On Thursday 11th December, Google announced the rollout of the December 2025 Core Update, their latest and final algorithm update of 2025, which finished rolling out on the Monday 29th December.
This update appears to follow all the usual hallmarks and trends of Google’s Core updates, with little information released about its focus and a rough timeline for rollout.
As always, we’ve broken down the December 2025 Core Update, sharing everything you need to know, along with tips on which metrics to monitor, what to avoid during the rollout, and how to meet Google’s general search guidance.
Details about Google’s December 2025 Core Update
At 17:30 GMT on Thursday, 11th December, Google confirmed the rollout of the December 2025 Core Update, stating that the update may take up to three weeks to fully complete across all search systems.
The update rollout was completed after 18 days, at around 19:30 GMT on Monday 29th December.
This rollout was slightly longer than the previous core updates this year, with the June 2025 Core Update and March 2025 Core Update both taking 16 days and 13 days, respectively.
So what do we know so far?
Well, all we know right now is that the December 2025 Core Update is a standard broad core update designed to improve the quality and relevance of results shown to their users.
This broad update is rolling out across all regions, and there’s no indication that it’s targeting any specific industries, types of websites, or SEO practices.
How did the December 2025 Core Update affect search results?
Unlike the other core updates this year, the December 2025 Core Update didn’t actually cause much ranking volatility.
Looking at this screenshot from the Semrush Sensor tool, we can see a slight increase in SERP volatility in the days leading up to and immediately after the update rollout began on 11th December. After that, though, the volatility subsided pretty quickly, and even hit its lowest points over Christmas and the few days leading up to the completion.
Since the update was completed, we’ve seen a few small spikes, but nothing out of the ordinary, and certainly not worth worrying about.
What do Core Updates involve?
Core Updates are broad changes to Google’s ranking systems that crawl, evaluate, and rank content in search results.
These updates don’t focus on specific ranking factors or technical signals. Instead, they adjust how multiple signals work together to determine which pages offer the most helpful, relevant answers to a search query.
A simple analogy that Google often uses to describe their core updates is that it’s like updating a recommended reading list.
Some content that ranked well before may still deserve its position in search results, while other pages may be better at meeting user needs based on the updated ranking systems.
The December 2025 Core Update follows this same structure, reassessing the relevance, usefulness, and content quality at scale rather than rewarding or penalising specific websites or SEO practices.
How do Core Updates affect my website?
During the rollout of core updates, it’s normal to see changes in your rankings, impressions, and organic traffic.
These changes can affect individual pages or entire websites, especially where multiple pages compete for a similar search intent.
A drop in visibility doesn’t necessarily mean there’s something wrong with your page or website. In most cases, other pages now better match what users are looking for. You may even see increases in visibility and traffic as Google refines how content and search intent are assessed.
It’s common to see your performance fluctuate more than once during the rollout of a core update.
So, it’s important not to make knee-jerk changes with the December 2025 Core Update. Instead, keep an eye on the right data, review Google’s search guidance, and be patient.
Here’s a breakdown of the key metrics to monitor. 👇
Metrics to keep an eye on
Organic impressions
Impressions are one of the key metrics to monitor as core updates roll out.
A drop in impressions will indicate less visibility and a drop in rankings.
Keeping an eye on your organic impressions on each page and query will help identify any impacts and where they’re coming from.
Clicks & click-through rates
Monitoring clicks will help confirm whether your visibility and rankings are fluctuating during the rollout of core updates.
If your impressions remain stable, but your clicks or click-through rates are dropping, it could indicate that other search results are now better aligned with user search intent and more appealing to searchers.
Average ranking positions
Of course, a big indicator that the December 2025 Core Update has affected your website is a drop in ranking positions.
Keeping an eye on your average position date will help you track any movement on your keywords and pages.
Larger drops, especially from top positions, will likely have the biggest impact on your impressions and traffic and should be monitored closely.
Engagement on key pages
Engagement metrics, such as session duration, bounce rate, and conversion rates, can help highlight how valuable your content is and whether it aligns with the user’s search intent.
Weaker engagement may indicate that your content is now perceived as less useful following the December 2025 Core Update and may require an update or refresh.
What not to do during the rollout
Avoid reacting to daily ranking changes
Core updates often cause short-term volatility, which means your rankings will likely fluctuate as updated like this December 2025 Core Update roll out.
Making unnecessary changes based on daily ranking movements or impression drops can do more harm than good.
Avoid making knee-jerk changes and wait for things to settle first.
Don’t remove content because of short-term drops
A temporary drop in rankings, visibility, or traffic to a specific piece of content doesn’t mean that the content is poor quality or no longer useful.
Removing pages during the rollout can weaken your site’s authority and performance rather than improve it.
Avoid large-scale website changes
Making major technical or structural changes to your website during the rollout of a core update can make it harder to understand what is causing shifts in your search performance, and it can skew historical data once the update has rolled out.
You should avoid making any big structural changes during the rollout of a core update, unless they’re absolutely necessary.
Don’t rely on third-party data alone
Third-party SEO tools, like Semrush and Ahrefs, are great, but their data is based on broader trends and analysis rather than first-party data connected to your website.
Always use your first-party website data, collected from tools like Google Search Console and Analytics, as your primary source of data.
Avoid comparing performance too narrowly
Don’t get too granular with your monitoring.
If you’re only comparing your search performance with one competitor or looking at a small collection of keywords, it can distort the wider picture and lead you to the wrong conclusions.
Always take a broader view of your data when monitoring your performance as core updates roll out.
Tips for meeting Google’s best practices
To make sure your website and content meet best practices, familiarising yourself with Google’s search engine guidelines is essential.
These are our biggest tips for following Google’s guidelines and for recovering from the December 2025 Core Update if your site has been affected.
Reassess search intent on key pages
Check that your key pages fully address the reason for a user’s search.
Content that only partially answers a question or scratches the surface of a topic will lose ground to other pages that provide full, accurate, and helpful responses.
Always make sure your content aligns with the search intent and is as detailed and helpful as possible.
Improve the depth and usefulness of content
Core updates are the perfect opportunity to review the quality and depth of your content.
Strengthening your pages with clearer explanations, practical examples, accurate data, and supporting details will create more complete, helpful answers for searchers.
And that’s exactly what Google aims to promote more of with their core updates.
Show experience and subject knowledge (E-E-A-T)
Google wants to show users content from authors who have a genuine understanding and experience of a topic.
Demonstrating clear experience and expertise on a topic through detailed insights, context, and examples will help your content perform better in search results.
Familiarising yourself with Google’s E-E-A-T signals and guidelines is vital here.
Keep content accurate and fresh
Outdated content can quickly lose relevant and ranking positions if left to rot.
Reviewing and refreshing old pages and pieces of content helps keep information useful, relevant, and aligned with user expectations and search intent.
Strengthen internal linking and structures
Clear internal links help users and search engines understand how content fits together.
This will help support your topical relevance and improve the navigation and user experience across your site, all of which are big factors in Google’s ranking systems.
FAQs about Google’s Core Update
How often does Google release Core Updates?
Google usually releases several core updates each year. There is no fixed schedule, but updates are often spaced a few months apart.
In 2025, Google have rolled out three core updates in March and June, and now the final one with the December 2025 Core Update.
Should I make changes while the update is rolling out?
It’s usually best to avoid making significant changes while a core update is still rolling out.
Rankings can fluctuate several times before the update is complete, and early data may not accurately reflect the outcome.
Waiting until the rollout has completed allows you to review more reliable performance trends, making it easier to identify which pages are genuinely affected and where improvements are needed, rather than making knee-jerk changes to temporary fluctuations.
Will my rankings recover after a Core Update?
Absolutely! Most websites will see their rankings settle and bounce back a few weeks after the core update has completed.
If your website has wider impacts caused by low-quality content, reviewing your content and making measured improvements between updates can help support recovery over time.
Are Core Updates linked to spam or AI content?
Core updates are broad and are not designed to target specific tactics such as spam or AI-generated content. Instead, they reassess how Google’s ranking systems evaluate relevance and usefulness across all search results.
Google handles spam through separate spam updates, which are released in a similar way to core updates. The most recent one was the August 2025 Spam Update.
Content created using AI is not automatically an issue. In fact, Google doesn’t care if your content is entirely AI-generated.
But you struggled if your pages lack clarity, originality, or real value to users.
As long as your content is genuinely helpful, accurate, and meets Google’s quality expectations, that’s all that matters to Google.
Why are only some pages affected?
While core updates can impact entire websites, they typically affect individual pages. This usually occurs when multiple pages compete for similar search intent, and slight differences in relevance can significantly impact visibility and performance.
Pages that closely match user intent or provide more concise and helpful answers may gain visibility, while others may lose ground. Reviewing performance at the page level will help you identify which pages and content need improvement and why.
How our SEO Specialists can help
If your website has been affected by the December 2025 Core Update, our SEO Specialists can help you recover by reviewing your content, assessing relevance, quality, and search intent, while ensuring that you follow Google search engine guidelines.
If you’d like to speak to one of our SEO Specialists, you can get in touch here.
