The overlords at Google gave us all a little early Christmas present towards the end of 2025. Did you notice? We are, of course, referring to the December 2025 Google Core Update.
Cue screaming, crying, throwing up!
Just kidding, it’s all fine, and in this post, we’re going to outline why this latest Google update is more of a whimper than a bang, and what it tells us about the direction of Search for 2026 and beyond.
Google completed the rollout of its December 2025 Core Update on 29th December, following an 18-day rollout that began on 11th December. As with previous core updates, Google described this as a broad adjustment to its ranking systems rather than a targeted change or penalty-led update.
If you’ve seen movement in rankings or traffic since mid-December, that’s not unusual. Core updates are designed to reassess how content performs relative to other content competing for the same searches, rather than to punish individual sites.
Below is a straightforward summary of what this update appears to have done, and what we would recommend reviewing as a result.
What we’ve observed so far
The December update follows a familiar pattern. The most noticeable changes have affected pages just outside the top results, rather than sites dropping out of search altogether.
In practice, this looks like:
- Page one reshuffles rather than dramatic losses
- Mid-ranking pages being overtaken by stronger alternatives
- Content with vague or surface-level coverage slipping behind more unique and focused pages
We have not seen evidence that this update targeted specific industries or content formats. Instead, it appears to reinforce Google’s ongoing effort to improve its assessment of page-level relevance and usefulness.
Caitlin Eatwell, Technical SEO Strategist here at Green Ginger Digital, adds:
”If your brand’s pages have experienced ranking drops following the Core update, resist the urge to drastically overhaul the content immediately. Instead, review Google’s official guidelines in the first instance to identify any specific areas for minor adjustments or request an action plan from your SEO agency.
“It’s important to remember that post-Core update fluctuations are common, so giving it time is a smart approach. And remember, there’ll be more to come in 2026!”
How search results are continuing to change
It’s also essential to view this update in the context of how search results themselves are evolving.
Over the past year, Google has increasingly surfaced content from platforms such as Reddit, Instagram and Pinterest in search results, particularly for discovery-led, product, and opinion-based queries. This reflects how people actually behave when researching brands, products and opinions, often blending traditional search with social and community-led content.
For brands, this means organic visibility is no longer driven solely by website performance. Social posts, creator content, and third-party discussions are now part of the search experience, whether or not they appear within your owned channels.
As a result, the search strategy is shifting from ranking a single page to how your brand appears across a broader mix of content types and platforms.
The role of AI
AI Overviews are now a regular feature in many results pages, especially for informational queries. Google’s use of generative AI, underpinned by its Gemini models, is changing how information is summarised and presented before a user ever clicks through to a website.
This doesn’t remove the need for organic content, but it does raise the bar. Pages that simply restate widely available information are easier for AI to summarise and less likely to drive clicks. Content that offers clarity, specificity, experience or practical guidance is more likely to remain valuable.
Core updates increasingly support this direction by helping Google determine which sources it trusts enough to reference or build on in AI-driven results.
Nathan Hunter, SEO Content Strategist here at Green Ginger Digital, believes:
‘The strongest SEO strategies aren’t built around chasing every update, but around consistently earning relevance. As AI Overviews become more prominent, it will be originality and practical value that help content stand out and keep earning clicks over time.”
What does this mean for Paid Media?
While core updates don’t directly affect paid search performance, they do influence the environment in which paid media operates.
As organic search becomes more competitive and more varied, Paid Search and Paid Social often play a vital supporting role. They help protect visibility on priority terms, test messaging quickly, and provide insight into which queries and propositions convert most effectively. For in-house teams, this reinforces the importance of treating paid and organic search as connected disciplines, rather than separate channels with separate objectives.
Holistic digital strategy is what we’re all about here at Green Ginger Digital, and we’re proud to be helping clients like Face the Future, Calibra and East Yorkshire Solar with their cross-channel strategy, helping each to navigate challenges like the core update with a
What to Review
Our SEO consultants at Green Ginger Digital are working with their clients to provide guidance and act on potential quick wins based on data gathered following the core update. If you’re looking to do the same, here are some pointers:
- Pages ranking between positions 4 and 20: This is where core updates tend to have the most impact. These pages are already relevant but often need more precise alignment of intent, stronger structure, or more specific content to compete with higher-ranking pages.
- Pages with stable impressions but declining clicks: This can indicate that content is still visible but less compelling in a results page that now includes AI summaries, social content and richer formats
- Content that overlaps heavily with AI summaries: If a page adds little beyond what an AI Overview already provides, it may struggle to earn clicks. Look for opportunities to add practical detail, brand-specific context or more precise guidance.
- Topic coverage rather than individual URLs: Core updates often reward depth across a subject area rather than a single strong page. Reviewing how your content works together as a set is usually more effective than optimising pages in isolation.
- Brand and product-led search journeys: Search results for your brand increasingly include a mix of website pages, paid ads, social posts and third-party content. Reviewing that experience end-to-end can highlight gaps or inconsistencies that affect trust and click-through.
It’s worth reiterating, however, that fluctuations in rankings and performance following any Google Core Update are to be expected, and not everything is worth your worry or time, so working with a realistic and experienced agency will be critical in striking a balance between mission-critical activities and those that won’t matter in the long-run.
A final point
The December 2025 Core Update didn’t signal some radical new direction for search; it simply reinforced existing priorities around relevance, clarity, and usefulness within an environment that is broader, more blended, and more competitive than it was even just a year ago.
For most in-house teams, the right response isn’t to panic and chase the update, but to use it as a prompt to review whether content genuinely earns its place and reflects how people now search, research and decide.
Oh, and perhaps to determine whether the digital partner you might have in place is guiding you through industry changes like this one with a future-focused mindset, as we do here at Green Ginger Digital for brands like Pret A Manger, PACK’D, Face the Future and MKM Building Supplies.
Talk to us if you’re looking for a fresh approach to your overall digital marketing, including competing in Search.
