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AI & SEO Trends Update - 23rd June 2026

Daniel May
Daniel May Author
23 Jun 2026
8 min read
<span id="hs_cos_wrapper_name" class="hs_cos_wrapper hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field hs_cos_wrapper_type_text" style="" data-hs-cos-general-type="meta_field" data-hs-cos-type="text" >AI & SEO Trends Update - 23rd June 2026</span>

Since our last AI & SEO Trends Update, we have had more time to assess the impact of Google’s May 2026 Core Update.

The update completed on 2nd June, but as with most core updates, the real story becomes clearer in the days and weeks after rollout. Since then, industry analysis has started to show which types of pages and websites appear to have gained or lost visibility.

Alongside this, Google has clarified its position on llms.txt files, Search Console’s new generative AI reporting is still rolling out, Bing Webmaster Tools continues to give a clearer view of AI citations, and new research has highlighted the continued shift away from traditional organic clicks towards zero-click and direct traffic patterns.

In short, SEO still matters, but the way visibility is measured and earned is continuing to change.

Key Takeaway

The May Core Update appears to have rewarded content that better matches search intent, market relevance and user expectations.

Google’s May 2026 Core Update was not a minor adjustment. It caused significant ranking volatility during rollout, and the post-update analysis suggests that Google has become more selective about which pages deserve visibility.

The clearest pattern so far is that pages that closely match the user’s intent, market and expected result type appear to have performed better. In the UK, there are also signs that more locally relevant domains gained visibility in some cases, while some broader global .com domains lost ground.

At the same time, user-generated and experience-led sources such as Reddit appear to have gained visibility across a wide range of niches, particularly where users are looking for personal experience, real opinions or lived insight.

Together, these changes reinforce an important point: content cannot just be broadly relevant. It needs to be the right type of result for the query, the audience and the market.

The Impact of the May 2026 Core Update

Now that the May Core Update has completed, the focus has shifted from “is the rollout still happening?” to “what actually changed?”

Several post-update analyses suggest three key patterns:

  • Pages that matched the user’s intent more closely tended to gain visibility
  • More locally relevant or market-specific results gained in some UK search results
  • Experience-led content and user discussion platforms, including Reddit, increased their presence across many niches

Search Engine Journal reported on analysis which found that pages matching the query intent, market and expected result type tended to gain visibility after the update. The same analysis noted that local domains gained in the UK while some global .com domains lost ground.

A separate SE Ranking analysis reported that Reddit increased its share of top-three organic positions across all 20 niches studied, with larger gains in categories where people often look for personal experience, such as pets, education, sport, exercise, ecommerce and retail.

This does not mean that every site needs to copy Reddit or create forum-style content. But it does suggest that Google is continuing to value content that feels closer to real user need, whether that comes from direct expertise, strong brand authority, local relevance or lived experience.

What This Means For You

If a page lost visibility after the May Core Update, it is worth asking a few practical questions:

  • Does the page fully satisfy the intent behind the keyword?
  • Is it the right type of page for the query?
  • Is it clearly written for the audience and market it is targeting?
  • Does it offer something more useful than the pages now ranking above it?
  • Is there original expertise, evidence, data, experience or opinion?
  • Could the page be seen as generic, thin or too similar to competitor content?

A drop does not automatically mean there is a technical issue or a penalty. Core updates are comparative. Google is reassessing which pages provide the most useful result for the query.

The priority now is not to make rushed changes. It is to review affected pages carefully and improve them where there is a clear gap in usefulness, relevance, originality or depth.

Read more here:

New Development: Google Says llms.txt Files Won’t Help or Harm Rankings

One of the more useful clarifications this month came from Google’s guidance around llms.txt files.

llms.txt has been discussed across the SEO and AI search industry as a possible way to help large language models understand website content. However, Google has now made its position clear: llms.txt files do not help or harm visibility in Google Search because Google Search ignores them.

That does not mean website owners cannot create or maintain llms.txt files for other services or systems that may use them. But from a Google Search perspective, they are not a ranking factor and they are not used to improve visibility in AI Overviews, AI Mode or traditional organic search results.

What This Means For You

This is another reminder not to chase every new AI SEO tactic as if it is a shortcut.

For Google Search, the practical advice remains the same:

  • Make pages crawlable and indexable
  • Create useful, original content
  • Structure information clearly
  • Use appropriate technical SEO and schema where relevant
  • Build topical authority and trust
  • Avoid low-value pages created purely to target AI or search systems

llms.txt may still be worth watching as the wider AI ecosystem develops, but it should not be treated as a priority SEO task for Google rankings.

Read more here:

Search Console AI Performance Reporting Is Still Rolling Out

In our last update, we covered Google’s new Search Generative AI performance reports in Search Console.

These reports are designed to show how often URLs from your site appear in Google’s generative AI Search features, including AI Overviews and AI Mode. Google’s Search Console help documentation confirms that the report can show generative AI impressions by page, country, device and date.

However, the key point is that this is still a limited rollout. Not all website owners will see the report yet, and Google’s own help documentation says access may depend on whether the property has been included in the rollout and whether the site has received enough impressions in generative AI features.

It is also important to remember that the report focuses on impressions, not clicks. That means we can begin to measure visibility in AI-led search features, but the traffic impact is still not fully transparent.

What This Means For You

This is a useful step forward, but it is not a complete AI search reporting solution yet.

When available, the report should help answer questions such as:

  • Which pages are appearing in AI search features?
  • Which countries and devices are generating AI impressions?
  • Is AI visibility increasing or decreasing over time?
  • Are certain content types more likely to be surfaced in AI Overviews or AI Mode?

But because click data is not currently included, we still need to look at AI visibility alongside broader metrics such as organic clicks, rankings, landing page performance, conversions, branded search and direct traffic.

Read more here:

Bing Webmaster Tools Continues to Lead on AI Citation Reporting

While Google’s new Search Console reports focus on generative AI impressions, Bing Webmaster Tools continues to provide a more citation-led view through its AI Performance report.

Bing’s AI Performance dashboard shows when a site is cited in AI-generated answers across Microsoft Copilot, AI-generated summaries in Bing and select partner integrations.

The dashboard includes:

  • Total citations
  • Average cited pages
  • Grounding queries
  • Page-level citation activity
  • Visibility trends over time

This is useful because it gives website owners a clearer idea of which pages are being referenced as sources in AI-generated answers.

What This Means For You

Bing’s reporting gives us a useful glimpse of where AI search reporting may be heading.

Google is beginning to show AI impressions, while Bing is already showing AI citations and grounding queries. These are slightly different signals, but together they point in the same direction: search reporting is expanding beyond rankings and clicks.

For SEO teams, this means it will become increasingly important to understand:

  • Which pages are visible in AI search features
  • Which pages are cited as sources
  • Which topics trigger AI visibility
  • How AI visibility compares with traditional organic performance
  • Whether AI visibility contributes to brand awareness, enquiries or conversions over time

Read more here:

Organic Clicks Are Under Pressure From Zero-Click and Direct Traffic

Another important theme this month is the continued pressure on traditional organic clicks.

New SparkToro research, based on Similarweb clickstream data, found that 68.01% of Google searches in the US ended without a click in the first four months of 2026. Search Engine Land also reported that the share of searches generating at least one click fell by 9.51 percentage points between 2024 and 2026.

This is not just an AI issue, but AI Overviews and AI Mode are part of the wider shift. More answers are being provided directly within Google’s own interface, which means fewer users need to click through to a website for simple informational queries.

At the same time, Axios reported that while traditional search traffic is declining for many publishers, some of that pressure is being offset by direct traffic, internal traffic, email, apps and instant messaging. In other words, the brands that are less dependent on generic search clicks and have stronger direct audience relationships are better positioned.

What This Means For You

This does not mean organic search is no longer valuable. It does mean that traffic patterns are changing.

Some content may still influence a buyer or searcher without generating an immediate click. A user may see your brand in an AI Overview, search result, citation, social post or comparison, then return later via direct traffic, branded search or another channel.

That makes reporting more complicated. Organic may still be influencing discovery, but the visit may not always be attributed to organic search.

For businesses, this makes three things more important:

  • Building brand recognition so people come back directly
  • Tracking branded search and direct traffic alongside organic clicks
  • Creating content that earns visibility, trust and recall, not just traffic

The key point is that SEO is increasingly about influence as well as visits.

Read more here:

Wider Search Transparency Pressure in the UK

There has also been more regulatory pressure around Google Search in the UK.

Reuters reported that the UK Competition and Markets Authority has ordered Google to provide greater transparency around how search rankings work, as part of new rules designed to create a fairer environment for businesses and consumers.

This follows earlier requirements around giving publishers more control over whether their content is used in AI-generated search summaries.

What This Means For You

For website owners, this is worth watching because it shows that search transparency is becoming a bigger issue, especially as AI-generated answers change how users discover and access information.

It is unlikely to change day-to-day SEO activity immediately, but it may influence how Google explains ranking systems, AI search features and publisher controls in the UK over time.

Read more here:

Conclusion: What to Look Out For

Over the next few weeks, the biggest thing to monitor is the longer-term impact of the May 2026 Core Update.

Now that the rollout has completed and more data is available, we can start to separate temporary volatility from more meaningful ranking changes.

You may notice:

  • Some rankings settling into a new pattern after the update
  • Stronger performance from pages that closely match search intent
  • Greater visibility for experience-led or discussion-based sources in some niches
  • More pressure on generic or thin content
  • Organic clicks not growing in line with visibility due to zero-click behaviour
  • Direct and branded traffic becoming more important in the overall picture
  • More AI visibility data appearing in Search Console for eligible properties

The main thing to avoid is overreacting to isolated ranking changes. It is better to review performance by page type, intent, topic cluster and conversion impact.

What We’ll Be Monitoring

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be keeping a close eye on:

  • Which pages gained or lost visibility after the May Core Update
  • Whether affected pages are losing to more intent-aligned, local or experience-led results
  • Whether rankings stabilise or continue shifting through June
  • Search Console data across clicks, impressions, queries and pages
  • Whether generative AI performance reports become available across more UK properties
  • Which pages are appearing in AI Overviews, AI Mode and Discover AI features
  • Bing Webmaster Tools AI citation data where available
  • Direct traffic, branded search and AI referral patterns
  • Opportunities to improve content so it is clearer, more useful and more likely to be surfaced in both traditional and AI-led search

The main takeaway is simple: SEO is not just about getting the click anymore. It is about being visible, trusted and remembered across a more fragmented search journey.

Strong content, technical accessibility, clear structure, expert insight and brand authority are becoming even more important as search becomes more AI-led.

If you have any questions about how these changes may affect your SEO strategy, get in touch with us today.
Daniel May

About the Author: Daniel May

Author

Daniel May is an SEO Executive at Angelfish Marketing, specialising in SEO content optimisation, technical and link building.

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