I believe we are seeing the final phase of the Google September 2026 Spam update rolling out between October 4th and October 6th, today. The update should be done any day now, so there may be another spike in volatility, but I suspect this is it – we are pretty much done with this spam update.

Google has updated the Google Maps and Business Profiles Prohibited & restricted content policy’s advertising and solicitation section to list what merchants and business owners cannot post on their listings and posts.

Google admits a “couldn’t fetch” sitemap error may have nothing to do with whether Google can actually fetch it.

OpenAI will add an invisible watermark to ChatGPT and Codex text in the EU. Its tests show editing can weaken it. The post OpenAI To Watermark ChatGPT Text In The EU, Opens API Opt-In appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

Google’s John Mueller says AI training crawlers usually don’t offer sitemap submission and suggests default sitemap names or RSS feeds to help them find sites. The post Google’s Mueller Says AI Crawlers Access Sitemaps & RSS In His Logs appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

Google is fighting back against SERP tracking.

AI visibility gaps call for different fixes. Constance Tan shows how to decide between correcting information, earning mentions, creating content, and checking bot access. The post AI Cites Your Brand: How to Choose Your Next Move appeared first on Search Engine Journal

AI visibility gaps call for different fixes. Constance Tan shows how to decide between correcting information, earning mentions, creating content, and checking bot access. The post AI Cites Your Brand: How to Choose Your Next Move appeared first on Search Engine Journal .

Trace misleading sale badges and outdated product images to Google’s hidden data layer, with checks that go beyond your current feed. The post Google’s Hidden Data Layer: What Is It And What To Do About It appeared first on Search Engine Journal

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…