- What is really happening: why is everyone talking about a major update coming soon?
- Should you worry now or wait to see what happens?
- What concrete signs indicate that the update is near?
- What happened to Italian sites in the last major updates?
- What changes in practice for your business: who does what?
- Three concrete scenarios: how much can failing to act in time cost?
- Why the problem is even bigger: what do AI Overviews do to your traffic?
- How to get started concretely: the steps to protect yourself before the update?
- What are the most common mistakes to avoid at this stage?
- How to figure out if your site is already at risk or if you're heading in the right direction?
- So, is it worth acting now or can it wait?
- How we see it at SHM
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Google has updated its AI content guidelines and is multiplying spam updates: the signs of a major upcoming update are clear.
- Sites that use mass-generated content, fake authors, or paid links risk losing visibility drastically and permanently.
- The right move right now is a preventive SEO audit, don't wait to see the drop in the data.
Google has already released four spam updates in 2026 alone, compared to one in all of 2025. If you recognize the pattern, you know that the next big update isn't a possibility: it's a matter of weeks.
What is really happening: why is everyone talking about a major update coming soon?
Google has multiplied its anti-spam updates in 2026 and rewritten its AI content guidelines in recent weeks. Those who have followed algorithm cycles for years recognize these signals as the phase preceding a massive intervention.
By 2026, Google had already released four spam updates (March, June, August, and September). In 2025, it had launched only one. The interval between updates is shortening: this is the classic sign that the search engine is refining its aim before striking definitively.
At the same time, Google rewrote its official guide on using AI content, specifying that it is «critical» manually fact-check all AI-generated content before publishing it. Titles, meta descriptions, structured data, image alt text: nothing is excluded. This is reported by Search Engine Roundtable .
At Search Central Live in Barcelona, a Google spokesperson publicly stated that content produced at scale is becoming a more serious problem than link spam. When Google says it out loud, action usually follows shortly.
Should you worry now or wait to see what happens?
Waiting is the highest risk. Those who suffered the major updates of the past took months or years to recover lost visibility. Acting beforehand costs much less.
| Your situation | Urgency | why |
|---|---|---|
| You use AI content published without manual review | No, for now | Google explicitly cites them as an example of low effort |
| You have authors with AI-generated photos or credentials | No, for now | Google explicitly calls them a form of deception |
| You bought undeclared paid links or mentions | No, for now | Direct violation of the link spam policy |
| You publish original content with human review | Low | You are already heading in the right direction, but an audit is still useful |
| You've already suffered ranking drops in 2026 | No, for now | You might already be targeted: take action now |
The March 2024 Core Update — one of the biggest in Google's history — had reduced low-quality content in results by 40%, according to CMSWire . That update had also hit sites that had only «touched» grey-hat tactics, not just pure spam cases.
The pattern repeats: first come the signals in the guidelines, then the action. Right now we are in the signals phase.
What concrete signs indicate that the update is near?
Google updates its guidelines before acting: this happened before Panda, Penguin, Medic, and the March 2024 update. Today, those signals are all lit up again.
The history of Google algorithms shows a clear pattern: changes to guidelines always precede major updates. It's not a coincidence, it's a warning.
| Year | Signal in the guidelines | Update that followed |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 2011 | Matt Cutts warns about content farms | Panda, Feb 2011 |
| Mar 2012 | Penalty announcement for 'over-optimized' sites | Penguin, Apr 2012 |
| Jul 2018 | New emphasis on author reputation | Medic core update, Aug 2018 |
| Sep 2023 | Google removes 'written by people' from the guidelines | Scaled content abuse policy, Mar 2024 |
| Oct 2026 | Mandatory AI fact-check, fake authors = deception | Upcoming update (forecast) |
Today, Google has added a precise definition of 'main content' to its guidelines for Quality Raters—the human evaluators who judge page quality. Four criteria: expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness (E-E-A-T), and accuracy. Producing AI content in bulk without supervision is cited as an example of zero or minimal effort. This is confirmed by updated guidelines analyzed by Originality.ai .
At the same time, more companies are openly selling paid mentions in listicles — the "best X products" type of lists — to influence Google's AI answers (AI Overviews). Google has already stated that these practices are not as effective as they seem, and when they include links that pass ranking credit, they violate the link spam policy.
What happened to Italian sites in the last major updates?
The 2025 updates have already hit many Italian sites hard, including major publishers. SMEs with unsupervised AI content are exposed to the same risk.
The March 2025 Core Update, completed in 14 days, generated a peak in ranking variations of +5.76% on Italian SERPs, with an increase of sites leaving the top 10 by +1.81%, according to the analysis of SEOZoom .
The June 2025 Core Update also hit major Italian news outlets. Visibility data (measured by SISTRIX, an SEO analysis tool) shows significant losses for some and gains for others: the difference lay in the quality and originality of the content.
If major publishers with structured newsrooms can lose 30% of their visibility in an update, an SME or a professional firm that has entrusted content production to an AI tool without review is exposed to even greater risk. The topic is explored in the article on Google Spam Update September 2026 and urgent SEO audit .
What changes in practice for your business: who does what?
The update doesn't just hit pure spam sites. It affects anyone who has adopted tactics that Google considers shortcuts, even in good faith.
- 1 · Marketing Manager / Owner Check your content strategy Check if AI-generated content has been published without human review in the last 12 months. If so, this is the first point to correct.
- 2 · SEO or agency Run a technical and content audit Analyze pages with declining traffic, verify the quality of declared authors, and check the link profile for any undeclared paid links.
- 3 · Editorial team / content team Enable manual review on all AI content Every AI-generated text must be fact-checked, rewritten where necessary, and signed by a real author with verifiable credentials.
- 4 · Marketing manager Turn on ranking monitoring Set up alerts on Google Search Console and a ranking tracking tool to catch any changes right away.
- 5 · Executive / management Explore alternative visibility channels Google Ads campaigns, presence in AI Overviews, and direct traffic are the alternatives to activate in parallel to avoid relying solely on organic search.
Three concrete scenarios: how much can failing to act in time cost?
The cost of an unmanaged update is measured in months of lost traffic and missed revenue. Three illustrative examples show the order of magnitude.
The numbers below are illustrative scenarios built to show potential impact. They are not real client data.
| Company type | Monthly organic traffic (estimated) | Hypothetical drop (-30%) | Estimated impact on revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fashion e-commerce (SME) | 20,000 visits/month | -6,000 visits | Potential loss of €3,000-6,000 per month |
| Professional firm (consulting) | 5,000 visits/month | -1,500 visits | 5-10 fewer leads per month |
| B2B manufacturing company | 8,000 visits/month | -2,400 visits | 20-30% reduction in quote requests |
To these numbers, we must add recovery time: after the March 2024 Core Update, many sites took 6-12 months to return to previous levels, and some never did. The issue of at-risk organic traffic is analyzed in detail in the article on Google Zero and the disappearance of organic traffic .
Why the problem is even bigger: what do AI Overviews do to your traffic?
Even without a major update, organic traffic is already under pressure due to AI Overviews. A massive update would worsen an already difficult situation.
AI Overviews — the AI-generated answer boxes that appear at the top of Google results — have already significantly reduced organic traffic. A study by Seer Interactive on over 25 million impressions measured a drop in CTR (click-through rate) from 1.76% to 0.61% on queries where an AI Overview appears, according to Search Engine Land .
A Pew Research Center study of nearly 69,000 real searches found that when an AI Overview appears, only 8% of users click on a traditional organic result, compared to 15% when the AI Overview is not present, as reported by this analysis . A major update that further penalizes your site adds to this already existing pressure.
The impact of AI Overviews on organic SEO is explored in the article on AI Overviews at 43% and their impact on organic SEO .
How to get started concretely: the steps to protect yourself before the update?
A proactive SEO audit done now is worth ten times a corrective action after a drop. Here are the steps in the right order.
Google added dedicated reports in Search Console in June 2025 — Google's free tool for monitoring site presence in results — to separate visibility in AI surfaces from traditional organic visibility, as reported by CMSWire . This means you already have a tool to figure out where you are exposed.
- 1 · Step 1 Open Search Console and check the data from the last 3 months Look for pages with drops in impressions or clicks. Enable the new AI reports to see your visibility in AI Overviews.
- 2 · Step 2 Identify unreviewed AI content Make a list of all content published with AI support over the last 12 months. Prioritize those with the most traffic.
- 3 · Step 3 Check your site's link profile Check for any purchased links or undeclared paid mentions. Remove them or add the 'sponsored' attribute.
- 4 · Step 4 Check author pages Each author must be a real person with a verifiable name, authentic photo, and, where possible, linked social or professional profiles.
- 5 · Step 5 Turn on ranking monitoring Set alerts on at least 20-30 strategic keywords. If the ranking drops by more than 5 positions in 48 hours, it's a signal to investigate immediately.
- 6 · Step 6 Plan alternative channels Activate or boost paid campaigns and work on your presence in AI Overviews so you don't depend solely on organic traffic.
What are the most common mistakes to avoid at this stage?
The most dangerous mistakes are not the obvious ones. Often companies hurt themselves thinking they are doing the right thing.
| Common mistake | Why it is dangerous | What to do instead |
|---|---|---|
| Publishing AI content without review because it 'looks good' | Google values effort, originality, and accuracy: AI alone is not enough | Mandatory human review on every piece of content before publishing |
| Buying mentions in listicles to show up in AI Overviews | It violates the link spam policy if links pass ranking credit | Focus on original content that deserves to be cited |
| Wait for the drop to take action | Recovery after an update takes months or years | Preventive audit now, not later |
| Using AI-generated photos or bios for authors | Google explicitly calls them a form of deception | Real authors with verifiable credentials |
| Thinking that just ‘not spamming’ is enough | Gray hat tactics get hit too, not just pure spam | Complete alignment with guidelines, not just avoiding extreme cases |
How to figure out if your site is already at risk or if you're heading in the right direction?
There are precise indicators that signal whether a site is vulnerable or safe. Monitoring them now allows for intervention before the update arrives.
| Indicator | Positive signal | Risk signal |
|---|---|---|
| Content published in the last 12 months | All reviewed by a human, real authors | Mass AI production, little to no review |
| Link profile | Organically earned links, no paid links | Purchased links or undeclared paid mentions |
| Ranking trends (last 3 months) | Stable or growing | Gradual drops, even small ones |
| Author pages | Real people with verifiable credentials | Generic authors, AI photos, made-up names |
| Visibility in AI Overviews | Growing organic mentions | Total absence or drop in recent weeks |
| Manual actions in Search Console | No notification | Manual penalty notifications received |
So, is it worth acting now or can it wait?
It is worth it if you published unreviewed AI content, have undeclared paid links, or have already seen ranking drops in 2026. In this case, every week that passes increases the risk.
A middle ground Your site is in good health, but you've never done a structured audit. A preventive check now costs little and can avoid serious problems.
Not yet if you already have a human review process for all content, a clean link profile, and you monitor rankings weekly. Keep it up and keep an eye on the signals.
How we see it at SHM
For us, AI is a powerful tool, but human judgment remains irreplaceable. Using AI to mass-produce content without supervision isn't efficiency: it's a debt that Google will eventually collect.
We believe that technology should be integrated to free companies from routine, not to replace expertise. Content written with AI but reviewed, enriched, and signed by a real person is content that can withstand any update. Content produced automatically and published without checks is a target.
We work with Italian manufacturing companies and SMEs that have faced exactly this challenge: building a solid organic presence that doesn't rely on shortcuts. Consider an industrial sector company that, after investing in original technical content and a clean SEO structure, saw its visibility grow precisely in the months when competitors using unsupervised AI content were losing positions. It's no coincidence: it's the result of a strategy built to last.
If you want to understand where you are exposed before the update arrives, the starting point is our service of SEO for AI and of strategic AI integration . For those who want to protect their visibility even with alternative channels, the google ads campaigns are the fastest tool to activate alongside organic.
All the context on how Google is changing the rules of the game for organic and AI visibility is in our dedicated hub at SEO and visibility for AI . It's worth keeping an eye on it in the coming weeks: the signals are moving fast.
You can also dive deeper into how Google is changing the management of editorial preferences in the article on Google editorial preferences and AI traffic drop , and what the automatic expansion of AI Overviews means in the article on Google auto-expanding AI Overviews .
Frequently Asked Questions
Open Google Search Console and check the trend of impressions and clicks over the last 3 months. If you see progressive drops, even small ones, or if you've published AI content without human review, you're exposed. A structured SEO audit gives you a precise picture in a few days.
No. Google doesn't penalize AI itself, but it penalizes low-quality, unoriginal, or human-unreviewed content. AI-generated text that's reviewed, enhanced, and signed by a real author is perfectly acceptable. The issue is mass production without supervision.
There is no certain date, but the signals in Google's guidelines are already all lit up. Historically, weeks, not months, pass between public signals and concrete action. Starting the audit now is the most prudent choice.
It depends on the severity and type of penalty. After the March 2024 Core Update, many sites took 6-12 months to return to previous levels. Some never returned. Prevention costs much less than recovery.
Paid campaigns don't replace organic traffic, but they guarantee immediate visibility while you work on SEO recovery. Activating or boosting Ads campaigns in the weeks before and during a major update is a revenue protection strategy, not a definitive solution.
AI Overviews are the AI-generated answer boxes that Google shows at the top of search results. When they appear, the click-through rate on traditional organic results plummets: a study of nearly 69,000 real searches measured a drop from 15% to 8%. Being cited in AI Overviews has become a standalone SEO goal.
The next major Google update is not a future threat: it's the deadline by which to decide what kind of digital presence you want to have.
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