Welcome to the week’s Pulse: updates affect how you read post-update rankings, what new click data says about Google traffic, and where your local reporting lives.
Here’s what matters for you and your work.
Reddit Gained Top Positions In Every Niche After The May Core Update
SE Ranking analyzed 100,000 keywords and found Reddit grew its top 3 presence in all 20 niches it tracks.
Key facts: Reddit ranked first for 13,872 keywords after May, up 54% from 8,993 in March. Gains were strongest in experience-led niches, with Reddit holding 18% of top 3 in pets. YMYL categories saw less change, healthcare rising from 0.93% to 1.33%. Two-thirds of domains dropped in March didn’t recover in May.
Why This Matters
The niche-level split changes how you interpret “Reddit is growing” headlines. An 18% top 3 share in pets is a different competitive picture than 1.33% in healthcare.
The direction also reversed from March, when Amsive’s analysis found Reddit and similar platforms losing visibility. Core updates have moved the same platforms in different directions, which makes it risky to draw conclusions from a single update.
Most domains that lost visibility after the March update didn’t gain it back after the May update. For websites waiting on a rebound, the data shows another core update doesn’t guarantee one.
Read our full coverage: Reddit Gained 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 published new U.S. zero-click data drawn from Similarweb’s clickstream panel, covering January through April.
Key facts: 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% went to the open web, 27% to Alphabet properties, and 6% to ads.
Why This Matters
When stakeholders expect click rates from a few years ago, this gives you something concrete to point to.
The measurement angle matters as much as the traffic angle. Google’s new AI performance reports in Search Console show impressions, and independent data keeps showing fewer clicks. Visibility tracking now means watching where you appear, not just what arrives in your analytics.
What SEO Professionals Are Saying
In a comment on Fishkin’s LinkedIn post, Darren Shaw, founder of Whitespark, connected the data to Google’s new Search Console reports:
“I shared a post recently talking about how Google will be showing impression data from Ai overviews and AI mode in search console. Lots of people complaining in the comments that there was no click data. I thought, “you don’t get it”.”
Andre Alpar, board member and advisor at Alpar Ventures, questioned whether searches that lead to follow-up searches should count in another comment:
“A portion of the 29% that do “another search” do a click afterwards on thair next search. So they are not 100% “zero click” imho.”
The reactions split between accepting the click decline and debating how to count it.
Read our full coverage: Google Search Sends 23% Of Queries To The Open Web
Google Updates Its SEO Documentation
Google published a new Search Central page covering third-party SEO tools, services, and advice. It also updated its “Do you need an SEO?” page with about seven changes.
Key facts: The new page advises businesses to check SEO advice, including AEO and GEO, against Google’s documentation. The updated hiring guidance warns about third-party tools, mentions AEO and GEO services, and now encourages business owners to contact the FTC about fraudulent SEO services, a first for this page.
Why This Matters
The guidance splits SEO information into two categories. One is third-party opinion based on data or experience. The other is Google’s documentation, which the page recommends for weighing everything else.
Roger Montti’s analysis reads the wording as aimed at agencies and people selling SEO services, which puts you on the receiving end.
The “Do you need an SEO?” page is what business owners find when they look into getting help. It tells them to weigh your recommendations, and your tools, against Google’s documentation.
The AEO and GEO mentions give the terminology debate an official anchor. When a client asks whether they need a separate AEO strategy, Google’s answer is now on the record.
Read our full coverage: Google’s New Guidance Claims Authority Over SEO, Tools, And AEO/GEO and Google’s Updated Guidance Urges FTC Complaints Against Shady SEOs
Google Business Profile Data Connects To Analytics & 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.
Key facts: The Analytics link brings seven Business Profile metrics into reports, including calls, directions, and bookings. Once connected, Gemini can draft review replies, edit profiles, and answer performance questions. The Gemini features begin rolling out this month, the Business Profile connection follows in the coming weeks.
Why This Matters
Local reporting has lived in separate places for years. Website data sits in Analytics, while calls and direction requests sit in the Business Profile dashboard. The Analytics link closes part of that gap.
Whether it helps you depends on your setup. Analytics combines metrics across linked profiles, so multi-location reporting still needs the Business Profile dashboard or the API.
What Local SEO Professionals Are Saying
Darren Shaw welcomed the Analytics link in a LinkedIn post:
“Google Business Profile data is coming to Google Analytics.
You’ll soon be able to connect your Google Business Profile directly to GA4 and see local performance data inside Google Analytics. This means you’ll be able to report on things like:
- Calls
- Bookings
- Direction requests
- Website clicks
- Total interactions
And this is great because local SEO reporting has always been messy.
Your website data is in one place, your GBP data is somewhere else, and you have to piece it all together manually.
Now you’ll be able to see more of that data in one place and get a clearer picture of how your Business Profile is helping people find you, contact you, and visit your website.”
In a comment on Shaw’s post, Kaycie Mandour-Smith, managing director at Infinity Dental Web, a digital marketing firm for dentists, described a restriction she ran into:
“Was so excited for this and then…. if you have your listings in a manager acct group, you can’t connect them. Have to ungroup them in order to be able to link. Hoping newer iterations will allow you to select a group and then a profile.”
Read our full coverage: Google Analytics Is Adding Google Business Profile Data and Google Is Adding Business Profile Tools To The Gemini App
Theme Of The Week: Search Work Keeps Moving Onto The Big Platforms
Each story this week shows more of the search workflow moving onto large platforms.
SparkToro’s data measures fewer clicks reaching independent websites. SE Ranking’s numbers show top positions collecting on Reddit across every niche it tracks. The Business Profile connections move local reporting and management into Google Analytics and Gemini.
This week is less about any single feature and more about where the work gets done. The data, reporting, tools, and advice all sit closer to the big platforms than they did a month ago.
Top Stories Of The Week:
More Resources:
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