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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★★ Should You Really Aim for 100ms Download Times to Optimize Google's Crawl?
John Mueller explained on Twitter that an interesting metric, in terms of page load times, could be to look at the Search Console, in the "Crawl > Crawl Stats" section, and then try to have the "Time ...
John Mueller Sep 17, 2018
★★★ Should You Really Add Your Brand Name to Every Title Tag?
John Mueller indicated, also on Twitter, that adding the site name (company or brand name) at the end of each Title tag on a website's pages poses absolutely no problem whatsoever....
John Mueller Sep 17, 2018
★★★ How Does Google Choose Between Publication Date and Last Updated Date in Search Results?
John Mueller provided an interesting insight during a hangout about the date displayed in Google's SERPs (particularly to the left of the snippet, which usually takes the meta "description" tag): it c...
John Mueller Sep 17, 2018
★★★ Can Cookie Banners Actually Prevent Google from Crawling Your Most Important Pages?
John Mueller reminded us on Twitter that Google cannot crawl a page if displaying it requires the user to accept cookies....
John Mueller Sep 17, 2018
★★★ Does hidden content on mobile truly penalize your SEO?
For Google, click-revealed hidden content on mobile is treated the same way as content that is immediately visible. This type of hiding does not negatively affect SEO as long as the content is in the ...
John Mueller Sep 13, 2018
★★★ Are Google algorithm changes really normal, or do they hide bugs?
Changes in search algorithms affect how sites are ranked. There are no bugs to add or subtract from organic results; it's a normal process of algorithm evolution....
John Mueller Sep 13, 2018
★★★ Can mobile-first indexing really hurt your rankings?
Shifting a site to mobile-first indexing shouldn't negatively impact its rankings if the site is responsive and properly utilizes technologies like CSS and JavaScript for mobile access....
John Mueller Sep 13, 2018
★★★ Do sidebar links hurt your page rankings?
Links in your site's sidebar are acceptable from an SEO perspective. They should be used based on what is useful for users. Conduct A/B tests to see what works best for your visitors....
John Mueller Sep 13, 2018
★★★ How does Google actually handle backlinks after a domain change?
When a domain is redirected to a new one, links pointing to the original domain are treated as pointing to the new one. The links should be checked in Search Console to see their status in the link re...
John Mueller Sep 13, 2018
★★ Why does Google sometimes show the original publish date instead of the update date?
Google may sometimes show the original publish date instead of the modification date based on what is deemed most relevant to the user. The algorithms can choose between these dates depending on the c...
John Mueller Sep 13, 2018
★★★ What really happens when a Google manual action expires without any fixes?
John Mueller reminded us on Twitter that manual actions do indeed expire at some point. However, if nothing has been done to fix the problem in the meantime, it could be picked up by a new part of the...
John Mueller Sep 10, 2018
★★★ Does Google Really Ignore Links from .edu Domains?
John Mueller indicated on Twitter that, "because of the misconception that .edu sites are better taken into account by Google," the search engine was ignoring tons of links coming from pages on this t...
John Mueller Sep 10, 2018
★★★ Can JavaScript Actually Prevent Your Site from Being Indexed in Mobile First?
John Mueller explained during a hangout that sites using a lot of JavaScript might not be transitioned to the Mobile First index....
John Mueller Sep 10, 2018
★★ Do White Spaces on Web Pages Really Hurt Your SEO Rankings?
John Mueller explained during a hangout that white spaces (empty areas) on a web page, which may push textual content further down, do not pose specific SEO problems. Only ads that hinder content read...
John Mueller Sep 10, 2018
★★★ Why Is the ALT Attribute Crucial for Your Google Images SEO Rankings?
John Mueller reminded us on Twitter of the critical importance of the ALT attribute for images in Google's dedicated search engine for this format....
John Mueller Sep 10, 2018
★★★ How Does Google Really Evaluate the Quality of a Backlink?
John Mueller explained on Twitter that the overall quality of the site linking to you is not the only source of information Google uses to qualify the quality of the link itself. Other criteria come i...
John Mueller Sep 03, 2018
★★★ Should You Really Exclude All Redirected URLs from Your XML Sitemap?
John Mueller has said it repeatedly in the past: when you create your XML Sitemap files, don't include any redirected URLs (301 or otherwise). He reiterated this on Twitter recently. Google uses this ...
John Mueller Sep 03, 2018
★★★ How Does Google Really Index PDF Files and Why Should This Change Your SEO Strategy?
John Mueller indicated on Twitter that when indexing PDF documents or others (certainly Word, Excel, PowerPoint or others), it first goes through a conversion phase from PDF to HTML. And it's this doc...
John Mueller Sep 03, 2018
★★★ Do You Really Need Third-Party Tools to Identify Toxic Links for Disavowing?
During a hangout, John Mueller indicated that, as part of a link disavow process, Search Console data (the "Links to your site" section) was most of the time sufficient to verify that no toxic links w...
John Mueller Sep 03, 2018
★★★ Should You Really Redirect All Old URLs to the Homepage During a Migration?
John Mueller had already said this in the past. He reiterated it once again in a hangout: redirecting all the old URLs of a site to the homepage (particularly during a migration with massive changes t...
John Mueller Sep 03, 2018
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