Google Updated Its Algorithm. Now What?
Google updates its search algorithm thousands of times per year. Most of these updates are small and go unnoticed. A few times per year, Google rolls out major "core updates" that can significantly shift rankings across many websites.
If you have noticed a sudden change in your traffic — up or down — a Google algorithm update may be the cause. This guide explains how to detect whether an update affected you, how to diagnose what happened, and what to actually do about it.
Quick Navigation
- What Is an Algorithm Update?
- How to Tell If an Update Affected You
- Do Not Panic on Day One
- Diagnose What Happened
- Common Patterns After Updates
- How to Recover
- When to Do Nothing
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Is an Algorithm Update?
Google's algorithm is the set of rules and signals it uses to decide which pages to show for any given search query. When Google changes these rules, it is an algorithm update.
Minor updates happen daily. Google constantly tweaks how it evaluates pages. These rarely cause noticeable changes for individual websites.
Core updates happen several times per year. Google announces these publicly. They broadly affect how Google evaluates content quality, relevance, and authority. Core updates can cause significant ranking shifts across many sites simultaneously.
Specific updates target particular issues. Google has released updates focused on product reviews, helpful content, link spam, and other specific quality signals. These affect sites that relied on the practices being targeted.
When people talk about "a Google update," they usually mean a core update or a specific named update that caused visible ranking changes.
How to Tell If an Update Affected You
The fastest way to detect an algorithm impact is to compare your GSC performance data from before and after the suspected update date.
Check your Google Search Console data. Open GSC and look at your Performance report. Compare the current period to the same period before the suspected update. Look for:
- Sudden drops (or increases) in clicks and impressions
- Changes concentrated on specific pages or query types
- Shifts in average position for your key queries
Check industry reports. When a major update rolls out, SEO publications like Search Engine Land, Search Engine Journal, and Moz typically report on it within days. These reports help you confirm timing and understand what the update targeted.
Compare timing. If your traffic changed sharply on a specific date, check whether that date aligns with a known Google update. Google maintains a list of confirmed core updates on their Search Status Dashboard.
Look at your GA4 data. Your traffic report shows whether organic traffic specifically (not just overall traffic) changed. A drop in organic traffic that aligns with a confirmed update date is a strong indicator.
Brass-SEO's Declining Pages report catches traffic drops automatically and flags pages that have lost significant visibility over a given period.
Do Not Panic on Day One
Algorithm updates typically roll out over 1-2 weeks. During the rollout period, rankings fluctuate significantly — pages may drop, recover, drop again, and settle in a different position than where they started.
What happens during rollout:
| Day | What You Might See | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1-3 | Sharp drops or gains | Initial changes, very unstable |
| Day 4-7 | Partial recovery or further movement | Algorithm still adjusting |
| Week 2 | Positions stabilizing | Closer to final state |
| Week 3+ | Stable new positions | Update complete, time to assess |
Making changes to your site during the rollout is usually counterproductive. You cannot tell whether a drop is temporary fluctuation or permanent until the update finishes rolling out. Wait at least 2-3 weeks before making strategic decisions based on what you see.
Diagnose What Happened
Once the update has fully rolled out (typically 2-3 weeks), analyze what changed.
Which pages were affected? Look at your GSC data page by page. Did all pages drop, or just specific ones? If specific pages dropped, what do they have in common?
Which queries changed? Check which keywords lost position. Are they informational queries? Commercial queries? Brand queries? The type of queries affected tells you what the update targeted.
Did competitors gain what you lost? Search for your key terms and see who is now ranking where you used to. What are they doing differently? Are their pages more comprehensive, more authoritative, or more recent?
Is this a site-wide issue or page-level? If your entire site dropped, the update may have affected a site-wide quality signal (like thin content across many pages, technical issues, or trust problems). If only certain pages dropped, those specific pages may need improvement.
Check for technical issues. Sometimes traffic drops coincide with updates but are actually caused by technical problems — broken pages, server issues, crawl errors. Check your GSC coverage report and site health before assuming the update is responsible.
Common Patterns After Updates
Google's core updates tend to reward or penalize specific content patterns. Here is what typically happens.
Thin content loses. Pages with minimal useful content — short pages, pages that skim the surface without going deep, or pages that add nothing new to what already exists online — tend to lose rankings in core updates. Google is getting better at identifying and demoting low-value content.
Experience-based content gains. Pages written by people with genuine first-hand experience tend to gain or maintain their rankings. This aligns with Google's emphasis on E-E-A-T, particularly the Experience component.
Technical issues get exposed. Core updates sometimes amplify the impact of existing technical problems. Slow pages, mobile issues, or indexing problems that were minor before an update may become more significant after one.
Brand authority is rewarded. Sites with strong brand recognition, consistent brand mentions, and genuine authority in their niche tend to hold or improve positions during updates. Google increasingly trusts established brands over anonymous sites.
Overly-optimized content drops. Content that reads like it was written to satisfy an algorithm rather than a human reader often loses rankings in updates. Keyword-stuffed pages, AI content published without editing, and pages focused on ranking rather than helping users are common casualties.
How to Recover
If your site lost rankings in an update, recovery requires improving your content quality and site signals — not tricks or shortcuts.
Improve content quality. Review the pages that lost traffic. Are they genuinely the best answer for the queries they target? If not, make them better: add depth, include original insights, update outdated information, and ensure they demonstrate real expertise.
Fix technical issues. Address any crawl errors, speed problems, mobile issues, or indexing problems in your GSC reports. Technical health is the foundation that everything else builds on.
Strengthen E-E-A-T signals. Add author information, update your About page, include credentials, and demonstrate experience through specific examples and case studies.
Consolidate weak content. If you have multiple thin pages on similar topics, consolidate them into fewer, more comprehensive pages. Quality over quantity. Consider a content audit to identify which pages to keep, improve, or remove.
Be patient. Recovery from a core update typically does not happen until the next core update. Google usually rolls out core updates every few months. If you make improvements, those improvements are re-evaluated when the next update rolls out. Recovery timelines of 3-6 months are normal.
When to Do Nothing
Not every traffic change requires action.
Your traffic is stable or growing. If an update did not negatively affect you, do not make reactive changes. Continue what is working.
The drop is small and temporary. Minor fluctuations happen constantly. A 5-10% change in weekly traffic may be normal variation, not an update impact. Look for sustained trends, not single-week dips.
The affected pages are not important. If a blog post from three years ago about an outdated topic lost traffic, that may not be worth fixing. Focus your effort on pages that matter to your business.
You already follow best practices. If your content is high-quality, your technical SEO is solid, and your site demonstrates genuine expertise, the best response to most updates is to keep doing what you are doing. The sites that get hurt by updates are typically those that were already cutting corners.
For the related question of why AI Mode citations come and go without any algorithm change, see Why Your Page Was in AI Mode and Then Wasn't.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often does Google update its algorithm?
Google makes thousands of small changes per year. Confirmed core updates happen several times annually — typically 3-4 major updates per year. Google announces core updates on their Search Status Dashboard and through their SearchLiaison social media accounts.
Can I see exactly what changed in an update?
Google does not disclose the specific changes in most updates. For core updates, Google typically provides general guidance about what the update rewards (e.g., "helpful content," "quality content") but not the specific ranking signal changes. SEO publications analyze ranking data to identify patterns.
Should I change my SEO strategy every time there is an update?
No. The fundamentals of good SEO — quality content, strong technical foundation, genuine expertise, relevant keywords — are consistent across updates. Updates refine how Google evaluates these fundamentals, but the fundamentals themselves rarely change. Chasing individual updates leads to reactive, short-term thinking. Focus on building a site that serves users well, and most updates will either help you or leave you unaffected.
How long does recovery take after a core update?
Recovery timing varies, but most sites that make meaningful improvements see recovery within the next 1-2 core updates — typically 3-6 months. Some sites recover faster, some take longer. The speed of recovery depends on how significant your improvements are and how competitive your keywords are.
What if my traffic dropped but I cannot find a matching update?
Traffic drops can also be caused by seasonal changes, competitor improvements, technical issues, or changes in user behavior. Check your GSC data for technical issues first. Then compare your content and rankings to competitors. If a sudden overnight drop does not correlate with any known update, the cause may be something other than an algorithm change.