Most businesses don't know when Google rolls out a core update.

They know when lead volume drops. Or when the monthly report shows organic traffic down 18%. Those are usually the moments that start the conversation about Google updates.

And in the wake of AI-generated content taking over, Google’s been rolling out major updates more frequently.

Since our SEO specialists, Sam and Liz, are the ones on the ground, I asked them to explain what they're seeing across Google's recent core updates and, more importantly, what actually matters for your website.

Here's what they have to say:

Quick Summary: Key Changes from Recent Core Updates

Overall, the recent core updates focus on content and site quality.

Rather than introducing entirely new ranking factors, these updates continue to reinforce Google's long-term strategy centered on quality over quantity, favoring brands that invest in genuinely helpful, people-first content.

Across the recent updates, we've consistently seen emphasis placed on:

• Helpful, people-first content
• Unique insights ("information gain")
• Experience, expertise, and credibility
• Quality over quantity for content and backlinks
• Strong user experience and technical performance
• Greater scrutiny of low-quality, repetitive, scaled AI-generated content
• Spam and spammy content reduction

None of these concepts are new. Google simply keeps getting better at identifying them, particularly with AI-generated content. The latest three updates, for example, built upon one another and shared a unified goal, reinforcing Google's emphasis on quality content and user experience.

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I'm following best practices and my site still lost organic traffic, what's going on?

This is one of the more challenging parts of the recent core updates. Some websites are seeing declines in organic traffic even though they weren't doing anything "wrong." The issue isn't necessarily poor-quality content. It's that content which performed well a year or two ago may no longer be differentiated enough to compete today.

Google keeps getting better at identifying content that demonstrates genuine expertise, satisfies user intent, and adds unique value. As that happens, more generalized or high-level content is naturally becoming less competitive, even if it was considered a best practice when it was originally published.

That doesn't mean you need to start over. It does mean it's worth revisiting your existing content and asking whether it aligns with current best practices.

The Good: Google Is Rewarding Real Expertise

Information gain is becoming more important

One of the strongest themes across recent updates is Google's increased emphasis on unique insights, or what it refers to as information gain.

Content that simply rephrases existing search results will likely report declines. Content that adds unique value, not just reworded existing results, is more likely to benefit over the long term.

Customer conversations, project experience, case studies, lessons learned, and informed perspectives all contribute information that doesn't already exist elsewhere on the web.

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Quality continues to outweigh quantity

Overall, these updates support long-term strategies centered on quality over quantity.

That applies to content production and backlink profiles. Building authority through relevant, high-quality backlinks continues to matter far more than simply increasing backlink volume.

Real expertise is difficult to replicate

This is one area where businesses have a natural advantage.

AI can summarize information. It can't replicate your project experience, customer conversations, or lessons learned. Those are the signals that create differentiated content and provide the meaningful value Google continues to reward.

The Bad: “Good SEO” Is Getting More Demanding

Generic content is losing ground

Google keeps moving away from generalized content and toward specificity.

Simply answering a question isn't enough anymore. Content should directly align with user intent and real customer needs while demonstrating why your perspective is different from what's already available.

Existing content requires ongoing updates

Publishing content isn’t a one-time effort. Continue refreshing existing content with updated information, examples, and deeper insights. Existing content often generates more opportunity than continually publishing new pages that cover similar topics.

The websites seeing the greatest long-term success tend to treat content as something that evolves alongside their business. This is more than just editing words for the sake of updating a page: look at how the current page is structured and the content in it. Is there a clear intent behind the page? Is there a clear audience being spoken to? Look for these signals when updating content.

Related Content: Why Search Intent Optimization is as Important as SEO

Technical fundamentals still support strong rankings

Content quality receives most of the attention, but technical performance remains part of the equation.

Those same fundamentals also support visibility across AI-powered search experiences.

AI search hasn't replaced SEO. It's built on many of the same signals and technical setup. If your website performs well technically, you're putting yourself in a stronger position for both traditional search and AI-powered results.

Related Content: How Website Performance Metrics Impact SEO and User Experience

The Ugly: AI Is Making Bad SEO Easier...and Google Is Catching Up

Low-quality AI content is becoming easier to identify

AI has become part of many content workflows, and Google knows that.

What's changed is Google's ability to identify content that was created primarily for search rankings rather than users. Recent updates appear to target low-quality, scaled AI-generated content that provides little value beyond what's already available online.

AI organizes information. It doesn't create information gain.

Large language models are designed to organize and synthesize existing information.

Information gain is something different.

Google's recent updates continue rewarding content that contributes something new rather than simply reorganizing what's already available. That's why firsthand experience, original examples, and genuine expertise continue to matter.

Related Content: What AI Search Actually Rewards (Spoiler: It’s Not AI Content)

SEO shortcuts are becoming easier to spot

Viewed together, these updates look less like isolated algorithm changes and more like a coordinated quality push.

That includes:

• Low-quality, scaled AI-generated content
• AI-supported black-hat SEO
• Plagiarized or lightly rewritten content
• Parasitic SEO
• Low-quality backlink strategies designed primarily to manipulate rankings

The common thread is fairly straightforward: content created primarily for search engines is becoming less effective than content created primarily for users.

What We Recommend Moving Forward

Based on the direction of recent updates, our recommendations haven't changed much. These updates enforce good SEO fundamentals. The same fundamentals that support strong Google rankings also create a stronger foundation for AI search.

That means continuing to:

• Build high-quality, differentiated content that adds new value and a fresh perspective.
• Strengthen signals of expertise, experience, and credibility across your website.
• Prioritize specificity over broad, generalized content.
• Refresh existing content with updated information, examples, and deeper insights.
• Maintain strong technical performance and user experience.
• Focus on earning high-quality backlinks rather than accumulating large numbers of low-value ones.
• Monitor rankings and organic traffic trends, but avoid making major changes while a core update is still rolling out.

Ranking fluctuations are normal during and immediately after a core update. Unless you're seeing significant, sustained traffic declines, immediate corrective action typically isn't necessary.

Final Thoughts

Looking at the recent core updates, Google's long-term direction has remained remarkably consistent. Websites that invest in original insights, strong user experiences, and comprehensive content are likely to see the greatest long-term success.

Businesses that continue demonstrating real expertise, creating meaningful value, and prioritizing users over search engines are the ones most likely to benefit as both Google Search and AI-powered search experiences continue to evolve.

SEO and AIO Services

Google Search and AI search are evolving, but the foundation hasn't changed. We help businesses build content and websites that satisfy user intent, demonstrate real expertise, and perform well across both traditional search and AI-powered experiences.