Your Rank Tracker Might Be Wrong
Today's partial readings are all over the place. Three tracking providers report maximum turbulence (10/10) and one reports almost none (1/10). The likely cause is bad data being fed to the tools, not a sudden reshuffle of Google's rankings. Semrush has confirmed that Google is returning inaccurate search results to some automated ranking tools. Nozzle reported that since September 20, a share of the results pages Google returns to automated requests have been complete but incorrect, peaking at 25%. Google has not confirmed that it deliberately serves altered results to automated ranking tools.
The sustained choppiness fits that picture. Rankings have stayed in the moderate-high range for the whole month, roughly between 6 and 8, with no clear trend up or down. Forum chatter about an unannounced update hasn't stopped either. One more thing to watch: as of Thursday (Oct. 30), Google Search may be bringing back the ability to see 100 search results per page. That feature disappeared in 2025 and broke how most rank trackers worked.
AI Mode Keeps Shoppers on Google
A Findrix study covered by Search Engine Land on Oct. 29 found that 57% of links in AI Mode product answers led to Google Shopping product pages. The effect varies by industry. Just 5.1% of AI Mode's links for local services, including plumbers, lawyers, and dentists, went to Google pages. Google's earnings call shows its own priorities too: Search Engine Journal says the call outlined a vision in which traditional Search may no longer be the central experience.
What to Do
- Check Google Search Console before reacting to a ranking drop. Semrush advises users to compare their reports with Google Search Console.
- If you sell products online, make your Merchant Center product feed (the data Google uses to show your products) as complete and accurate as you can.
- Service businesses still get links from AI Mode, so keep building those pages.
