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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★★ Can paged pages really disappear from Google search results?
There is no meta tag to tell Google to index paged pages but not show them in the results. If they are indexed, they may theoretically appear. In practice, page 1 usually appears first as it is strong...
John Mueller Oct 29, 2020
★★★ Can you really migrate multiple sites to a single domain using Google's Change of Address tool?
The Change of Address tool in Search Console only allows for migrating one domain to another, not multiple domains to a single one. You can still perform the migration with 301 redirects but cannot us...
John Mueller Oct 29, 2020
★★ Should you really avoid putting all your outbound links in nofollow?
Putting all outbound links in nofollow does not violate guidelines, but it can have a slight negative impact. Google uses links to understand how a site fits into the web. If all links are nofollow, i...
John Mueller Oct 29, 2020
★★ Does Google instantly change the canonical URL after removing a redirect?
When a redirect is set up and then removed, the canonicalization algorithms do not perceive the site as deceptive. They look at the current state. Google tends to be persistent with the canonical URL ...
John Mueller Oct 29, 2020
★★ Why does Google sometimes show your old meta descriptions in the SERPs?
Even after updating the meta description, Google can temporarily show the old text in snippets if that content was previously on the page and considered relevant to the query. This typically normalize...
John Mueller Oct 29, 2020
★★★ Should you really return a 404 for products that are permanently unavailable?
For temporarily unavailable products, displaying a 200 page is acceptable. But for products that are permanently unavailable, using a 404 (or soft 404) status allows Google to crawl more efficiently b...
John Mueller Oct 29, 2020
★★ Should you really delete your out-of-stock product pages to avoid a quality penalty?
Having hundreds or thousands of out-of-stock product pages can create a mass of low-quality content that doesn't attract attention. It's better to focus this content in a gallery or archive page so th...
John Mueller Oct 29, 2020
★★ Should you really avoid setting all your outbound links to nofollow?
Setting all outbound links of a site to nofollow can have a slight negative impact. Google uses links to understand how a site fits into the web. If all links are nofollow, it may give the impression ...
John Mueller Oct 29, 2020
★★★ Do 302 redirects really pass on as much PageRank as 301 redirects?
Google uses numerous signals to determine the canonical URL: 301/302 redirects, rel canonical, internal/external links, sitemap, appearance of the URL. A long-term 302 can be treated as a 301 if it st...
John Mueller Oct 29, 2020
★★★ Do 302 redirects really turn into 301s over time?
Google eventually treats 302 redirects as permanent redirects (301) when they persist over time. This is considered a 'soft 301' from Google's perspective....
John Mueller Oct 29, 2020
★★ Does alternative text for images really enhance SEO?
The alternative text for images is mainly used for image search (Google Images) and for accessibility. It should describe what's visible in the image, not necessarily repeat the product description....
John Mueller Oct 29, 2020
★★★ Do 302 redirects really pass PageRank like 301 redirects?
Google treats both 301 and 302 redirects similarly when it comes to the transmission of SEO signals. Both types of redirects pass PageRank and other signals. The difference mainly lies in the choice o...
John Mueller Oct 29, 2020
★★★ Do out of stock pages really hurt your Google rankings?
Pages of products marked 'out of stock' or 'not available' tend to be ranked as soft 404s. When they slip into a soft 404 state, the page and its images disappear from search results....
John Mueller Oct 29, 2020
★★★ Should you really index all your pagination pages?
You need to decide whether pagination pages should be indexed based on whether they are critical for discovering products. If products are well linked elsewhere on the site, pagination does not need t...
John Mueller Oct 29, 2020
★★ Should you hide GDPR consent banners from Googlebot to avoid cloaking?
Excluding Googlebot from consent banners via user-agent could be interpreted as cloaking. However, if the banner is only shown to European users and Googlebot crawls from the USA, it won’t see it anyw...
John Mueller Oct 29, 2020
★★ Is it true that Google still indexes Flash content, or should everything be migrated to pure HTML?
Google indexes pages with Flash solely based on the visible HTML content in the rendered DOM, not content within Flash files. The removal of Flash from browsers should not affect site traffic as Googl...
John Mueller Oct 29, 2020
★★ Does Googlebot really follow HTTP redirects to HTTPS like a regular browser?
When Googlebot accesses an HTTP URL that redirects to HTTPS (which is typically the case for a site with both HTTP and HTTPS), it will follow this actual server-side redirect normally....
John Mueller Oct 28, 2020
★★★ Does Googlebot really ignore HSTS 307 redirects, or is there a catch?
Googlebot does not interact with 307 redirects generated by HSTS. These 307 redirects are not real server-side redirects but rather redirects generated by the Chrome browser to indicate that it is app...
John Mueller Oct 28, 2020
★★★ Are 307 HSTS redirections really invisible to SEO?
The 307 redirections you see in Chrome with HSTS aren't actually present on the server. Chrome displays a 307 result code to clearly indicate that an HSTS redirection has occurred, but this is just a ...
John Mueller Oct 28, 2020
★★★ Does Googlebot actually ignore your forced HTTPS redirects?
Googlebot attempts to crawl URLs with a clean slate and doesn’t retain any HSTS list. It accesses HTTP URLs directly without applying the browser's HSTS rules....
John Mueller Oct 28, 2020
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