Where did September go! As we hurtle towards the chilly season, let’s take a look back at what went on in the world of SEO this month.
Read on to find some key dates coming up in the marketing calendar, along with what we’ve been up to recently.
SERP Monitoring Stats Dipped After Google Removed “&num=100” URL Feature
The &num=100 parameter provided the ability to see 100 search results per page, allowing third-party tracking tools to measure webpage performance in SERPs.
On September 12th, Google removed the feature, causing many SERP trackers — including its own Google Search Console — to go haywire. For the next couple of days, overall impressions on desktop significantly dropped.
This causes a problem for third-party SERP tools because it now costs ten times more to gather the same information as it did previously, since each page is capped at 10 results rather than the potential 100 before.
SERP Volatility
Similar to August, we have seen a huge range of volatility in SERPs this month, with levels ranging from as low as 1.0 to as high as 8.7.
We can also observe a big gap in the data from September 10th to September 17th, when third-party trackers were thrown through a loop by the removal of &num=100 which likely is affecting the scores we can see after.
What does this mean?
This means all SERP rankings are in disarray and will constantly be changing, causing websites to experience a drop in visibility and KPIs. SEO experts should remember the following when there is high volatility:
- Don’t be reactive – do your research into what and where these changes have occurred
- Be consistent – consistently monitor your keywords and their performance to see what has been impacted.
- Review all three pillars – aside from content checks, monitor your backlinks and technical aspects as well.
AI Assistants Hallucinate URLs and Sources 3x More Than Google Search
An ‘AI Hallucination’ is when an LLM responds to a prompt with something that’s not real, and they looooove doing it with links, Ahrefs has found.
2.38% of links shown by ChatGPT lead to broken pages, while Google’s top 20 search results lead to genuine 404 pages 0.84% of the time. People don’t click every link they see, though. 0.15% of Google SERP links clicked direct to error pages, but 1.01% of ChatGPT links clicked direct to error pages.
Overall, within the study, which looked at 16 million unique URLs, AI Assistants (including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot, Gemini, Clause, and Mistral) collectively send visitors to broken, non-existent, and error pages 2.87 times more often than Google Search does.
Gemini AI Embedded into Chrome Browser Launches in the US
Google has embedded its Gemini AI assistant into the browser for Chrome users in the US. The change allows users to summarise tabs easily and get answers to questions using information from multiple open tabs.
Parisa Tabriz, Vice President for Chrome, said in Google’s The Keyword blog: “We’re building an AI-centric browser that uses context — like the page you’re reading or the tabs you have open — to help you get things done faster, easier, and more safely than ever.”
It’s hard to know whether this will increase AI adoption with users, and whether it will lead to more changes in SERP usage, as AI Overviews are already dampening CTR and changing how we view success on the results page.
Key Dates for your Marketing Diary
October is a month where you can run campaigns around important social issues, with overarching themes for:
- Breast Cancer Awareness Month
- Domestic Violence Awareness Month
- Black History Month
- Go Sober for October (Stoptober)
There’s also a great selection of individual days throughout October to celebrate:
- Wednesday, 1st October — International Coffee Day
- Saturday, 4th October — World Animal Day
- Friday, 10th October— World Mental Health Day
- Thursday, 16th October — World Food Day
- Monday, 20th October — Diwali
- Sunday, 26th October — Daylight Savings Ends (clocks go back)
- Friday, 31st October — Halloween
Stay up to date with Wildcat Digital
Here at Wildcat Digital, we strive to support your promise through smart digital marketing strategies, helping your business punch above its weight online.
Our dedicated and expert team is here to help you and your business get your foot in the door of SEO and PPC. Arrange a free consultation today.
Catch up with our last few Digital Marketing Roundups here:
Paul Pennington
SEO Account Director
