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 Google really require GTIN, MPN, or brand identifiers to rank your products in search results?
Eligibility for many merchant experiences requires providing product identifiers such as a GTIN number, an MPN number, or a brand and product name. The more you can provide, the better. A SKU is not a...
Alan Kent Jan 17, 2023
★★★ Does Google really want you to display higher prices in your structured data?
If your site uses complex pricing models not supported by Google, you must simplify the price data provided to Google. For example, provide the price for a quantity of 1 even if discounts are offered ...
Alan Kent Jan 17, 2023
★★ Are strong product identifiers really the key to multi-merchant matching in Google Shopping?
The multi-merchant Shopping knowledge panel displays multiple sellers of the same product. This matching is more reliable if a strong product identifier is present on your product pages, allowing Goog...
Alan Kent Jan 17, 2023
★★★ Why Do Some Google Updates Take Longer Than 2 Weeks to Roll Out?
John Mueller and Danny Sullivan explained on Mastodon that when an algorithm update takes longer than the "classic" 2 weeks (this was the case with the recent Link Spam Update and Helpful Content Upda...
John Mueller Jan 16, 2023
★★★ Should You Add Multiple Supplier Links to Boost Your Google Rankings?
Alan Kent (Google) explained on Twitter that, in an article describing a product, linking to multiple suppliers/vendors offering that product could give a slight "boost" to the page in terms of rankin...
Google Jan 16, 2023
★★ Does Google's algorithm really recognize authoritative content as easily as it claims?
It is easy for Google's algorithm to recognize that official product documentation is relatively authoritative on a subject. The Search Console Help Center has no visibility problems in search results...
Josh Cohen Jan 12, 2023
★★ Are page titles really the top SEO lever that Google claims they are?
Google recommends ensuring that page titles are genuinely clear and accurately reflect what the page covers. This is one of the main SEO tools available to improve the ranking of help content....
Josh Cohen Jan 12, 2023
★★ Why does Google restrict SEO tools in its own help centers?
Google help centers cannot use all standard SEO tools such as adding custom meta tags, creating customized sitemaps or robots.txt files. The only available tools are content quality and clear titles....
Josh Cohen Jan 12, 2023
★★★ Why does Google lump certain errors into an 'other' category in Search Console reports?
In certain reports like the HTTPS report, Google groups certain errors in an 'other' category because the team doesn't always have access to ultra-specific information about the search stack. It's not...
Josh Cohen Jan 12, 2023
★★ Should you block certain sections of your website in the robots.txt file?
It is often useful to block crawling of certain parts of your site via robots.txt, such as complex filter pages or content important to customers but not to search....
Martin Splitt Jan 10, 2023
★★ Can Lighthouse really replace a professional SEO audit?
Lighthouse SEO audits are superficial but provide useful pointers and indicators directly where developers are already working, especially for Core Web Vitals....
Martin Splitt Jan 10, 2023
★★ Can poorly optimized snippets really tank your organic traffic?
When Google displays snippets like "no information available for this site", it confuses users, discourages them from clicking, and negatively impacts traffic to your site....
Jason Stevens Jan 10, 2023
★★ Does Search Console really catch all your crawl problems automatically?
Search Console does a good job of surfacing major issues on the homepage and sends email alerts. The crawling section allows you to see how Google crawls your site....
Jason Stevens Jan 10, 2023
★★ Is Search Console really enough to diagnose your indexing problems?
To understand traffic problems, you need to verify whether your site has been indexed and whether Google is crawling the right parts of your site, understands what is new, and doesn't get lost during ...
Jason Stevens Jan 10, 2023
★★★ Do You Really Need to Optimize Core Web Vitals to Appear in Google Discover?
John Mueller indicated on Mastodon that to be present on Discover, it is not necessary to have good Core Web Vitals scores. Google's cherished "Page Experience" is not a relevance criterion for Discov...
John Mueller Jan 09, 2023
★★★ Do YouTube Backlinks Really Impact Your SEO Rankings?
John Mueller explained on Twitter that backlinks from YouTube to a website do not help with better rankings and do not allow for faster indexing......
John Mueller Jan 09, 2023
How Does Google Actually Detect and Handle Hidden Text on Your Website?
John Mueller explained on Twitter that Google was "pretty good" at detecting and then ignoring hidden text on a page......
John Mueller Jan 04, 2023
★★★ Should You Nofollow Links to Your Social Media Profiles?
John Mueller indicated on Reddit that there's no point in adding "nofollow" to outbound links on a site pointing to various social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram...). He also explains th...
John Mueller Jan 04, 2023
★★★ Should You Really Add Page Numbers to Your Title Tags for Better SEO?
Alan Kent (Google) explained in a video for webmasters that in paginated content, it is not necessary to add a number corresponding to the pagination (1/12, 2/12, 3/12...) in the Title tag, as it does...
Google Jan 04, 2023
★★ Is running Lighthouse multiple times really the only way to get reliable performance diagnostics?
Google recommends using Lighthouse repeatedly to obtain reliable performance data on your pages, as results can vary from one execution to another. Script automation allows you to obtain representativ...
Martin Splitt Dec 29, 2022
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