Local SEOCovered by 2 sources
- Google officially launched a 'Collected info' tab within the Google Business Profile dashboard.
- The feature allows business owners to review and delete information gathered by Google’s automated assistants via phone, text, or WhatsApp.
- Each entry includes the source of the data and the date it was collected to help owners verify accuracy.
- Deleting this collected data removes it from Google's records but does not automatically revert other existing profile details.
Business owners can now directly audit and remove incorrect automated updates to ensure their profile information remains accurate for customers.
Local SEOCovered by 2 sources
- Google added a 'Collected Info' tab to Business Profiles showing data gathered via automated calls and texts.
- Business owners can now review the source, date, and specific details Google's AI assistant collected from their staff.
- Deleting a record in this tab removes the source history but does not automatically revert the live information on the public listing.
- The feature is currently rolling out to specific regions, languages, and business categories.
Marketers can now identify exactly when and how Google's automated calls might have triggered incorrect profile updates, allowing for better auditing of client listing changes.
Google AdsCovered by 2 sources
- Microsoft clarified that advertisers are legally responsible for AI-generated content, even when created using Microsoft's own internal tools.
- The policy requires advertisers to ensure all necessary disclosures for AI-manipulated media are visible and comply with local market laws.
- AI-generated assets from Microsoft include invisible watermarks and metadata that advertisers must not remove or interfere with.
- Using Microsoft's built-in disclaimer tool can limit ad reach because some publishers and ad formats do not support it.
Marketers must manually review and label all AI-generated creative assets to ensure legal compliance, as Microsoft will not assume liability for automated tool outputs.
AI Search
- Tests show that high-authority listicles and PR placements are the primary drivers for citations in AI search engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity.
- Visibility in Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) suffers from rapid decay, with half of tracked sources losing citations within 30 days.
- Large Language Models often prioritize exact-match keywords and content where the answer is placed within the first 100 words of a page.
- Being mentioned alongside recognized industry experts or 'entities' significantly boosts a brand's likelihood of being recommended by AI.
Marketers should focus on securing placements in authoritative industry listicles and reinforcing them with PR, as AI models rely heavily on established third-party validation rather than just owned site content.
Industry News
- Google is testing an 'AI contribution pilot' to pay publishers for content used in AI Overviews and Gemini.
- A ranking fluctuation observed on September 4th reportedly reverted for many sites around September 13th.
- Google Ads launched a Product Value Optimization beta to help automated bidding prioritize specific high-value products.
- Google Analytics is rolling out new customizable dashboards for consolidated data visualization.
Marketers should monitor their rankings for recent reversals and explore the new Google Ads beta to better align automated bidding with specific business product goals.
Local SEO
- Google is transitioning Local Services Ads into the Performance Max campaign ecosystem.
- Marketers should audit historical lead reports and lead quality data before the migration begins.
- Ensuring call tracking numbers and conversion settings are properly mapped is critical for performance stability.
- Post-migration audits are necessary to verify that lead flow and quality remain consistent.
Marketers must audit their lead tracking and historical data now to prevent loss of attribution and lead quality during the transition to Performance Max.
AI Search
- ChatGPT's user growth has reportedly plateaued compared to Google Gemini's steady climb due to Google's massive ecosystem distribution.
- Data shows only 5% of ChatGPT users do not overlap with Google users, suggesting it is a secondary channel rather than a search replacement.
- OpenAI's leadership and revenue forecasts indicate a primary focus on B2B enterprise services rather than building a dominant ad platform.
- Despite being a niche player, ChatGPT Ads represent a stable testing ground for marketers similar to early-stage TikTok Ads.
Marketers should treat ChatGPT Ads as a secondary experimental channel for reaching a specific power-user niche rather than a primary replacement for Google Search.
AI Search
- Google is piloting a program to pay publishers whose content is used to train or power AI answers.
- The initiative is being tested through invitations within Google Search Console.
- Publishers may receive compensation for content contributing to Gemini, AI Overviews, and AI Mode.
This represents a potential shift toward a direct revenue model for publishers whose organic visibility is impacted by AI-generated answers.
Search Features
- Google Search Console records AI Overviews as a single block, meaning all links within the overview share the same position metric.
- Publishers currently cannot see the specific placement or prominence of their individual source link within the generative response.
- The standard AI performance report provides impression data but lacks specific click-through rates or granular ranking positions for citations.
- Google's John Mueller acknowledged the reporting limitation and invited industry suggestions for more useful measurement methods.
Marketers cannot currently rely on Search Console to determine if their content is buried or featured prominently within AI Overviews, making it difficult to judge the true value of AI-driven impressions.
Core Updates
- An unconfirmed Google ranking update caused significant visibility drops for many sites around September 4th.
- Multiple reports indicate that many affected sites saw their rankings completely recover on September 13th.
- The fluctuations impacted both standard Search results and Google Discover traffic.
- Industry tools and first-party analytics confirm these sharp volatility spikes and subsequent reversals.
If you saw a sharp traffic drop in early September followed by a sudden recovery, it was likely due to a temporary Google ranking glitch or a rolled-back algorithm tweak rather than a penalty on your site.
AI Search
- Anthropic released a collection of advanced 'power prompts' designed to optimize Claude's performance.
- The new techniques focus on saving tokens, enhancing code efficiency, and managing long-form writing tasks.
- The guide provides specific frameworks to help the AI handle complex instructions without losing context.
Using these optimized prompting frameworks allows marketers to generate higher-quality content and code while reducing the operational costs of AI tokens.
Industry News
- Google Search Central Live is officially returning to India in 2026.
- The event will be hosted in Bengaluru.
- Further details regarding registration and dates will follow the initial announcement.
This provides a rare opportunity for local SEOs to engage directly with Google's Search team to learn about platform updates and best practices.
AI Search
- Google is testing new multi-selection tools for follow-up questions in AI Search mode.
- New interfaces include query refinement options and paginated responses to help users narrow their search.
- These features allow users to select multiple preset tags to modify their original search query instantly.
Marketers should expect more fragmented search traffic as Google's new UI elements encourage users to rapidly refine broad queries into specific long-tail searches.
Google Ads
- Google is experimenting with a new visual layout for sitelinks in sponsored search results.
- The test features a 'More from [Website Name]' subheading accompanied by the brand's favicon.
- This design consolidates all sitelinks into a single section below the main ad description.
- Google has not officially confirmed if or when this layout will roll out to all advertisers.
Changes to ad layouts can impact click-through rates and how much vertical screen space your competitors occupy in search results.
Search Features
- Google's John Mueller confirmed that image thumbnails in search results often take several weeks to update even after site changes.
- Replacing an image in structured data (JSON-LD) does not guarantee an immediate visual update in Google's snippets.
- If the old image remains anywhere on the page, Google may continue to select it as the thumbnail due to its existing prominence.
- The delay is considered normal processing behavior rather than a technical bug or manual intervention.
Marketers should expect significant delays when updating site visuals and should completely remove old images from a page if they want to force Google to display a new thumbnail.
Industry News
- Marketers are warned that AI efficiency gains may be offset by hidden costs like rework and maintenance.
- The current AI hype mirrors the early promises of programmatic advertising which prioritized scale over quality.
- Over-reliance on automated tools risks starving long-term brand strategy and creative differentiation.
Marketers should focus on high-quality human oversight to ensure AI tools don't degrade the long-term value of their content and brand.
Local SEO
- Marketers can track AI search influence by monitoring citation clicks and direct call actions within AI responses.
- Developing prompt libraries helps brands understand how AI models categorize and recommend local businesses.
- Using customer language in content improves the likelihood of appearing in AI-generated local recommendations.
Marketers must shift focus from keyword rankings to how AI models synthesize local data to drive offline conversions.
Search Features
- Google is testing a prominent blue background for the 'More' link within product grid results.
- The new design makes the link to additional retailers significantly more visible than the standard plain text version.
- This change specifically highlights when multiple retailers are advertising or listing the same product.
Marketers should monitor click-through rates on product listings as this UI change could increase traffic to secondary retailers at the expense of the primary result.
Industry News
- Average Facebook ad costs per click fell by 14% for traffic campaigns and 6% for lead campaigns.
- Click-through rates increased across the board, with traffic campaigns seeing a nearly 13% improvement year-over-year.
- Meta's improved bidding and campaign optimization systems are credited for the increased efficiency and performance.
- Real Estate and Automotive industries saw the most significant drops in advertising costs.
Marketers can currently reach more users on Meta for less money than on Google Ads, making it an efficient time to reallocate budget toward paid social for top-of-funnel growth.
Search Features
- Bing is testing interactive search filters positioned directly above shopping result ads.
- The filters allow users to refine their queries without re-typing their search terms.
- This UI change aims to help users find specific products faster and potentially improve conversion rates.
Marketers using Bing Shopping should monitor performance as these filters may shift how users interact with and discover paid product listings.