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SEOFOMO: The Newsletter to Keep up with SEO

πŸ“Š The Latest Google Update, AI News & More [SEOFOMO, Aug 31, 2025]


The SEOFOMO Newsletter​

August 31, 2025
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Your weekly SEO & AI Search News to Stop the FOMO, read by 38.8K SEOs.
Today's sponsor:
JetOctopus. Want to advertise? Ask here.​


πŸ”₯ This Week’s Biggest Search Stories

Ending the summer with an update bang

​Google Released the August 2025 spam update on August 26 and impact is felt very quickly​​
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Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Roundtable​
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Although Google has said that the August 2025 spam update rollout may take a few weeks to complete, Barry covers how SEOs are already seeing initial impact.

Just remember though, that there might be ups and downs until the rollout finishes, so you might want to wait until then to assess the final update outcome.

In the meantime, if you want to start analyzing, you have the free SEOFOMO Latest Google Rankings Shifts Looker Studio Dashboard to easily do it.


This hopefully means more AI Mode traffic

​VP of Product at Google Search has shared in X that they will be featuring more links in AI Mode
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Robby Stein​
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In an X thread, Robby shares that:

  • Google has launched embedded link carousels in AI Mode responses on desktop, with mobile coming soon.
  • Google is also launching some model updates to improve how they show inline links (links that are embedded directly within text) in AI Mode.
  • We might see some fluctuation over the next few weeks as they roll out these updates.

These are excellent news no matter the reason (whether the outcome of users behavior or even the recent coverage about organic search traffic decrease to publishers) - let’s see what’s the outcome from a traffic stand-point to sites!

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AI is not replacing Traditional Search

​New Research: 20% of Americans use AI tools 10X+/month, but growth is slowing and traditional search hasn’t dipped​​
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Rand Fishkin
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Rand goes through data showing how despite a massive AI platforms usage growth, traditional search engines aren’t going anywhere: 95% of Americans continue to use them each month, and 86% are heavy users.

So no, ChatGPT is not replacing Google, it's expanding search.

He also explains how if Google search is stable, its traffic is dropping: The answer being zero-click answers, due to Google delivering results that don’t require users to click, with a notable acceleration with AI Overviews.


πŸ—žοΈ More Updates from Search Engines

Check your JS Based Paywalls Implementation

​Google Search On JavaScript-Based Paywalls​
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Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Roundtable
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Google warns that "some JavaScript paywall solutions include the full content in the server response, then use JavaScript to hide it until subscription status is confirmed", which isn't a reliable way to limit access to the content.


It was a Google issue and is now solved

​Google Issue Caused Some Sites To Have Huge Crawl Rate Decline ... it's solved now though​
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Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Roundtable​
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If your site went through an important crawl rate drop since August 17, don't worry, it was a Google problem and is now fixed.


Be careful with Comet

​Perplexity Comet Browser Vulnerable To Prompt Injection Exploit​
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Roger Montti / Search Engine Journal​
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Brave published details about a security issue with Comet, Perplexity’s AI browser, that enables an attacker to inject a prompt into the browser and gain access to data in other open browser tabs.


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πŸ€– Latest AI Search Insights

Wikipedia and Reddit among the leaders

​The Leading Brands & Domains in AI Search Across 10 Business Categories​​
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Lily Ray / Amsive​
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Lily goes through top brands and domains in AI search across 10 business categories showing how besides Wikipedia and Reddit, product review sites like Forbes, Nerdwallet, Investopedia, Value Penguin, and others are heavily cited in LLM responses, making β€˜digital PR’ essential for visibility within AI Search.


An actionable, non-fluff guide

​Web Guide, AI Mode/Overviews, and the Rise of AI Search SEO: How Query Fan-Out is Reshaping Google Search​​
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Gianluca Fiorelli / Advanced Web Ranking​
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Gianluca explains how web guide works, the critical distinction from classic SERPs, how does it compare with AI Mode and AI Overviews, and what you need to do to optimize for it with an actionable checklist.


Stop treating AI like your β€œEasy Button”

​Dear C-Suite: Stop Betting Your Future on the AI Shortcut​
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Nick LeRoy​
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Nick explains how the biggest lie being sold to leadership right now is that AI is some kind of instant replacement for people and process.


Calling SEO β€œstrategic” was comfortable

​SEO Has Been Tactical for 20 Years. GenAI Forces the Strategy Question.​​
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Duane Forrester

Duane shares how for 20 years, SEO has been tactical excellence in service of growth. With GenAI, the tactical layer is shifting to machines. That makes strategy the defining frontier.


It's time to expand your local reviews

​Local Businesses: Want to Rank in ChatGPT? Focus on These Review Sites (New Research)​​
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Miriam Ellis​
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Facebook and Yelp have turned out to be huge players in the Bing Places index when it comes to reviews. Given Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI, Miriam recommends that you expand beyond Google Business Profile reviews to build up your reputation.


Some things don't change with AI search

​From People Also Ask to AI Search β€” Reading the Signals That Matter Mark Williams-Cook, Gianluca Fiorelli / Advanced Web Ranking​
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An insightful interview with Mark by Gianluca, explaining while AI changes how we measure and prioritize SEO efforts, the core practicesβ€”technical health, quality content, and coverageβ€”remain the same; and User signals and trust data – engagement patterns, clicks, and link graphs remain key in both.


Leverage Digital PR for AI Search

​Digital PR & Authority Building in the Age of AI Search [Video]​
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Gareth Hoyle, Mark Rofe, Aleyda Solis / Crawling Mondays​
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Learn how to grow your authority with digital PR in the age of AI Search with specialists Gareth Hoyle and Mark Rofe: What has changed and what hasn't, the top do's and dont's, easy actions to start, must use tools, and more!


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πŸ™‹πŸ»β€β™€οΈ Join +160 SEOs to answer the AI Search Optimization Survey & Participate in Giveaway

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You have until September 8, 2025 to take the survey. The results will be published here on September 10, 2025 along with the winners of the giveaway.

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πŸ’Έ SEO Jobs


πŸ›  Free(mium) SEO Tools

​AI Insights Dashboard​
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Cloudflare Radar
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​AI Eyes​​
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A free Chrome extension to toggle JavaScript on/off to see what AI models see when browsing


πŸŽ™οΈ Upcoming SEO Events

​Google Search Central Live CEE 2025​
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Google / Budapest, Hungary / Free / October 2nd, 2025

This year's edition of Search Central Live in CEE is happening in Budapest. Apply for a spot before September 14, 2025.

​Shenzhen SEO Conference​
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Shenzhen SEO Conference / Shenzhen, China / +$498 USD / September 18-21, 2025

Join Gary Illyes, Aleyda Solis, Kyle Roof and more in Shenzhen, the Silicon Valley of China, to learn and network, going through SEO strategies that bridge Eastern and Western markets.


⭐️ The AI Search Manual: The Official Doc for Relevance Engineering in AI Search

The AI Search Manual explains how search is changing and what to do about it.

It covers the rise of conversational search platforms, the mechanics behind Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), and how Relevance Engineering helps you stay visible when traditional SEO falls short.

If you want to understand where AI Search is headed and how to show up in it, this guide lays it all out.

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πŸ‘€ More Digital Marketing News

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​The SEOFOMO News Aggregator​

Monitor and vote the latest SEO news in real time.

πŸ€–

​The AI Marketers Newsletter​

Learn about the latest in AI Marketing.

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​The MarketingFOMO Newsletter​

Get your weekly dose of digital marketing news.


I hope you've liked today's edition of SEOFOMO. Do you have any comments or feedback? Don't hesitate to let me know over here!​

Until the next edition,

​

Aleyda Solis

SEO Consultant & Founder at Orainti
​SEOFOMO, AI Marketers & MarketingFOMO Newsletter Wrapper
Host of Crawling Mondays​
Creator of LearningSEO.io and LearningAIsearch.com​
Follow me on LinkedIn, X and Bluesky​

C/ Orfila, 5, Esc 1, 4ΒΊ CyD, Madrid, Madrid 28010
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