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December 2025 Google Core Update: YouTube Wins, AI Sites Shake, and SERPs Get Restructured
E892: Google just dropped the December 2025 Core Update, and the early signs point to major SERP changes - not just rankings, but how traffic is distributed. I break down what we're seeing so far: - Massive volatility across top-of-funnel sites - Click-through rates collapsing even when rankings stay the same - Video thumbnails disappearing from organic results - YouTube carousels taking over key queries - AI-generated sites feeling renewed pressure - Why some sites dropped hard - and then rebounded I also cover real-time reactions from SEOs and publishers, including Reddit reports that surfaced before Google officially announced the update, plus early predictions on who benefits, who loses, and why this feels more like a SERP restructuring than a traditional penalty. We'll talk about: - Why YouTube is winning this update - What this means for AI content and "AI slop" sites - The future of Reddit, parasite SEO, and platform dominance - Why authentic, fast-answer content continues to get prioritized - How bottom-of-funnel SEO holds up during core updates This update is expected to roll out over three weeks, so this is an early analysis — and I'll be covering it more as the data comes in. This is Episode 892 of The Edward Show - 892 days in a row without missing an episode. ⭐️ Google Search Central's post - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/googlesearchcentral_google-search-status-dashboard-activity-7404935154072371201-0fKv/ ⭐️ Google December 2025 Core Update Is Rolling Out - You Surprised? - https://www.seroundtable.com/google-december-2025-core-update-40569.html ⭐️ Reddit chatter - https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/1pk3cvd/december_3rd_algorithm_update_massive_traffic/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 Google's December 2025 Core Update Announcement 00:32 Previous Updates 01:31 Community Reactions to the Update 03:42 Harpreet Singh's Predictions 04:31 Analyzing Core Update Effects 05:26 Future of SEO and Content Prioritization 08:21 Move Down the SEO Funnel 10:06 Conclusion and Final Thoughts The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #searchengineoptimization #googlecoreupdate #marketingnews #digitalmarketing
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From Google Wiping Out My Entire Business to Scaling 1,000+ Sites: SEO Truths No One Tells You
E891: One of the wildest SEO journeys you'll ever hear. Tryggvi Rafn went from running a portfolio of sites that were absolutely crushing it… to waking up one morning and seeing every single one wiped out by Google. From there, he rebuilt, reinvented, and eventually scaled 1,000+ profitable sites across multiple industries. We break down the real truths about SEO that no one talks about - what actually moves revenue, why most AI SEO is doomed, how link building really works going into 2026, and the exact strategies he uses with his e-commerce clients today. If you care about SEO, AI content, link building, or building real online businesses, this is a must-listen. You'll hear: - The morning Google wiped out his entire income - Panda, Penguin, and how those updates mirror what's happening right now - Why AI spam and auto-posting will get sites clapped - Buyer-intent SEO vs. topical authority nonsense - The truth about scaling pages (and how many you can publish at once) - The link building shortcuts that kill sites - Parasite SEO, Reddit domination, and modern tiered linking - Why most agencies drive traffic that never converts - How to build an e-commerce SEO system that prints revenue for years - The future of SEO with AI - what's real and what's hype If you run an e-commerce brand or do SEO, don't miss this one. ⭐️ Tryggvi Rafn on 𝕏 - https://x.com/ecomtryggvi ⭐️ Tryggvi Rafn on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tryggvi-rafn/ ⭐️ Tryggvi Rafn on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@Ecomtryggvi ⭐️ Tryggvi Rafn's agency - https://www.nordicamarketing.com/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 The 2012 SEO Apocalypse: Losing Everything Overnight 00:37 Early SEO Tactics: Niche Sites and Keyword Stuffing 03:04 The Rise and Fall of Spun Content and Link Networks 04:37 The Impact of Google's Panda and Penguin Updates 09:07 The Shift to Quality Content and User Engagement 10:53 Modern SEO Challenges: AI Content and Link Building 14:25 Building Effective SEO Strategies for E-commerce 18:37 The Importance of Context and Brand Story in SEO 28:09 Common SEO Mistakes and How to Avoid Them 32:01 Scaling SEO with Domain Authority 32:24 Programmatic SEO: Launch Strategies 33:42 Content Velocity and Quality 35:14 Effective Keyword Clustering 39:24 Natural vs. Unnatural SEO Practices 41:59 Link Building: Do's and Don'ts 49:51 The Future of AI in SEO and Marketing 01:02:18 Concluding Thoughts and Future Plans The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #searchengineoptimization #generativeengineoptimization #answerengineoptimization #digitalmarketing
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SEO Listicles Are Taking Over AI - But Will Google Kill Them?
E890: One of the most debated SEO tactics today: companies publishing "Best X in Y" listicles and ranking themselves #1. For years, this has been a common SEO strategy, but in 2025-2026 it has become far more powerful. These listicles are now being ingested by AI systems like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, and Grok, and are influencing the rankings these models generate. A single self-promotional page can now push a brand to the top across multiple AI platforms. This raises a major question for the industry: will Google allow this, or will these pages get devalued or penalized? Gagan Ghotra returns to discuss how Google will treat these listicles in the future, how AI models decide which brands to surface, and the role of reputation signals, UGC, reviews, achievements, and entity data. We also explore why AI Overviews may eventually replace listicle-style pages entirely, and how brands need to adapt their content strategies going into 2026. This is a deep conversation about the evolving relationship between SEO, AI search experiences, and brand authority. We cover technical SEO factors, ethical concerns, programmatic list creation, Google's knowledge graph, and how brands can influence AI through strategic content creation across the web. Topics discussed: - Why self-ranking "Best X for Y" listicles suddenly influence AI results - Whether this tactic is deceptive or simply smart SEO - How Google might detect and penalize manipulative listicle strategies - Why some sites get hit while others remain unaffected - How AI Overviews generate their own lists using entity and knowledge-graph data - Why achievements, awards, team announcements, and reviews now matter more - How user-generated content on platforms like Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and X can affect AI rankings - The rise of reputation-focused SEO copywriting - The impact of hidden content, accordions, and rendering issues on AI understanding - Trustpilot, marketplaces, and how programmatic SEO could change the landscape - How Google's future search experience may rely less on listicles and more on AI-generated recommendations - Why brands need to create public, verifiable content about their wins - The future of bottom-of-funnel content across both websites and social platforms ⭐️ Gagan Ghotra on 𝕏 - https://x.com/gaganghotra_ ⭐️ Gagan Ghotra on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gagan-ghotra/ ⭐️ Gagan Ghotra's website - https://gaganghotra.com/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 Introduction to Blog Listicles 00:34 The Ethics of Self-Promotion in SEO 01:14 Historical Context of SEO Tactics 01:53 The Impact of Blog Listicles on Search Rankings 04:11 Debate on the Future of Self-Promotional Pages 11:03 The Role of User-Generated Content in SEO 12:24 AI Overviews and Their Influence on Rankings 16:30 Strategies for Influencing AI Rankings 23:09 Google's Future in AI-Generated Rankings 23:34 Google's New Recommendation System 24:46 AI Mode and Business Profiles 26:25 SEO Copywriting Trends for 2026 30:05 Importance of Reputation Management in SEO 31:14 Creating Effective Best-of Lists 33:22 Trustpilot's Missed Opportunities 35:04 Programmatic SEO and AI 36:25 Challenges and Solutions in Programmatic Content 37:55 The Future of Content and SEO 40:53 Conclusion and Final Thoughts The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #searchengineoptimization #answerengineoptimization #generativeengineoptimization #digitalmarketing
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Scaling Image SEO with AI: Alt Text, Visual Search & Gemini Workflows
889: We break down image SEO, visual search, AI-generated alt text at scale using Gemini, and Easter Eggs in alt text! The timeless SEO sage, Gagan Ghotra returns to the podcast for this once-in-a-lifetime episode. If your website has product images, blog images, ecommerce listings, or ANY visual content, this episode will show you how Google actually understands those images - and how to use AI to massively improve your rankings. Don't. Miss. This. One. We cover: - Why visual search is exploding across Google, Gemini, and mobile search - How Google matches an uploaded photo to real products - Why most alt text on the internet is completely useless - How to generate perfect, descriptive alt text using Gemini (including the exact prompt) - Scaling alt text updates for 10K-50K+ images - Common image SEO mistakes that hurt your rankings - Why AI-generated product images can destroy your business - Real examples from ecommerce sites, marketplaces, and content sites - Bonus: how screenshots, YouTube thumbnails, and social images rank so well We also share insights on: - Using Gemini API + Python for large-scale automation - Why real photos always outperform AI-generated ones - How to future-proof for 2026's incoming visual search wave - What Google really wants from your product images Whether you run an SEO agency, ecommerce brand, SaaS company, or content site - this episode will give you a huge advantage. If you miss this one, your websites will tank in rankings - so DON'T. MISS. THIS! This episode was sponsored by the Edward Sturm for Better SEO Rankings Global Initiative, thank you for watching and your continued patronage 🙏 ⭐️ Gagan Ghotra's Alt Text Generator (live for a limited time) - https://nanobanana-alt-text-generator-289265803456.us-west1.run.app/ ⭐️ Gagan Ghotra on 𝕏 - https://x.com/gaganghotra_ ⭐️ Gagan Ghotra on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gagan-ghotra/ ⭐️ Gagan Ghotra's website - https://gaganghotra.com/ 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 Introduction and Gagan's Travel Lifestyle 00:52 Challenges of Constant Travel 01:45 Networking for SEO and Business Strategies 04:02 Importance of In-Person Events 06:58 AI and Image SEO 08:29 SEO Techniques 09:54 Advanced Image SEO Strategies 11:20 Generating Alt Text with AI 13:26 Using AI for Image SEO at Scale 19:47 Real-World Applications and Best Practices 21:58 Technical Challenges in Image SEO 23:56 Google's Image Matching Process 27:04 Real vs. AI-Generated Images 28:26 Conclusion and Future Topics The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #imageseo #searchengineoptimization #technicalseo #generativeengineoptimization
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Stop Making Service Area Pages You'll Never Rank For - Do THIS Instead
E888: Stop making service area pages you'll never rank for. We break down one of the most common local SEO mistakes new businesses make - trying to rank in cities they don't have topical authority for. From Darren Shaw (founder of Whitespark and one of the top local SEO experts in the world) said it best, "If you want to rank 50 miles away, you need a new location." Not more pages. Not more blog posts. A verified Google Business Profile in that city with a real, verified location. You'll learn: - Why service area pages for far-away cities never rank for new businesses - What to focus on first - How to expand your local radius the right way - The right time to open additional locations + Google Business Profiles - How to structure your homepage when you serve multiple cities - Why topical authority is becoming more important than ever - What happens when you update your GBP (hint: massive crawling) If you've been trying to rank beyond your area with "Plumber Miami" - type pages while based in Dallas… this episode will save you months of wasted effort. ⭐️ Darren Shaw's local SEO episode - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1awWMG1e5kY 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/ 00:00 Introduction to Common SEO Mistakes 00:27 Expert Insights from Darren Shaw 02:13 Effective Local SEO Strategies 02:53 Expanding Your Business Reach 04:29 Case Study: Success with SEO 06:34 Conclusion and Final Thoughts 07:08 Closing Remarks The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #localseo #searchengineoptimization #googlebusinessprofile #digitalmarketing
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