Impact of Google November Core Update 2024 on AI Overview & Organic Search

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Google’s November Core Update 2024 is out, and people are still confused about it. So, what’s new this time?

With so many updates, it can be hard to understand them all. That’s why we have created this article: to help you easily understand the latest updates.

Google’s core algorithm update is the backbone of search engines, responsible for a website’s ranking. A core update is just a change in the existing algorithm to serve users with better and more relevant results.

Now, let’s understand the Google core update and its impact on AI overview and organic search results.

6 Impacts of Google’s November Core Update 2024 on AIO & Organic Search

AI Overview is one of the search features. Therefore, whatever changes are made in Google’s search algorithm will directly impact AIO and organic search. Below is the list of impacts –

1. AIO and Organic Citation Overlap

One of the exciting facts that’s rolling these days is that organic websites that rank on top of the Google page are cited in AI overview results.

Yes, that’s true, and this has been observed in September. Therefore, if you are using authenticated or relevant information on your website, it not only gets a chance to rank but also gets cited in the AI overview.

You might be thinking about how Google results align organic SERPs and AI overviews.

2. Search Queries Related to Shopping

Shopping-related queries work entirely the opposite. Organic shopping results and AIO have different mechanisms. The website ranks based on the product description, its reviews and the quality of the image.

3. Downward Trends in Overlap

Our team studied search results and shared some crucial details about changing rankings. Recently, we noticed a slight increase in how much organic (natural) and AIO (automated search results) rankings were changing. This change, called “volatility,” grew by 2.3% before November 8. However, after that date, the rankings started to settle down a bit, with a drop of 3.7%.

This downward trend continued as time passed, especially after the latest update was fully announced. This means search rankings were becoming less unpredictable for a short time.

4. More Unpredictable Rankings After the Update

Once the update was released, the search rankings started to behave unpredictably again. We saw significant changes in how organic and AIO rankings overlapped. This means the connection between natural and automated search results has become more unstable.

Experts think this instability might be due to search engines moving things around to redistribute rankings. The good news is that these changes should eventually calm down and become stable again.

One central change area is the lower-ranking results (positions 21-30). These rankings have shown the highest movement level, making them unpredictable.

How Are Rankings Changing?

Since the update, search results have behaved differently at different ranking levels:

This shows that while higher and middle rankings move around less, lower rankings are experiencing significant shifts.

5. How Specific Industries Are Affected

Our team has been looking at how these changes impact different industries. They analyzed millions of search results in real-time and noticed some clear trends:

E-commerce: There are significant changes here, with a 22.1% drop in how often top results are cited.
Education: Moderate changes, with a 7.3% decrease.
Healthcare: Mostly stable, with only a 1.5% drop.
B2B Technology: Hardly any change, with a 0.4% decrease.

These numbers show that e-commerce businesses see the most significant shifts, while healthcare and B2B tech are unaffected.

6. What Does Google Prioritize Now?

By looking at the changes in rankings, we identified what kinds of content are being affected most:

Educational content: This type is more stable and does not see significant changes.
Product-related content: This is experiencing higher levels of movement.
Research-focused websites: These are holding their ground and showing resilience.
Content by experts in specific industries is becoming more critical and gaining visibility.

Quick Tips for Creating Content in This New Environment

To adapt to these changes, BrightEdge shared some advice for content creators:

1. Focus on real value: Instead of just using keywords to try and rank higher, make content that genuinely helps and informs users.
2. Don’t ignore lower rankings: Content not on the first page of search results can still be valuable. Keep improving and monitoring it.
3. Keep an eye on AI summaries: If your content is cited in AI summaries, check how it’s being presented and whether it’s accurate.

Why Are Publishers Upset?

Many people who create content online are unhappy with this update, and it’s easy to understand why. This year has been challenging for publishers. One common complaint is that Google shows a lot of content from Reddit in search results, even when better sources are available.

Another major issue is with Google’s AI summaries. These summaries take information from different websites, rewrite it, and combine it into a single summary. Unfortunately, the original creators of the content only get a trim, hard-to-notice link back to their site.

Why There’s Still Hope?

Even though the update is causing problems for some, it’s also a chance for improvement. Here’s why: