Welcome to this week’s Pulse: Updates affect how you read post-update rankings, what new Google traffic click data says, and where your local reports are.
This is what matters to you and your work.
Reddit Got Top Positions in Every Niche After May Core Update
SE Ranking analyzed 100,000 keywords and found that Reddit increased its presence in the top 3 in the 20 niches it tracks.
Highlights: Reddit ranked first for 13,872 keywords after May, up 54% from March’s 8,993. Gains were strongest in experience-focused niches, with Reddit holding 18% of the top 3 in pets. The YMYL categories saw less change, with healthcare increasing from 0.93% to 1.33%. Two-thirds of domains abandoned in March have not recovered by May.
Why it matters
Niche-level breakdown changes how you interpret “Reddit is growing” headlines. An 18% market share in the top 3 pets represents a different competitive situation than 1.33% in the healthcare sector.
The direction also reversed from March, when Amsive’s analysis found that Reddit and similar platforms were losing visibility. Major updates have moved the same platforms in different directions, making it risky to draw conclusions from a single update.
Most domains that lost visibility after the March update did not regain it after the May update. For websites waiting for a bounce, data shows that another core update does not guarantee one.
Read our full coverage: Reddit Got Top Positions in Every Niche After May Core Update
SparkToro data shows 68% of Google searches end without a click
SparkToro co-founder Rand Fishkin has released new US zero-click data from Similarweb’s clickstream panel, covering the period January to April.
Highlights: In the panel, 68% of Google searches ended without a click. For every 1,000 searches, 232 clicks reached the open web. Of all clicks, 66% were directed to the open web, 27% to Alphabet properties, and 6% to ads.
Why it matters
When stakeholders expect click-through rates from a few years ago, it gives you something concrete to point out.
The measurement angle matters as much as the circulation angle. New Google AI performance reports in Search Console show impressions, and independent data continues to show fewer clicks. Visibility tracking now means monitoring where you appear, not just what’s coming up in your analytics.
What SEO Professionals Say
In a comment on Fishkin’s LinkedIn postDarren Shaw, founder of Whitespark, plugged the data into Google’s new Search Console reports:
“I recently shared an article explaining how Google will show impression data from AI previews and AI Mode in Search Console. A lot of people are complaining in the comments about the lack of click data. I thought, ‘you don’t understand.’
Andre Alpar, board member and advisor at Alpar Ventures, questioned whether research leading to follow-up research should be considered in another comment:
“Some of the 29% who do an ‘another search’ then click through to their next search. So they are not 100% ‘zero click’ IMHO.”
Reactions are divided between acceptance of the decline in clicks and debate over how to count it.
Read our full coverage: Google Search sends 23% of queries to the open web
Google updates its SEO documentation
Google has released a new Search Central page covering third-party SEO tools, services and advice. He also updated his “Do you need SEO?” page with about seven changes.
Highlights: The new page advises businesses to check SEO advice, including AEO and GEO, against Google’s documentation. The updated hiring guidelines warn against third-party tools, mention AEO and GEO services, and now encourage business owners to contact the FTC about fraudulent SEO services, a first for this page.
Why it matters
The guide divides SEO information into two categories. One is a third-party opinion based on data or experience. The other is Google’s documentation, which the page recommends for evaluating everything else.
Roger Montti’s analysis reads the wording as being aimed at agencies and people selling SEO services, which puts you on the receiving end.
The “Do you need SEO?” This page is what business owners find when looking for help. It asks them to compare your recommendations and tools to Google’s documentation.
The AEO and GEO references give the terminology debate an official anchor point. When a customer asks if they need a separate OEA policy, Google’s answer is now recorded.
Read our full coverage: Google’s new guide claims authority on SEO, tools and AEO/GEO And Updated Google Guidelines Urge FTC to File Charges Against Questionable SEOs
Google Business Profile data connects to Analytics and Gemini
Two updates put Google Business Profile data in new places. Google documented a native Business Profile link in Google Analytics and announced a Business Profile connection for the Gemini app.
Highlights: The Analytics link integrates seven business profile statistics into reports, including calls, directions, and reservations. Once logged in, Gemini can write responses to reviews, edit profiles, and answer performance questions. Gemini features begin rolling out this month, with business profile login to follow in the coming weeks.
Why it matters
Local reporting has lived in different places for years. Website data is found in Analytics, while calls and directions requests are found in the Business Profile dashboard. The Analytics link fills part of this gap.
Whether this helps you depends on your setup. Analytics combines metrics from linked profiles, so multi-site reporting always requires the business profile dashboard or API.
What Local SEO Professionals Say
Darren Shaw welcomed the Analytics link in a LinkedIn Post:
“Data from the Google Business Profile comes into Google Analytics.
You will soon be able to connect your Google Business Profile directly to GA4 and view local performance data in Google Analytics. This means you will be able to report on things like:
- Calls
- Reservations
- Directions requests
- Website Clicks
- Total interactions
And that’s great because local SEO reporting has always been complicated.
Your website data is in one place, your GBP data is somewhere else, and you have to put it all together manually.
Now you’ll be able to see more data in one place and get a clearer idea of how your business profile helps people find you, contact you, and visit your website.
In a comment on Shaw’s post, Kaycie Mandour-Smith, managing director of Infinity Dental Web, a digital marketing company for dentists, described a restriction she encountered:
“I was so excited about this and then… if you have your ads in a manager account group, you can’t connect them. You have to unlink them to be able to link them. Hoping that further iterations will allow you to select a group and then a profile.”
Read our full coverage: Google Analytics adds Google Business Profile data And Google adds business profile tools to Gemini app
Theme of the week: research work continues to move to large platforms
Each article this week shows more of the search workflow moving across big platforms.
SparkToro data measures fewer clicks to independent websites. The SE ranking numbers show the top positions collected on Reddit in each tracked niche. Business profile connections move local reporting and management to Google Analytics and Gemini.
This week is less about any specific feature and more about where the work gets done. Data, reporting, tools and advice are all closer to the big platforms than they were a month ago.
Top stories of the week:
More resources:
Featured image: Shutterstock
