All the latest LLM shifts and Google updates, in one place.
Google’s AI Overviews now appear in nearly half of searches, zero-click queries are at record highs, and AI Mode has launched in the UK. The fundamentals of SEO (authority, trust, relevance) still matter, but winning now means building brand signals, earning citations, and tracking how algorithms evolve. We’re actively testing how content gets surfaced in LLMs and AI search.
Our team’s take on the latest AI + SEO shifts, in plain English, updated every month.
Head of client services
“ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, and Gemini are changing how people find information, cutting into traditional click-through rates. I can tell you SEO isn’t dead, but the fight for visibility is shifting.
I believe the basics are more important than ever: quality content, topical authority, and strong brand signals influence whether you’re cited in AI outputs. Ranking well in Google remains key, but being referenced through digital PR and backlinks is just as valuable.
Remember, AI search is highly personalised, making rankings harder to track, so it’s even more important to build authority, trust, and relevance. Generative search may change how people discover brands, but not what makes content worth discovering.”
Owner of Bulldog
“Because of AI, consumers are searching more than ever – which is great news for the SEO industry! It’s just that people are discovering information in new ways and getting answers to questions much faster than ever before.
We know that Google is still the king for commercial search terms, but ranking in LLMs is a whole new game. Anyone claiming they’ve fully figured it out is lying. We understand the basic fundamentals for ranking right now, but it’s still far too early for a definitive playbook. For now, focus on building branded backlinks, earning branded mentions, and getting featured in roundups and listicles.
Build your brand, drive branded search queries, land PR links, and get people talking. It’s nothing new, but these are exciting times – and with another channel that has zero ads, it’s a massive land grab.”
Sorted from the latest updates to the earliest.
December 2025
December's core update
Google launched its third core update of 2025 on 11th December. The broad algorithm change reassesses content quality across all regions and languages, with ecommerce sites seeing the biggest impact so far.
November 2025
More data to back AI SEO
SE Ranking analysed over 129,000 domains to uncover what drives ChatGPT citations. The verdict on what actually matters? Brand mentions, strong domain authority, and comprehensive content. For smaller sites, active engagement on discussion platforms offers a viable path to AI visibility without requiring massive traffic.
October 2025
Looking to rank in AI?
Everyone’s asking the same thing: how do you rank in AI results? Early tests suggest that brand mentions, authority links, and topical relevance play a key role. It’s early days, but the overlap with Google’s ranking signals is clear – and soon, we’ll be helping clients improve their AI visibility, too.
October 2025
ChatGPT Atlas launches
ChatGPT Atlas, a new Chromium-based browser, brings AI directly into your browsing experience. With a built-in ChatGPT sidebar, users can ask questions, summarise pages, compare products, or analyse data – all without leaving the site they’re on. It’s another big step towards seamless AI-assisted web use.
September 2025
100 results per page setting removed
Google modified the &num=100 parameter, limiting access from 100 search results per page down to 10. SEO tools now require more requests, causing gaps in rank tracking. Search Console impressions also dropped, highlighting inflated bot-driven data potentially caused by an increased number of LLMs in earlier reports.
August 2025
Google introduces more links to AI Mode
Google enhanced AI Mode by introducing embedded context-rich links directly within AI Mode responses – making them more intuitive and clickable – which should help users dive deeper while still using the AI interface.
August 2025
First spam update of 2025
Google announced the August 2025 spam update on 26th August, marking the first algorithm update since June’s core update. This is Google’s first spam-focused rollout in eight months – the last one wrapped up in December 2024.
July 2025
AI mode released in the UK
In late July, Google rolled out its conversational search feature to UK users, bringing Gemini-powered, multi-turn AI results to the local SERPs for the first time.
June 2025
Surges in zero-click searches
New report shows zero-click queries hit record highs as AI Overviews answer more questions directly in the SERPs, with news publishers experiencing the steepest traffic declines.
June 2025
50% of searches provide an AI Overview
Studies show AI Overviews now appear in roughly 40–50% of tracked searches – about double the rate seen at the end of 2024 – reshaping click patterns across Google.
June 2025
Google algorithm update
Rolling out from June 30 to July 17, this broad core update likely recalibrated rankings in response to recent AI-driven changes in search.
June 2025
AI Looker Studio dashboard
We launched our custom dashboard to track traffic and engagement from large language models, giving clear insight into AI-driven discovery beyond traditional SERPs.
May 2025
AI Mode data in Google Search Console
Announced at Google I/O, Google confirmed AI Mode impressions and clicks will be tracked in Search Console (US first), with rollout “coming soon” but no set date.
May 2025
AI Overviews driving 10% increase in search usage
Google reported a 10%+ increase in search usage for query types that trigger AI Overviews, showing the feature is keeping users engaged in Google’s ecosystem.
May 2025
Structured data priority
Google highlighted that AI Overviews and Shopping Graph results depend heavily on accurate structured data and fresh product feeds, making schema markup essential for SEO visibility.
May 2025
Google introduces AI Mode
Unveiled at Google I/O, AI Mode introduces conversational, multi-turn search to US users, powered by Gemini for richer, context-aware results.
May 2025
ChatGPT's Deep Research feature
OpenAI introduced Deep Research in ChatGPT – a mode based on the o3 model that combines nuanced reasoning with web search to generate detailed reports in 5–30 minutes.
January 2025
Google experimenting with AI mode
Early public trials of AI Mode launched for select Search Labs users, offering a preview of conversational, AI-driven search results.
December 2024
Last Google update of the year
Google’s final core update of 2024 rolled out mid-December, fine-tuning rankings ahead of the new year.
November 2024
Another Google update
This update reinforced Google’s push for genuinely useful, original content, further devaluing thin or fluff-heavy pages.
October 2024
ChatGPT Search
In October 2024, OpenAI launched ChatGPT Search, enabling the model to actively search the web to provide more accurate and up-to-date answers.
September 2024
GEO emerges
As AI Overviews and other generative search features reduced clicks to websites, SEOs began adopting GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) strategies, optimising content to be surfaced and cited by AI-driven search engines.
August 2024
Another Google update
This update focused on reinforcing high-value content and helping quality sites recover from ranking drops caused by the March update.
August 2024
AI Overviews go global
AI Overviews expanded to the UK, India, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, and Indonesia in August, with full global availability predicted by October.
May 2024
Google rolls out AI Overview
Google rolled out AI Overviews to US users, delivering generative summaries directly in search results.
March 2024
First major Google update of the year
Google rolled out a core update alongside a spam update, heavily targeting low-quality and mass AI-generated content.
March 2024
Google starts testing AI Overviews
Google began showing AI Overviews in standard search results, even for users who hadn’t opted into the SGE experiment.
May 2023
Google announce SGE
At Google I/O, Google unveiled the Search Generative Experience (SGE) experiment, introducing AI-powered answers directly in search results.
If you have any unanswered questions about AI and SEO – feel free to get in touch!
AI Overviews can answer a query directly in the search engine results pages, which often means fewer clicks to websites, especially for simple, fact-based searches. That said, they can still drive traffic if your content is cited as a source.
There’s no confirmed playbook yet, but early signs suggest that SEO can help with clear, authoritative, well-structured content. AI platforms also seem to value reputable sources and brand authority, meaning website authority and trust are as important as ever.
GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) is about optimising for generative search engines like AI Overviews. It’s basically SEO principles applied to AI-driven results – more of a rebrand than a brand-new discipline. Ultimately, the fundamentals remain the same.
Not entirely. AI may change how search works and how users interact with results, but there will still be a need to optimise content so it’s discoverable, credible, and relevant.
This depends on multiple factors. Larger brands often have more authority and visibility, but smaller sites can still feature if their content is high-quality, niche-relevant, and trusted.
You can monitor impressions and clicks from features like AI Mode (once Search Console reporting rolls out), check referral traffic from AI platforms, and use analytics to track changes in engagement after AI updates. Check out our AI traffic dashboard here to help you do exactly this.
It depends on the query. AI results can summarise vast information quickly, but they can also get facts wrong or oversimplify, especially in complex or fast-changing topics.
Focus on quality, user-first content, build authority through backlinks and brand mentions, and ensure your structured data is accurate so AI can understand and surface your content.
GEO
Generative Engine Optimisation
Structuring content clearly and making it highly relevant so it’s more likely to be cited in AI-generated answers.
E-E-A-T
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness
Google’s quality framework for assessing content credibility, now highly relevant to AI-driven ranking and citation.
NLP
Natural Language Processing
The branch of AI that helps machines read, understand, and respond in human language – central to how AI search features work.
AEO
Answer Engine Optimisation
Creating concise, conversational, and well-structured content – often in Q&A formats with schema – so AI and answer engines can easily lift and present your answers.
LLM
Large Language Model
An advanced AI model trained on massive datasets to understand and generate human-like language – think ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude.
SERP
Search Engine Results Page
The list of results shown after a search. With AI Overviews now appearing at the top, SERPs are shifting toward more zero-click answers.
AIO
Artificial Intelligence Optimisation
Combining formatting best practices with E-E-A-T principles, topical depth, and clean site architecture so AI systems can interpret, trust, and reference your content.
SGE
Search Generative Experience
Google’s original experimental name for AI-powered search results before AI Overviews went mainstream.
RAG
Retrieval-Augmented Generation
A technique where AI models pull in real-time data (like Google search results) to make their answers more accurate and up to date.
