SEO News & Trends
Algorithm updates, AI Search developments, and industry moves - updated monthly
May 2026
Google I/O 2026 Pushes Search Deeper Into AI Mode
Google said AI Mode has passed one billion monthly users and that queries there have been more than doubling every quarter since launch. It also made Gemini 3.5 Flash the default model in AI Mode, rolled out a new AI-powered Search box, and enabled easier follow-up from AI Overviews into AI Mode worldwide. For SEO teams, this means conversational, multi-step discovery is no longer edge behavior.
Your action: Refresh your top informational pages with answer-first intros, stronger FAQs, and clearer supporting media so they survive follow-up questions inside AI Search.
Preferred Sources Now Appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode
Google brought Preferred Sources into AI Search experiences, making user-selected favorite sites easier to spot in AI-generated answers. Google also said people are twice as likely to click through to a Preferred Source. This strengthens the SEO value of brand trust, repeat readership, and memorable niche authority.
Your action: Encourage loyal readers and subscribers to add your brand as a Preferred Source, especially if you publish recurring insights or fast-moving industry commentary.
Google Expands Highly Cited Labels and New Link Carousels
Google is expanding Highly Cited badges on article links and introducing more prominent carousels for timely articles and first-hand perspectives. The pattern is clear: Search is trying to connect users with original reporting, fresh updates, and diverse viewpoints more directly from AI experiences.
Your action: Invest in original reporting, benchmark data, and first-hand commentary that other publishers may cite. Freshness alone is not enough if your page adds nothing unique.
March 2026
Google March 2026 Core Update - Broad Quality Focus
Google confirmed the rollout of the March 2026 Core Update, completing over 14 days. The update continued rewarding content with genuine E-E-A-T signals and penalizing AI-first content published without human editorial oversight. Sites in health, finance, and legal saw the largest ranking movements.
Your action: Audit your top pages for author visibility, source citations, and evidence of first-hand experience.
Google AI Mode Keeps Expanding Across Informational Queries
Informational search journeys kept shifting toward AI summaries and follow-up exploration during March. Visibility inside AI surfaces became more important than treating rankings as the only success metric.
Your action: Strengthen FAQ content, direct answers, and citation-ready sections on your highest-impression guides.
February 2026
February 2026 Core Update Made E-E-A-T More Visible in Rankings
Sites without visible author credentials and trust signals saw sharper volatility after the February core update. Pages with stronger authorship, cited sources, and clear editorial ownership held up better.
Your action: Keep author information, About pages, and supporting schema consistently visible across the site.
INP Remained a Practical Performance Priority
Heavy scripts, chat widgets, and unoptimized frontend code continued to hurt interaction responsiveness on competitive pages. Even strong content loses advantage when UX feels slow.
Your action: Review third-party scripts and improve page responsiveness on revenue-driving pages first.
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