust, experience, and difficulties encountered helps identify ...
John Mueller May 08, 2022
★★ Can an SSL certificate really penalize your search rankings?
If an SSL certificate works correctly in a browser, it will work correctly for Google indexing. An SSL certificate problem would not cause a drop in visibility in search results....
John Mueller May 08, 2022
★★★ Are JavaScript Web Components really crawlable by Google's bots?
JavaScript-based Web Components can be processed by Google Search. It is recommended to test the rendering with Search Console's Inspect URL tool to verify that Google can properly extract important c...
John Mueller May 08, 2022
★★ Does FAQ Schema Markup Really Guarantee That Your FAQ Snippets Will Show Up in Google?
FAQ Schema markup makes pages eligible for displaying FAQ snippets in search results, but does not guarantee their appearance. Google decides based on multiple factors whether these rich snippets will...
John Mueller May 08, 2022
★★ Why is PageSpeed Insights the performance tool you should prioritize for SEO?
PageSpeed Insights is a useful tool because it presents both lab data and field data in a single report....
Alan Kent May 06, 2022
★★★ Is lazy loading really hurting your above-the-fold images and LCP?
Performance degradation can occur if lazy loading is used for above-the-fold images. Recent versions of Lighthouse report if a lazy-loaded image impacts LCP....
Alan Kent May 06, 2022
★★★ Should you really prioritize loading your hero images to improve LCP?
Large hero images at the top of the page should be downloaded as a priority because they can affect the page's Largest Contentful Paint score....
Alan Kent May 06, 2022
★★ How is the Chrome User Experience Report revolutionizing the way you measure your website's actual performance?
Field data can be collected via the Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX), which makes anonymized Chrome data available for popular websites....
Alan Kent May 06, 2022
★★ Should you really convert all your images to WebP for SEO?
The WebP format is now supported by nearly all browsers in use, making it a strong combination of efficiency and adoption for web images....
Alan Kent May 06, 2022
★★ Are lab data really enough to optimize your Core Web Vitals, or do you need real user metrics?
Field data collected from real users demonstrates whether you've truly solved a problem for your users, unlike lab data which has significant limitations....
Alan Kent May 06, 2022
★★★ Does LCP really measure how fast your main content appears on screen?
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) measures the time needed to display the main content on screen. Like CLS, it's a Core Web Vital metric....
Alan Kent May 06, 2022
★★★ Does specifying image dimensions really fix Cumulative Layout Shift?
Fixing CLS issues can be as simple as including image dimensions in your HTML markup. This way, the browser knows exactly how much space to reserve for the image....
Alan Kent May 06, 2022
★★ Should You Stop Using Video and Image Tags in Your XML Sitemaps?
Google is considering deprecating certain video and image sitemap extension tags that have equivalents in structured data. This would avoid conflicts between sitemap data and structured data, the latt...
Gary Illyes May 05, 2022
🔔

Get real-time analysis of the latest Google SEO declarations

Be the first to know every time a new official Google statement drops — with full expert analysis.

No spam. Unsubscribe in one click.