In this episode of SEO 101, Ross Dunn and Scott Van Achte break down the June 2025 Google core update, discuss AI Overviews eroding web clicks, share updates on Core Web Vitals data in Search Console, cover OpenAI’s crawling behavior, CSS and image best practices for SEO, product pricing by state, and Google’s latest advice for handling event pages and AI-driven search.
Show Notes:
SEO NEWS
- June Core Update Complete
- Rolled out from June 1 to July 17, 2025.
- Reports of volatility, especially in the health industry; finance experienced low fluctuation.
- Expert Quotes:
- Glenn Gabe: Described the update as causing widespread volatility across various sectors.
- Marie Haynes: Anticipates a shift from traditional ranking signals to AI-driven content identification.
- Aleyda Solis: Noted visibility improvements for brands due to fewer shopping carousels above organic results.
- GSC Core Web Vitals Bug Fixed
- Previous drop in “good” and “needs improvement” URLs corrected; metrics returning to normal.
LOCAL SEO NEWS
- Local Search Impressions Update
- Ongoing concerns regarding a drop in local search impressions; no resolution confirmed yet.
AI NEWS
- Pew Research Study on AI Overviews
- AI Overviews are reducing clicks:
- 1 in 5 searches now feature AI Overviews.
- Only 8% of users clicked on links when encountering AI Summaries; 15% clicked on standard results.
- 66% of searches resulted in no clicks.
- Users are more likely to end browsing sessions after seeing AI Overviews, potentially due to trust in AI-generated content.
- AI Overviews are reducing clicks:
- LLMs.txt Files and OpenAI
- Google does not support LLMs.txt for guiding content relevance.
- Some LLMs are crawling the LLMs.txt files but not extensively used yet.
- Mueller Bonus: Suggests using “noindex” for LLMs.txt to avoid indexing issues.
MUELLER FILES
- Google on CSS & SEO
- CSS file sizes should be managed; extreme sizes (e.g., 78MB) are problematic.
- CSS class names do not impact SEO; they are for styling only.
- Use HTML ‘IMG’ tags for essential images; decorative images via CSS are not indexed.
- For tabular data, use HTML ‘table’ elements instead of CSS layouts.
- AI Overviews and SEO
- Regular SEO practices suffice for content to appear in AI Overviews.
- Growth in Search: Gen Z (ages 18-24) are leading in search queries; search methods are evolving with increased visual and interactive elements.
- AI Overviews represent a significant change in search dynamics, enhancing user satisfaction.
- Product Pricing by State
- Google Search does not accommodate different pricing by state.
- Suggestions include using tax fields or creating separate product pages per state.
- Handling Old Show Webpages
- Advice on managing expired event pages; keep unique and relevant pages, consider 404 for outdated content, and 301 redirect valuable pages to preserve authority.
Sources:
June Core Update Complete – Article discussing the completion and impact of the June 2025 Core Update.
Local Search Impressions Update – Forum thread exploring the effects of the June 2025 Google Update on local search impressions.
Pew Research on AI Overviews – Study highlighting how Google AI Overviews are reducing website clicks.
AI Overviews and Click Reduction – Article detailing the findings from the Pew Research study regarding AI Overviews and their impact on web traffic.
OpenAI Crawling LLMs.txt Files – Overview of the LLMs.txt file and Google’s stance on it, including mentions of OpenAI’s crawling activities.
Noindex LLMs.txt Suggestion – Discussion on John Mueller’s suggestion to potentially use noindex for LLMs.txt files.
Google on CSS & SEO – Summary of insights from a podcast featuring John Mueller and Martin Splitt discussing CSS and its relation to SEO.
Normal SEO for AI Overviews – Insights on how traditional SEO practices can help content appear in AI Overviews.
Google Search Pricing by State – Confirmation from John Mueller regarding Google Search’s inability to handle state-specific product pricing.
Handling Old Show Webpages – Advice from John Mueller on managing expired event and show pages.