<\/p>
Google has published new guidance that canonicalizes itself as the single source of objective truth for SEO practices, including for AI SEO. The new guidance, published on Google Search Central, is Google\u2019s strongest assertion of itself as the official source of information SEO best practices and SEO tools.<\/p>
The effect of the new guidance is to assert Google as the authoritative source of resources, tools, SEO information, and SEO data.<\/p>
The five main points of the new documentation are:<\/strong><\/p> Google\u2019s guidelines appears to address agencies and individuals who provide SEO services. Whether that\u2019s the guidance\u2019s intent or not, that\u2019s the effect that the new wording\u00a0 has.<\/p> Here are snippets from the new guidance:<\/p> When the authors of the new guidance write \u201cthink critically about using third-party SEO tools and services,\u201d the word \u201cand\u201d makes it mean \u201cthink critically about using third-party SEO tools and SEO services.\u201d The guidance urges caution over SEO services directly and indirectly throughout the page, giving the impression<\/em> that Google is urging caution about hiring SEOs and agencies.<\/p> One thing that is not ambiguous about the new guidance is that Google is claiming authoritativeness as the prime source of SEO\u00a0 information and distances itself from third-party SEO tools.<\/p> Google\u2019s new guidance is specifically about third-party SEO tools and third-party SEO advice. It expressly asserts its own guidelines as the canonical source of truth about SEO and for the nascent practice of AI optimization.<\/p> The new guidelines insist on Google as the objective truth about SEO:<\/em><\/p> \u201cWhile some advice is helpful, others may misinterpret or make claims about what \u201cGoogle says\u201d or how Google ranking systems work. In general, good advice either qualifies their claims as opinion based on data or experience, or backs up their claims by citing official Google Search guidance.<\/p> We recommend carefully evaluating any advice you might be considering implementing against our official SEO guidance, including our guidance on optimizing for generative AI, and making your own informed decisions.\u201d<\/p> <\/blockquote> Those statements assert Google\u2019s own documentation as the reference point for evaluating whether SEO advice is credible and worth implementing. That\u2019s always been a good practice. What\u2019s unusual is how strongly the new guidance asserts Google\u2019s primacy over all SEO information.<\/p> The guidance applies the same canonicalization of objective truth to AI search optimization advice, by asserting Google\u2019s advice as authoritative for AEO and GEO, as well as SEO in general.<\/p> Google specifically references advice related to AI optimization, specifically mentioning AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization).<\/p> Google\u2019s new guidance essentially divides SEO information into two categories:<\/p> After setting up the us versus them comparison, it follows by strongly recommending its own guidance as the source of truth by which any other advice should be weighed.<\/p> The new guidance explains:<\/em><\/p> \u201cThere\u2019s plenty of third-party SEO advice on the internet related to SEO, search listings, and AI experiences (sometimes called AEO for \u201canswer engine optimization\u201d or GEO for \u201cgenerative engine optimization\u201d). While some advice is helpful, others may misinterpret or make claims about what \u201cGoogle says\u201d or how Google ranking systems work.<\/p> In general, good advice either qualifies their claims as opinion based on data or experience, or backs up their claims by citing official Google Search guidance.<\/p> We recommend carefully evaluating any advice you might be considering implementing against our official SEO guidance, including our guidance on optimizing for generative AI, and making your own informed decisions.\u201d<\/p> <\/blockquote> The strongest language in the document is directed at third-party SEO tools and services that imply some level of Google approval.<\/p> Google lists examples of third-party SEO services, including sitemap tools, indexing tools, content generation services, ranking advice services, and tools that promise improvements for AEO and GEO.<\/p> It then states:<\/em><\/p> \u201cSome of these services may be helpful in your work, while others may make claims or imply that what they do is somehow \u2018acceptable\u2019 or \u2018approved\u2019 by Google Search.\u201d<\/p> <\/blockquote> Google follows that statement with a warning:<\/em><\/p> \u201cGoogle doesn\u2019t evaluate third-party services, so be wary of such claims and those making them.\u201d<\/p> <\/blockquote> The guidance stops short of criticizing SEO tools in general. In fact, Google acknowledges that some may be useful. But it clearly distances itself from vendors and services that invoke Google\u2019s name to imply endorsement, approval, or validation.<\/p> Google also reminds businesses that using a tool is not a shortcut to better rankings:<\/em><\/p> \u201cKeep in mind that using a service or tool doesn\u2019t guarantee ranking success.\u201d<\/p> <\/blockquote> Google also addresses what it describes as a common misunderstanding about SEO tool data.<\/p> According to the guidance:<\/em><\/p> \u201cSome third-party services provide data that some users of those tools misinterpret as somehow being from Google.\u201d<\/p> <\/blockquote> Google then explicitly states:<\/em><\/p> \u201cThird-party tools don\u2019t have access to our internal ranking data.\u201d<\/p> <\/blockquote> The guidance continues:<\/em><\/p> \u201cThey can\u2019t guarantee performance. Any predictions are their own and like predictions generally, may not happen.\u201d<\/p> <\/blockquote> Google\u2019s position is that SEO tool forecasts, scores, and performance predictions should not be confused with Google\u2019s own ranking data or internal systems. This is the strongest distancing that Google has put between itself and third-party data providers.<\/p> After warning businesses about third-party claims, third-party predictions, and third-party data sources, Google recommends using its own platform, Search Console.<\/p> Google states:<\/em><\/p> \u201cWhether you use a third-party tool or not, we strongly encourage using our first-party tool, Google Search Console, which provides you with key information and data directly from Google Search itself.\u201d<\/p> <\/blockquote> That recommendation ends the new guidance, which is expressly designed to assert Google as the ground truth about SEO, AEO, GEO, and SEO tools. The question to ask now is: Why is Google doing this?<\/p> Google explicitly advises businesses to \u201cthink critically\u201d about using third-party tools and third-party services (SEOs). The phrase \u201cthink critically\u201d means to not take things at face value, to analyze and question the information.<\/p> Looked at another way, it\u2019s hard to ignore that this is Google\u2019s strongest assertion of authoritativeness for SEO information.<\/p> How do you feel about Google\u2019s new guidance? Your opinion matters<\/em>.<\/p> Featured Image by Shutterstock\/rasskazov<\/em><\/p> <\/div> #Googles #Guidance #Claims #Authority #SEO #Tools #AEOGEO #sejournal #martinibuster1780995331<\/p> ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Google has published new guidance that canonicalizes itself as the single source of objective truth for SEO practices, including for AI SEO. The new guidance, published on Google Search Central, is Google\u2019s strongest assertion of itself as the official source of information SEO best practices and SEO tools. The effect of the new guidance is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[37559,9104,2094,179,1771,415,80,97,675],"class_list":["post-9625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-careers","tag-aeogeo","tag-authority","tag-claims","tag-googles","tag-guidance","tag-martinibuster","tag-sejournal","tag-seo","tag-tools"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Ambiguous Guidance About SEO Services<\/h2>
Google Says It Is The Authority On SEO Advice<\/h2>
Google Claims Authoritativeness Over AI SEO<\/h2>
Google Distances Itself From Third-Party SEO Tools<\/h2>
Google Says SEO Tool Data Is Not Google Data<\/h3>
Google Recommends Itself For SEO Tools<\/h2>