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.
★★★ Why should photographers invest in their own website instead of relying solely on Instagram?
Photographers should maintain both a website and an active presence on social media. A website allows you to fully control the presentation and context of your photos, unlike social networks where you...
Martin Splitt Aug 07, 2025
★★ Are responsive images really enough to boost your Google rankings?
Using responsive images (different versions for different devices) is a good practice, but it won't get your site to rank in the top position. These are best practices to follow, but you need to do mo...
John Mueller Aug 07, 2025
★★ JPEG, WebP, AVIF: Which image format should you choose for SEO in 2025?
Google supports multiple image formats including JPEG, AVIF, WEBP and BMP. JPEGs work everywhere and are acceptable, but other modern formats are also supported. The complete documentation lists all s...
John Mueller Aug 07, 2025
★★★ Should you host your customer support on the same domain for SEO benefits?
Having a support site on the same domain name with a different subdomain, or even on a completely different domain name, is a perfectly normal configuration that causes no SEO problems whatsoever....
John Mueller Aug 06, 2025
★★★ Do custom URLs on third-party platforms really hurt your SEO rankings?
A custom URL created on a third-party communication platform (such as a community forum) has no negative impact on the main website's search engine optimization. This configuration is perfectly accept...
John Mueller Aug 06, 2025
★★★ Does Google really prioritize support sites for help-related queries?
Google tries to recognize when a user is performing a search related to support and displays the support site in the results accordingly. Each site is shown in search results when it's appropriate....
John Mueller Aug 06, 2025
★★★ Subdomain vs separate domain: Does Google really make a difference for your SEO?
Google attempts to index both the main site and the support site, whether they're on different subdomains (support.example.com vs www.example.com) or on completely different domains. Both versions are...
John Mueller Aug 06, 2025
★★★ Is Classic SEO Really All You Need to Rank in AI Search?
Fabrice Canel, Product Manager at Bing, states that to optimize visibility in AI Search, simply following usual SEO best practices is sufficient—a view shared by Google. In a recent blog post, his tea...
Google Aug 05, 2025
★★★ Should You Use LLMS.txt to Optimize Your SEO for AI?
Gary Illyes recently stated on Bluesky that the LLMS.txt file, designed to "control" LLMs' access to web content, strongly resembles the meta keywords tag from the 1990s, which quickly became obsolete...
Gary Illyes Aug 05, 2025
★★★ Is Google Really Using MUVERA to Revolutionize Its Search System?
During an exchange at Search Central Live, Gary Illyes confirmed that Google uses a method similar to MUVERA, an innovative multi-vector search technique compressed into fixed vectors, which enables f...
Gary Illyes Aug 05, 2025
★★★ Should You Already Be Optimizing Your E-commerce Site for Conversational AI Agents?
John Mueller suggests that e-commerce site owners should check whether their stores are accessible to AI agents, such as those used through ChatGPT for shopping. An experiment conducted in Switzerland...
John Mueller Aug 05, 2025
★★ Is title truncation in Google search results actually hurting your SEO?
According to John Mueller, truncation of product names in Google search results does not constitute a violation of guidelines. Google can shorten titles displayed in search results for display reasons...
John Mueller Jul 30, 2025
★★★ Should You Delete Past Event Pages or Keep Them for SEO?
John Mueller provided practical advice on the SEO management of web pages for shows, events or performances once they have ended. He compares this situation to that of out-of-stock products in e-comme...
John Mueller Jul 29, 2025
★★★ Do You Really Need a New 'GEO' Strategy to Show Up in Google's AI Overviews?
Google confirms that no particular optimization is necessary for AI Overviews and AI Mode. Gary Illyes has clearly established that traditional SEO practices are more than sufficient to rank in the ne...
Gary Illyes Jul 29, 2025
★★ Should You Use a Noindex Header to Protect Your llms.txt Files from Google Indexing?
John Mueller answered a question about llms.txt files and their potential impact as duplicate content. He explained that these files would only be considered duplicate content if their content was ide...
John Mueller Jul 29, 2025
★★ Are tracking parameters damaging your search visibility? Here's why Google shows them—and how to fix it
Tracking parameters can appear in Google search results. This is a common issue that requires action to maintain a clean search presence and user-friendly experience....
Google Jul 25, 2025
★★ Can CSS Harm Your SEO Just Like JavaScript Does?
CSS is like JavaScript: it's perfectly acceptable to use it (everyone does), but it offers a lot of flexibility and power, which can sometimes lead to building things that don't work as intended for S...
John Mueller Jul 24, 2025
★★★ Why aren't your CSS background images ever showing up in Google Images?
Images loaded via CSS background-image are considered decorative. If an image is integral to your content (product photo, infographic referenced in text), it must use an <img> or <picture> tag to be p...
Martin Splitt Jul 24, 2025
★★★ Why does Google fail to recognize hashtags generated through CSS ::before?
The indexation team reported a case where a site used CSS ::before to add the # symbol in front of keywords. The indexation system did not recognize these hashtags because the # symbol was not in the ...
John Mueller Jul 24, 2025
★★ Why does Google require <img> tags for stock images instead of CSS?
Even though stock images probably won't be indexed (Google acknowledges they already exist elsewhere), from a semantic standpoint, if they're part of the page's content, they should be in the HTML wit...
Martin Splitt Jul 24, 2025
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