It’s time for another monthly roundup, folks. What happened in the SEO world in July 2025 and how is it going to affect my clients and their websites?
Well, July 2025 brought us the completion of the Google June 2025 core update, some fascinating research on AI search traffic quality, and a number of interesting developments in how search engines are indexing and presenting content. If you’ve been watching your rankings bounce around, July finally gave us some clarity on what’s been happening.
Let’s take a look through everything that happened in July 2025 and what it means for your website’s SEO.
Google June 2025 Core Update Completes
The Google June 2025 core update, which began on June 30th, officially completed on July 17th. That’s a total rollout time of about 17 days, so a little shorter than the three weeks Google initially suggested but still long enough to cause enough concern for website owners who watched their rankings bounce around.
Now that the dust has settled, I think we can start so a better picture of what’s just occurred. According to research by Sistrix, the update consisted of two distinct “waves” of high SERP ranking volatility, with each wave impacting different sets of sites. This dual-wave pattern made the update feel particularly disruptive, as sites that seemed stable after the first wave sometimes saw changes during the second.
Barry Schwartz, one of the most respected voices in SEO news, confirmed this was indeed a “big” update with significant impacts across multiple industries. The sectors most notably affected were news, health, finance, and shopping – essentially, the areas where Google applies its strictest quality standards.
Perhaps most encouraging was the evidence that some sites previously hit by the Helpful Content Update in August 2024 saw partial recovery. Google had downplayed the possibility of such recoveries through core updates, so this was genuinely good news for sites that have been working hard to improve their content quality.
What this means for you: If you were negatively impacted by the Google June 2025 core update, don’t expect overnight recovery. Google’s advice remains consistent: focus on improving content quality and the user experience, and recovery typically comes with subsequent updates rather than immediately. If you saw improvements, that’s brilliant – but don’t rest on your laurels; continue focusing on quality and user value.
AI Search Traffic: Quality Over Quantity
One of the most interesting pieces of research to emerge back in June came from Ahrefs, which shared data on their own AI search traffic. The findings were genuinely surprising and offer a silver lining to the declining click-through rates we’ve been seeing.
Ahrefs reported that AI search traffic accounts for only 0.5% of their total traffic but a whopping 12.1% of their signups. Do the maths on that: visitors from AI search converted at 23 times the rate of visitors from traditional organic search.
The data showed that users coming through AI search viewed more pages and had lower bounce rates. The theory is that these users are further along their search journey and closer to making a decision or taking action. They’re not just browsing – they’re actively looking for solutions.
This backed up claims by several Google executives suggesting that AI traffic is higher quality than traditional search traffic. It also appeared in research from consultancy-driven sectors like legal, finance, health, and insurance, where AI visitors showed higher engagement compared to other industries like SaaS and e-commerce.
What this means for you: Whilst AI search might drive less overall traffic, the traffic it does drive could be more valuable. Don’t just focus on traffic volume – track conversion rates, engagement metrics, and actual business outcomes. If you’re getting cited in AI Overviews or ChatGPT, monitor how those visitors behave compared to traditional organic traffic. You might find they’re actually more valuable even though there are fewer of them.
Instagram Posts Now Indexed by Google
On 10th July, Meta notified Instagram users that their public photos and videos can now be indexed by search engines such as Google and Bing. Previously, search engines were blocked from indexing this content.
According to Instagram’s help page, search engines now have access to posts from 1st January 2020 onwards, but only for professional account holders over 18. This means millions of Instagram posts are suddenly discoverable through traditional search engines.
Instagram posts can now show up as webpages in Google search results, but the bigger impact is likely on image search results. If you’ve been building an Instagram presence, that content can now contribute to your overall search visibility.
What this means for you: If you have an Instagram account, particularly a business or professional account, your content is now part of the searchable web. A few things to consider:
- Check what’s been indexed. Use the site: command in Google:
site:instagram.com/yourusername - Optimise your Instagram content. Captions matter now for search, not just engagement
- Consider image SEO. Your Instagram photos can now appear in image search results
- Be mindful of content. Everything public is now searchable beyond Instagram’s platform
- Leverage this for visibility. Your Instagram presence can now support your overall SEO strategy
For those interested in image SEO specifically, this opens up new opportunities for visual content to drive traffic.
AI Mode Usage Reveals Interesting Patterns
Research released in July analysed how users are actually engaging with Google’s AI Mode feature. The findings were… mixed, from Google’s perspective.
According to the study conducted between May and mid-July, 50% of Google users who tested AI Mode once haven’t tried it again. Only 9% of users sampled used it five times or more during the research period.
This suggests that whilst AI Mode is available and being promoted, it hasn’t yet become a habit for most users. People are trying it out of curiosity but many are returning to traditional search for their regular queries.
What this means for you: Whilst you should be aware of AI Mode and optimise for it where relevant, traditional search isn’t dead yet—not by a long shot. Focus your efforts on:
- Traditional organic search (still the majority of users),
- AI Overviews (appearing more frequently),
- AI Mode (smaller but potentially high-quality traffic),
- Other AI platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity.
Test AI Mode with your target keywords to see if your site appears in the results. Ensure you have proper structured data and clear expertise signals to maximise your chances of being cited.
ChatGPT Evidence Shows Google SERP Usage
Some fascinating research published by Aleyda Solis on 24th July (following earlier French research by Alexis Rylko on 6th July) presented evidence that ChatGPT uses content not just from Bing but also from Google search results.
This was significant because it confirmed what many had suspected: ChatGPT’s web search feature is pulling from multiple sources, including Google’s SERPs. The research showed ChatGPT using snippets and information from Google’s search results pages to formulate answers.
What this means for you: Your visibility in traditional Google search results can influence your appearance in ChatGPT responses. This interconnected nature of search means:
- Good traditional SEO still matters for AI visibility,
- Featured snippets and top rankings in Google can lead to ChatGPT citations,
- You can’t just optimise for one platform, they’ve become increasingly interconnected.
AI-Generated Images Facing Detection
In interviews during July, Google’s Gary Illyes was asked about AI-generated images and their impact on SEO. His response was interesting: using AI-generated images does not negatively impact SEO directly – there’s no penalty for AI images themselves.
However, there’s growing evidence that tech companies, including Google, are developing ways to identify AI-generated images. Rather than filtering them out entirely, Google likely treats them as images with less SEO value than original photography or illustrations, similar to how they handle stock photography.
What this means for you: Real, original photos and illustrations are more likely to rank better in image search. If you’re using AI-generated images:
- Use them strategically, not as your primary visual content,
- Combine them with original photography where possible,
- Optimise image file names and alt text properly,
- Consider the user experience – do AI images serve your audience well?
For image SEO, original visual content remains your best bet.
ChatGPT Market Share Dominates AI Search
According to Statcounter data for the UK released in July, ChatGPT enjoys an 80.55% share of the UK AI chatbot market, with Microsoft Copilot in distant second place at 10.41%. Perplexity, Google Gemini, Claude, and Deepseek combined account for less than 10% market share.
This dominance is important because it tells us where to focus optimisation efforts if we’re thinking beyond traditional search engines. ChatGPT is clearly the AI platform most people are using.
What this means for you: If you’re going to invest time optimising for AI platforms beyond Google, ChatGPT should be your priority. Make sure:
- You haven’t blocked ChatGPT’s crawler (GPTBot) in your robots.txt,
- Your content is well-structured and authoritative,
- You’re using clear, semantic HTML,
- You have proper schema markup implemented.
You can test your visibility in ChatGPT using tools like LLM SEO Monitor to see if your content is being cited.
Traditional Search Still Dominates Despite AI Growth
Despite all the hype around AI search, data released in July showed that reports of traditional search’s death are greatly exaggerated. Research from Nielsen Norman Group revealed several key insights:
- Growth in AI adoption is slowing, with no month since September 2024 seeing more than 10% month-on-month increase in usage
- With traditional search, the average number of searches per user has increased over time
- AI search is not replacing traditional search – it’s complementing it
- Data from the US showed patterns consistent with earlier adoption compared to EU/UK markets
Google still handles approximately 16.4 billion daily searches, compared to ChatGPT’s roughly 66 million daily search-like prompts (with only 21.3% being true search-intent queries). That makes Google about 210 times larger than ChatGPT in search volume.
Even DuckDuckGo generates more referral traffic than ChatGPT currently does.
What this means for you: Don’t abandon your traditional SEO strategy to chase AI search trends. The vast majority of search traffic still comes through traditional search engines, primarily Google. Your strategy should be:
- Primary focus: Traditional Google SEO (the biggest opportunity),
- Important secondary focus: AI Overviews in Google (growing rapidly),
- Experimental focus: ChatGPT and other AI platforms (small but potentially valuable).
Allocate your resources accordingly based on where your actual traffic and conversions come from.
Google August Spam Update Begins
Right at the end of July, on 26th August… wait, that’s August, not July. I’ll now have to cover that in next month’s update!
The Big Picture: Evolution, Not Revolution
July 2025’s developments paint an interesting picture: we’re seeing evolution in search, not revolution. Traditional search remains dominant, but AI features are growing. AI traffic might be smaller in volume but higher in quality. New platforms are emerging but haven’t displaced existing ones.
The key themes from July:
- Core updates remain impactful. The June update caused significant changes across multiple industries. Quality content and user experience remain paramount.
- AI traffic is quality over quantity. Smaller volume but higher conversion rates makes AI search worth optimising for, even if it’s not driving massive traffic yet.
- Multiple platforms matter. Instagram indexing, ChatGPT’s market dominance, and traditional search’s continued strength all suggest you need a multi-platform approach.
- Original content wins. From real photos outperforming AI images to comprehensive content getting cited in AI, original, high-quality material consistently performs better.
- Traditional search isn’t dead. Not even close. The vast majority of search activity still happens through traditional search engines, particularly Google.
What You Should Do Now
Based on everything that happened in July, here are concrete actions:
Assess your June core update impact:
- Now that it’s complete, analyse what changed,
- Compare your content to what’s now ranking above you (if you dropped),
- Make strategic improvements based on clear quality signals,
- Don’t expect instant recovery—plan for the long term.
Diversify your content presence:
- Ensure your Instagram content is optimised if you have a professional account,
- Check what’s been indexed and adjust your strategy accordingly,
- Use Instagram as part of your overall content distribution strategy.
Track AI search quality:
- Monitor conversion rates from different traffic sources,
- Compare AI referral traffic to traditional organic traffic,
- Don’t just focus on volume—quality matters more.
Optimise for multiple platforms:
- Ensure ChatGPT can access your content (check robots.txt),
- Implement comprehensive structured data,
- Test your visibility across different AI platforms,
- Maintain strong traditional SEO fundamentals.
Keep perspective:
- Traditional search remains your biggest opportunity,
- AI features are growing but not dominant yet,
- Focus resources where you see actual business results,
- Experiment with new platforms but don’t abandon what works.
Post-Core Update Concerns?
If the June core update negatively impacted your website and you’re not sure how to recover, or if you’re struggling to make sense of declining traffic despite AI Overviews growth, I’m here to help.
Core update recovery requires a strategic approach based on understanding what Google values and how your content compares to what’s currently ranking. It’s not about quick fixes—it’s about genuine quality improvements that serve your audience better.
For local businesses in Farnborough, Hampshire, and the surrounding areas, I offer comprehensive SEO audits, competitive analysis, and ongoing SEO management to help you navigate these complex changes whilst focusing on running your business.
Give me a bell on 01252 692 765 or, better still, leave a message for me via my contact form. Let’s have a conversation about your website’s performance and develop a strategy that works in this evolving search landscape.
Paul Mackenzie-Ross is an SEO consultant based in Farnborough, Hampshire, specialising in helping local businesses improve their online visibility and attract more customers through search engines and AI platforms.