llms.txt: Google Says Search Ignores It, Yet Uses It Itself
Google's AI search guide says llms.txt isn't needed and Search ignores it, while its own teams use it and a 137K-site study finds 97% go unread.
SEO ·
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ChatGPT Citations Track Google Rankings More Than Overlap Implies
A study of 11 sites hit by a Google update found ChatGPT citations fell 27.8%, more than Google AI Mode's 23.8%, while Perplexity dipped just 2.9%.
SEO ·
AEO Growth Claims Meet Mixed Data on Budgets and Traffic
A press release calls AEO marketing's fastest-growing discipline, but 2026 surveys show wide adoption, thin budgets, and AI referrals under 1% of traffic.
SEO ·
Search Engine Statistics 2026: Google Dominance Meets Zero-Click
Google held 89.9% of global search in Sept 2026, yet 68% of US searches ended without a click and AI Overviews hit about 48% of tracked queries.
SEO ·
Google SEO Shake-Up: Fourth 2026 Spam Update Hits AI Slop
Google rolled out its fourth spam update of 2026 as AI Overviews cut top-result clicks sharply; here is what the September rollout and new Search Console AI
SEO ·
AI Overviews Hit 80% of Branded Searches in Major SEO Shift
Google AI Overviews surged from 26% to over 80% of branded queries in late September 2026, while Google now requires manual fact-checking of all AI content.
SEO ·
AI SEO Wave: AEO Tools Flood Martech as Google Says GEO Is Still SEO
Martech vendors are flooding the market with AEO and GEO tools, but Google says optimizing for AI search is still SEO — here's what the data and releases show.
SEO ·
AI SEO Shifts to Citation Economics as Google Pays Publishers
AI Overviews now appear on roughly 48% of Google queries and cut organic clicks up to 61%, but cited pages earn 120% more clicks — here's how AI SEO strategy
SEO ·