We hope you are in good health. Here are some of the major SEO news updates of the week that you need to know:
Search Related News and Updates from Major Search Engines
Microsoft’s New AEO & GEO Playbook Signals the Next Phase of Search Optimization
Microsoft’s guide on AEO (Answer/Agentic Engine Optimization) and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) highlights that traditional SEO is still useful but no longer sufficient for AI search environments—success now requires content that AI assistants can understand, interpret, and confidently recommend. AEO focuses on structuring content for direct AI answers, while GEO emphasizes clarity, trustworthiness, and authority to improve generative AI citations and recommendations. The guide also offers actionable strategies for technical foundations, content clarity, and trust signals to help brands win in AI-driven discovery.
Google’s John Mueller Says Free Subdomain Hosting Could Undermine SEO Visibility
John Mueller cautions that publishing on free subdomain hosting platforms can make it significantly harder for legitimate sites to gain search visibility, because such platforms attract spam and low-effort content that muddles quality signals for search engines. Even if a site avoids technical SEO mistakes, the negative reputation of the hosting environment can hold back its rankings, especially in competitive topic areas. Mueller advises new publishers to focus first on community building and direct promotion, rather than relying on search visibility alone.
Google AI Mode Now Prompts Users to ‘Narrow Your Query’ Using Fan-Out Questions
Google is testing a shopping-focused AI Mode experience where it asks follow-up questions (with multiple-choice options) to help users refine broad queries—an example of its “query fan-out” approach in action. The prompt guides shoppers to specify intent (e.g., what they’ll primarily use a product for), and the AI results update as users choose options to narrow recommendations.
Google’s Mueller: Comment Link Spam Doesn’t Impact Rankings—Positive or Negative
Google’s John Mueller says spammy links dropped in a site’s comment section generally have no effect on that site’s Google Search performance—neither helping nor hurting. The point: these are typically ignored as low-quality spam signals, so site owners shouldn’t panic or assume they need to disavow them to recover traffic.
Google Tests Lighter Font for Product Pricing & Inventory in AI Mode Shopping Results
Google AI Mode is now displaying product availability and pricing in a much lighter font color when users click into product cards, making the AI Mode UI look distinct from standard Search results. The change was spotted by Brodie Clark and appears tied to Google’s broader push to differentiate AI Mode—especially as it expands agentic shopping-style experiences.
Google Search Team Says It Does Not Endorse LLMs.txt Files for Search or AI Use
Google’s John Mueller clarified that the presence of LLMs.txt files on some Google developer properties is not an endorsement and that the Search team does not use or recommend this proposed standard for search or AI visibility. He reiterated that Google isn’t relying on LLMs.txt for crawling or ranking and that website owners should treat it cautiously (some even suggest noindexing it), as it doesn’t currently influence search outcomes.
PPC Related News and Updates from Major Platforms
Google Ads Publishes New Call & Messaging Ads Terms Requiring Advertiser Consent
Google has updated its Call and Messaging Ads Terms, requiring advertisers to agree to new legal conditions in order to use communication-focused ad features in Google Ads. Under the updated terms, Google can record and monitor voice calls, messages, and chats routed through its ad products, with advertisers responsible for notifying participants and complying with privacy and legal requirements; failure to accept the terms means the communication features won’t be available. The changes underscore a growing emphasis on transparency and advertiser accountability around user communications.
