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 Place Optimized Text Below Your Footer to Boost SEO?
An internet user pointed out to Gary Illyes - with examples - that certain "SEO experts" were placing several sentences (clearly intended for Google optimization) below the footer of their pages and a...
Gary Illyes Aug 07, 2017
★★★ Is Google's SEO Guide from 2010 Still Relevant Today?
Gary Illyes indicated on Twitter that the SEO starter guide published and offered (in PDF format) by Google was still current and relevant, even though it hasn't been updated since 2010 (as clearly sh...
Gary Illyes Aug 07, 2017
★★★ Does the Order of URLs in an XML Sitemap File Actually Matter to Google?
John Mueller explained on Twitter that you can structure your XML Sitemap file absolutely however you want in terms of field order, and this won't cause any problems for Google. The file is read autom...
John Mueller Aug 07, 2017
★★★ Does Google Really Consider a Disavow File as a Spam Signal?
In the series of odd questions, another internet user asked Gary Illyes whether submitting a disavow file to Google for a site was a spam signal for the search engine. Gary naturally replied that it w...
Gary Illyes Aug 07, 2017
★★★ Does Capitalization in Hreflang Tags Really Affect International SEO?
John Mueller indicated on Twitter that it was possible to specify language and country codes in Hreflang tags in lowercase or uppercase, regardless of case: fr-FR, fr-fr or FR-fr, everything will work...
John Mueller Aug 07, 2017
★★★ Do Sticky Footers Actually Harm Your Site's SEO Performance?
Gary Illyes responded on Twitter to a webmaster asking about "sticky footers" - the page footer that remains displayed on screen even when users scroll up or down through the content. In short, the fo...
Gary Illyes Jul 31, 2017
★★★ Do Trust Badges and Seals Really Influence Google Rankings?
The same Gary Illyes indicated on Twitter that obtaining a "trust badge or seal" for your site (trust seal: BBB, Norton, McAfee or other) had no impact on Google rankings. This makes perfect sense sin...
Gary Illyes Jul 24, 2017
★★★ Should You Really Abandon the Meta Keywords Tag for SEO?
Some webmasters/SEOs sometimes ask Google's officials questions from another era. For instance, Gary Illyes was asked on Twitter whether the search engine penalized websites that "stuffed" their meta ...
Gary Illyes Jul 24, 2017
★★★ Can You Use 301 Redirects in Hreflang Tags?
We asked John Mueller whether a URL in a hreflang tag could be subject to a 301 redirect. His answer was clear: URLs in hreflang tags must be canonical. This therefore rules out the use of such redire...
John Mueller Jul 24, 2017
★★★ Should You Really Put a Canonical Tag on EVERY Page of Your Website?
John Mueller confirmed in a hangout that it was beneficial to implement a "canonical" tag on all canonical pages of a site pointing to themselves to avoid DUST (Duplicate URL, Same Text, more explanat...
John Mueller Jul 17, 2017
★★★ Should You Really Avoid Automatic Redirects Based on Visitor IP Addresses?
We've said it often on our site, and John Mueller recently reiterated it on Twitter: don't redirect your visitors to one site or another automatically based on their IP address (and therefore their ge...
John Mueller Jul 17, 2017
★★★ Can Googlebot Really Crawl Your Site If You Use Cookies?
This has been known for a long time, but John Mueller recently reminded us: Googlebot crawls a site using a stateless protocol, meaning it doesn't take cookies into account. It's therefore up to you t...
John Mueller Jul 17, 2017
★★★ Does Geographic Hosting Location Still Impact Your Site's SEO Rankings?
John Mueller indicated on Twitter that the geographic location of a server no longer matters to Google. To establish the target country of a site, the search engine primarily relies on the domain exte...
John Mueller Jul 17, 2017
★★★ Do Google and Bing Actually Share the Same Search Index?
John Mueller reminded us on Twitter - but did it really need to be said given how obvious the information is? - that Google doesn't share an index with Bing (or any other competing search engine). Rea...
John Mueller Jul 10, 2017
★★ Will Hidden Content in Accordions and Tabs Finally Carry the Same SEO Weight as Visible Text?
Following Gary Illyes a few weeks ago, John Mueller confirmed in a hangout that hidden but potentially visible content on a page (tabs, accordions, etc.) will be treated, when the Mobile First project...
John Mueller Jul 10, 2017
★★ Does Google Analytics Really Impact Your Website's Rankings?
Gary Illyes explained on Twitter that Google's relevance algorithm doesn't use any information from Google Analytics to measure the relevance of a page. Why would it anyway, since Chrome provides all ...
Gary Illyes Jul 10, 2017
★★ Should you really index a site with thousands of pages gradually, or can you submit everything at once?
John Mueller indicated in a hangout that it poses no problem for Google's robots to crawl, all at once, a new site or a new section within a site, comprising hundreds of thousands of pages. The only p...
John Mueller Jul 10, 2017
★★★ Should You Really Avoid Massive 301 Redirects to Your Homepage?
John Mueller indicated on Twitter that 301 redirects should primarily be used as "1:1" replacements, meaning: one URL replaces another. Otherwise, it's better to leave the URL as a 404. If you impleme...
John Mueller Jul 10, 2017
★★★ Does Embedding YouTube Videos Actually Improve Your Google Rankings?
John Mueller indicated on a webmaster forum that including a YouTube video on a web page does not increase its relevance score for the search engine. Adding videos plays no role in your Google ranking...
John Mueller Jul 10, 2017
★★★ Do Breadcrumbs Really Pass PageRank Just Like Other Internal Links?
Gary Illyes explained that Google particularly appreciates breadcrumbs and that these links are treated like any other internal links on the page for internal PageRank distribution......
Gary Illyes Jun 26, 2017
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