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.
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★★★ Does Breadcrumb Placement on Your Page Actually Impact SEO?
John Mueller explained on Twitter that while Google does use breadcrumbs, their placement has no impact on this analysis: "We use breadcrumbs for crawling (finding internal links) and for rich results...
John Mueller May 03, 2021
★★ How does Google really handle requests for the removal of illegal content from its search results?
Google allows users to report and request the removal of potentially illegal or unauthorized content from search results and other Google products through an official request process....
Google May 03, 2021
★★ How can you effectively report illegal content that impacts your SEO on Google platforms?
Google offers an intuitive tool accessible via g.co/legal that allows users to report illegal content on any Google platform, featuring an interface that guides the user through the removal request pr...
Google May 03, 2021
★★★ Should you really send specific URLs instead of entire domains in your Google removal requests?
For faster analysis and better chances of acceptance, send only the URL of the specific page in question, not the entire site URL. Clearly describe what content on the page belongs to you....
Google May 03, 2021
★★★ Can Google really delete content from your site?
Google can remove links to potentially illegal content from its search results pages, but only the site owner can delete the content on the page itself. You must contact the site owner directly to rem...
Google May 03, 2021
★★★ How Does Google Identify Content Authors Without the Authorship Tag?
John Mueller explained during a webmaster hangout how the search engine manages to detect who the author of a piece of content is, even without the authorship tag, which was removed many years ago. Hi...
John Mueller May 03, 2021
★★ Should you aim for technical perfection before launching a website?
A website does not need to be perfect from the beginning and is rarely so. You will start to see positive results as soon as your pages exceed the threshold of 'needs improvement' to achieve a 'good' ...
John Mueller Apr 28, 2021
★★ How can you leverage regex in Search Console to analyze your performance data?
Google has added regex support to the Performance report of Search Console. You can now use patterns instead of keywords for search queries as well as for pages displayed in the report....
John Mueller Apr 28, 2021
★★ How does Google really want you to optimize your videos for search?
Google has updated and expanded its best practices documentation for videos, including how to help Google find and index your videos, and how to specify how you want your videos to be highlighted in s...
John Mueller Apr 28, 2021
★★★ Should you really rush to optimize your Page Experience?
Page Experience is just one of the many factors considered by Google's systems. There's no need to rush to implement it. Take the time to find good solutions tailored to your site and your users....
John Mueller Apr 28, 2021
★★★ How can you leverage the new Page Experience report in Search Console to boost your SEO?
A special report for the Page Experience update has been added to Search Console, covering all the involved elements. It allows you to see at a glance how many pages are achieving the high 'good' thre...
John Mueller Apr 28, 2021
★★ Will Google's Signed Exchanges revolutionize your preloading strategy?
Signed Exchanges will be available for all web pages. This system allows Google Search to preload your pages while preserving privacy, thereby enhancing user experience....
John Mueller Apr 28, 2021
★★★ Do JavaScript-generated links truly pass ranking signals like traditional HTML links?
Links generated by JavaScript after the raw HTML pose no issues for signal transmission. The only impact is a slight delay in link discovery, not in their processing for SEO....
Martin Splitt Apr 26, 2021
★★ Can you really lose control of your canonical by leaving the href attribute empty at load time?
An empty canonical tag in the initial HTML that is then filled by JavaScript can cause involuntary auto-canonicalization of the page. It is better to either not include the tag at all or to create it ...
Martin Splitt Apr 26, 2021
★★★ Does Googlebot Actually Collect Core Web Vitals Data During Crawling?
This week's update on Core Web Vitals... 🙂 John Mueller reminded us on Twitter that while the Googlebot returns a majority of useful information to the algorithm during its crawl, this won't be the ca...
John Mueller Apr 26, 2021
★★★ Does a raw HTML noindex really prevent JavaScript rendering by Google?
If the raw HTML contains a noindex meta robots tag, Google will not render the page. Therefore, if JavaScript later removes this noindex in the rendered HTML, Google will never see it. The reverse wor...
Martin Splitt Apr 26, 2021
★★ Does Google AdSense really penalize your site's speed like any other third-party script?
Google products like AdSense receive no preferential treatment concerning SEO or performance guidelines. If a Google product does not adhere to best practices (like speed), it is assessed in the same ...
Martin Splitt Apr 26, 2021
★★ Does Google really overlook your images during web search rendering?
Google does not necessarily fetch images during the rendering for main web search. Images are retrieved by Google Images, which has its own system. Google recognizes the existence of the image, its al...
Martin Splitt Apr 26, 2021
★★★ Do JavaScript links really slow down Google's discovery process?
Links present only after JavaScript rendering can cause a delay of a few hours in their discovery by Google. Google first examines the raw HTML to discover links, then does so again after rendering. F...
Martin Splitt Apr 26, 2021
★★★ How can a different canonical tag between raw HTML and rendered output destroy your canonicalization strategy?
Having a different canonical tag in raw HTML and rendered HTML sends conflicting signals to Google. This can weaken the canonical signal and lead Google to choose a completely different URL or alterna...
Martin Splitt Apr 26, 2021
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