October 2025 SEO Roundup: A Quiet Month Before the Storm

No Major Google Update in October 2025

October 2025 came and went without a confirmed Google core update or spam update. After the August spam update wrapped up in late September, the search algorithm entered a period of relative stability.

That said, “no confirmed update” does not mean nothing is happening. Google makes smaller, unannounced changes to its ranking systems continuously. What October lacked was the kind of dramatic, widespread volatility that signals a major algorithmic shift.

AI Overviews Continue to Evolve

October saw continued changes to the way AI Overviews appeared in search results. Google was expanding the types of queries that triggered AI-generated summaries at the top of results pages, which had ongoing implications for click-through rates on organic listings.

Sites appearing as cited sources within AI Overviews were seeing brand visibility even when users did not click through to the page itself. This reinforced the value of being recognised as an authoritative source in your niche – not just for traditional organic traffic, but for what is increasingly being called Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO).

What the Quiet Told Us

With three months since the June core update and the industry anticipating another before year-end, October felt like a holding period. Ranking volatility tracking tools showed generally low turbulence throughout the month.

For most sites, October was a month where rankings reflected the settled state after the spam update. Winners from August and September held their gains. Sites that had lost ground were working on recovery – though full recovery from a spam update typically requires the next core update to reassess your improvements.

Using Quiet Periods Effectively

The absence of a major update in October was actually an opportunity. When Google is not actively reshuffling results, incremental improvements to your site can compound quietly without being disrupted by algorithmic movement.

Content audits

Identifying and improving your lowest-performing pages is a high-value activity. Pages that attract impressions but not clicks, or that rank on page two for competitive terms, are often closer to a breakthrough than they appear.

Technical health

Core Web Vitals, crawl efficiency, internal linking structure and schema markup are all areas where steady, incremental improvement pays off over time. Getting this right before a major update means you are not scrambling to catch up during one.

Building authority

Local citations, quality backlinks and a strong Google Business Profile all take time to accumulate. October was a good month to progress these off-page activities while on-page ranking positions held steady.

Looking Ahead

With a year-end core update anticipated – Google had run updates in March, June and December in previous years – November and December were shaping up to be significant. The quiet of October made it all the more important to have your content in the best possible shape heading into that period.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Google release a core update in October 2025?

No confirmed core update was released in October 2025. After the August spam update completed in late September, the algorithm entered a stable period. Minor unannounced changes continued as they always do, but there was no major coordinated update.

What is Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)?

GEO refers to optimising your content to appear as a cited source within AI-generated search results, such as Google’s AI Overviews. Unlike traditional SEO which focuses on ranking positions, GEO focuses on being recognised as an authoritative, trustworthy source that AI systems choose to reference when answering queries.

Why do quiet periods between Google updates still matter for SEO?

Incremental improvements to your site compound during stable periods without being disrupted by active algorithmic changes. Sites that consistently improve content, technical health and authority between updates tend to be better positioned when the next core update reassesses rankings.

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Related: AI search developments are covered in the GEO and AI Search service. See also why you should optimise your site for LLMs.

Related: AI search developments are covered in the GEO and AI Search service. See also why you should optimise your site for LLMs.

Related: AI search developments are covered in the GEO and AI Search service. See also why you should optimise your site for LLMs.

Related: AI search developments are covered in the GEO and AI Search service. See also why you should optimise your site for LLMs.