Welcome to this week’s Pulse: Updates change what you can measure in Search Console, how you describe products in markup, and what John Mueller thinks about building AI agents.
This is what matters to you and your work.
Search Console adds reports for social and video posts
Google is rolling out a new type of Search Console property, called platform properties, that reports on the performance of your social and video posts in Search and Discover.
Highlights:
The report covers Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube, even if you don’t have a website. Each platform offers three dedicated publishing reports. The performance report includes data on clicks, impressions, filtering and export options. Insights highlight recent traffic and top posts, while achievements mark milestones like exceeding 28-day click thresholds.
Why it matters
Until now, Search Console data was limited to sites you can check. This update expands reporting to posts on Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube, allowing you to see which queries are driving traffic to your posts in Search and how those posts are performing on Google surfaces.
What SEO professionals say:
The launch received a strong response from people who work in research every day. Aleyda Solís, SEO and AI Search consultant, in an article that generated more than 350 reactions, I used it to assert that SEO now goes beyond your own site:
With this release, Google is making something explicit that many in our industry still resist: your SEO does not begin and end with Google or your website. Search discovery is fragmented and SEO is all about optimizing where your audience is searching for you.
SEO consultant Brodie Clark, who had early access to previous experience, said the data proved useful before scaling up:
For the only site where I have access to social media experience (for YouTube), I found the data particularly useful – so it’s great to see that it’s now becoming official!
The technical manager of SEO, Simone De Palma, welcomed it but wants the data in the API and pipelinesnot just the interface:
This is a good initiative, but I would also like to see it reflected in the API and data pipelines.
Read our full coverage: Google Search Console adds reporting for social posts
Google updates its structured data documents for merchant listings
Google has updated its structured data documents on merchant listings in two places: one on how to define a product’s category and one on how to report a sale price.
Highlights:
Two updates of note: Google now provides documentation for a “category” property in merchant listing markup, which explains how to specify the start and end of a sale price. Its use is recommended but not obligatory.
Why it matters
The category property provides a convenient way to specify a product’s classification at the page level, complementing the existing product_type and google_product_category attributes in your Merchant Center feed.
If a plugin creates your markup, check if it already supports Google’s category property and sales price guidance. Nothing breaks if it doesn’t, so treat it as a line item for your next markup review.
Read our full coverage: New structured data in Google merchant files improves SEO
Mueller says don’t create separate markdown pages for AI
Search lawyer John Mueller pushed back against the trend of mirroring HTML pages with markdown versions designed for AI agents, responding to a Bluesky article about the need to make sites machine accessible.
Highlights:
The discussion began with an article pointing out that some sites now offer a text version for LLMs, while neglecting essential accessibility elements such as proper heading structure and landmarks used by screen reader users. Mueller responded by stating that a well-designed website works naturally for AI agents, search engines, LLMs and, most importantly, people. Adding a separate, agent-friendly version may result in technical debt that will require possible redevelopment.
Why it matters
Mueller’s answer is a caution against creating a second version of your site for machines. His point is that separate copy becomes technical debt that you must maintain, whereas a well-structured HTML page already serves both search engines, LLMs, and users.
For your roadmap, avoid just fixing the HTML you already have before spending time. Mueller and Martin Splitt did the same thing in June, warning that a parallel markdown version is one more thing to maintain and that a broken machine-only page has no users to report it.
Read our full coverage: Google on Using Markdown for AI SEO
Google says search hit record usage during World Cup
Google says search saw its highest usage ever during Argentina’s victory over Egypt in the World Cup.
Highlights:
Google’s Nick Fox shared this on X, although he didn’t provide any published figures or detailed blog posts. The claim links the spike to a single live event rather than a consistent trend.
Why it matters
During major live events like a return to the World Cup, election night, Or breakup newspeople keep turning to Google for real-time updates. This habit of turning first to research when the stakes are high and time is short has not gone away. Live moments are always won in research
Read our full coverage: Google says search hit record usage during World Cup
Theme of the week: More surfaces, only one site to maintain
Each update this week adds a place where your content is measured or described, while linking back to the same source.
Google has brought social and video posts into Search Console, so content on Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube now appears in Search and Discover reports. The new category documents give your product pages a page-level way to indicate their own classification. Mueller’s answer on markdown goes the other way, opposing a machine-only second version of your site and in favor of a well-constructed page that serves both people and machines.
The number of places your content appears keeps growing, but what you curate shouldn’t. This week is about measuring and marking a precise version of your site, not creating parallel copies for each reader, human or machine.
Top stories of the week:
More resources:
Featured Image: Studio Prostock/Shutterstock
