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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★★★ Why Are 15% of Google Searches Completely New Every Single Day?
In 2007, Google indicated that 25% of the queries it processed each day were completely new and had never been typed into the search engine before. Then this figure dropped to 15% in 2013, as still an...
Danny Sullivan Aug 31, 2020
★★ Why Did Google Remove Regex from Search Console Before Even Launching It?
A few weeks ago, the help documentation for the Search Console "Performance" report indicated that it was possible to use regex (regular expressions to filter data). Then John Mueller and Gary Illyes ...
John Mueller Aug 31, 2020
★★★ Should You Include Category Pages in Your XML Sitemap?
In response to a tweet asking whether category page URLs - article or product listing pages - should be included in the XML Sitemap, Fabrice Canel (Bing) answered yes, this file should include all URL...
Google Aug 31, 2020
★★ Should you really leave the robots.txt file unchanged during an SEO migration?
Do not change the configuration of the robots.txt file during a migration. If certain URLs were blocked by robots.txt for good reasons before the migration, they must remain blocked after the migratio...
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020
★★★ Should you really avoid changing everything at once during an SEO migration?
You shouldn't take advantage of a migration to simultaneously change multiple elements (URL structure, technology, content). Modifying all variables at the same time makes it impossible to identify th...
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020
★★★ How does Google really transfer signals during a domain migration?
When Google crawls the old site and detects the redirects, it checks that the new site is a one-to-one copy of the old one. If that's the case, signals from the old domain are transferred to the new d...
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020
★★ Does a migration trigger a quality reevaluation by Google?
Google constantly reevaluates content quality, whether during a migration or not. A site migration does not trigger any special quality reevaluation. Google always assesses content in its current form...
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020
★★★ Should you really roll back after a site migration fails?
Before contemplating a rollback, it’s essential to diagnose the cause of the issue (missing redirects, crawl problems, technical errors). If after a month no improvement is observed, no explanation is...
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020
★★★ Does a domain's purchase history truly hinder an SEO migration?
The history of a domain plays a limited role in a migration. If a purchased domain has been used for spam, it is essential to clean up existing issues, possibly use the disavow file, wait for Google t...
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020
★★★ Does migrating to a new domain really erase SEO penalties and bad signals?
Migrating to a new domain to evade low-quality content or spammy links does not work. Google continually evaluates content, and low-quality material remains poor regardless of where it’s moved. Some s...
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020
★★ How long does it really take to transfer SEO signals during a migration?
The speed of signal transfer depends on the site's crawl budget, crawl frequency, and the number of external links. This can take anywhere from one day to several weeks depending on these factors. Sit...
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020
★★★ Does a domain migration really lead to traffic loss?
A well-executed domain migration does not necessarily result in overall traffic loss. If you simply copy the entire URL structure and content to a new domain, traffic will decrease on the old one and ...
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020
★★★ Should you really use Google Search Console's address change tool during a migration?
The address change tool in Search Console explicitly tells Google that a migration is intentional and not temporary or accidental. This additional signal allows Google to reprioritize the crawl, make ...
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020
★★★ Should you really redirect all images during a site migration?
It is essential to implement 301 redirects for all images during a site migration. Visual content is very important for SEO. Since refreshing in the image index takes time, you should monitor the serv...
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020
★★★ Merging two websites: Why doesn’t Google treat this like a standard migration?
Merging two websites into one is not a standard site migration. It involves creating a new site that combines two existing versions, which requires Google to re-crawl numerous pages. The outcome and p...
Martin Splitt Aug 27, 2020
★★★ Should You Really Optimize Keywords in URLs to Improve Your SEO?
John Mueller explained on Twitter that keywords present in the URL carry low weight in the search engine's algorithm....
John Mueller Aug 24, 2020
★★★ Does the Mobile First Index Really Apply Automatically to New Websites?
Google indicated in May 2019 that starting from July 1st of that same year, all new sites discovered by the search engine's crawlers would automatically be integrated into the Mobile First Index. John...
John Mueller Aug 24, 2020
★★★ Should You Index Automatically Translated Content Without Human Review?
Gary Illyes indicated on Twitter that the official recommendation was not to index content that would be translated automatically (with software/algorithm like GPT-3) without subsequent human review. ...
Gary Illyes Aug 24, 2020
★★★ Does having ads on your site really hurt your Google rankings?
Adding advertising to a site does not negatively affect rankings, as long as certain rules are followed: visible content above the fold (not just ads), compliance with the Better Ads Standards. Moneti...
John Mueller Aug 21, 2020
★★★ Do site-wide links in the menu and footer really dilute the PageRank of your strategic pages?
Having multiple site-wide links to the same page (for example, in the menu and footer) does not significantly dilute the PageRank passed to other pages. Google understands that certain pages, like the...
John Mueller Aug 21, 2020
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