Daily Search Forum Recap: May 15, 2026

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

Google updated its spam policy to clarify it applies to the AI responses in Google Search. Google said its indexing API is inundated by bloggers. Google autocomplete has AI Overview search icons…

Source:
Search Engine Roundtable

Google Says Spam Policies Apply To AI Responses In Search

Google updated the leading paragraph in the search spam policies to clarify that the policies apply to the Google Search AI responses, such as AI Overviews and AI Mode (or whatever else is AI-generated). Google said, "the Google Search spam policies also apply to generative AI responses in Google Search."

Source:
Search Engine Roundtable

Google Says Its Indexing API Is Inundated By Bloggers

Google’s John Mueller said, "The indexing API is inundated by bloggers trying to act like legitimate sites." This means that Google needs to be more careful about who and what they accept through the Google indexing API.

Source:
Search Engine Roundtable

Video: Google Ranking Volatility Heated, Discover Data Goes Missing, FAQ Rich Results Totally Gone & Google Ads AI Dashboards

For the original iTunes version, click here.

This week in search I covered, yep…

Source:
Search Engine Roundtable

Google updates search spam policies to clarify it applies to generative AI responses

Using spam techniques to rank well in Google AI responses, like AI Mode and AI Overviews, is against its policies.

Source:
Search Engine Land

10 Top Social Listening Tools (2024)

Social listening insights can take your marketing campaigns to the next level – learn more about 10 of the best social listening tools on the market today.

Source:
Unknown Source

11 Top Market Intelligence Software (2025)

We analyzed the most popular market intelligence software solutions so that you don’t have to. Here’s what we found.

Source:
Unknown Source

AI Agents for SEO: What They Are, How They Work, and How to Build One

An AI SEO agent is software that actually does the SEO work, as opposed to just describing it.

Source:
SEO Blog by Ahrefs

Google is moving offline conversion imports out of the Google Ads API

Google is pushing developers to move offline conversion imports from the Google Ads API to the Data Manager API by June.

Source:
Search Engine Land

The future of law firm SEO depends on authority, not volume

Technical SEO and content still matter, but sustained visibility now depends on trust, recognition, and E-E-A-T signals across the web.

Source:
Search Engine Land

Microsoft Clarity citations dashboard rolls out

The Citation dashboard shows how your content is referenced in AI-generated answers across supported AI experiences.

Source:
Search Engine Land

Build a martech stack that makes it easy to manage your brand

Struggling with brand consistency? The solution isn’t necessarily more tools. It’s the right tools, assembled and aligned with intention.

Source:
Search Engine Land

How to model non-linear SEO seasonality with Prophet

Traditional SEO forecasts often miss seasonality and volatility. Learn how to model non-stationary search behavior with Prophet and Python.

Source:
Search Engine Land

Why now is the time to prepare for WebMCP

AI agents are becoming a new discovery layer, and WebMCP could become the schema markup that helps them understand and use your site.

Source:
Search Engine Land

Google publishes guide on optimizing for generative AI features

This new guide talks about the differences, if any, between SEO, AEO, GEO and so on and touches on commodity content, AI agents and much more.

Source:
Search Engine Land

Google AI Mode Showing Direct Hotel Booking Links Inside Responses

Google is now showing directly hotel booking links directly inside the AI-generated responses within AI Mode. This can lead to sending hotels direct traffic in the AI response, which seems like a win to me.

Source:
Search Engine Roundtable

Google Autocomplete With AI Overview Search Icon

Google is testing showing a new icon in the autocomplete search suggestions, as you type your search. The icon has a magnifying glass with the Gemini logo on it. It suggests a longer query, a prompt, and when you click it, it takes you to Google Search but with the AI Overview response expanded and fully open.

Source:
Search Engine Roundtable

How custom visuals boosted organic traffic by up to 110%

A six-month test across 47 articles revealed which visual assets improved SEO performance and which ones failed to move the needle.

Source:
Search Engine Land

7 Tips for Writing Great Content with ChatGPT or Gemini

Stop getting garbage content from AI! In this episode of Whiteboard Friday, Chima Mmeje shares 7 actionable tips for writing great content with LLMs by leveraging training documents, guardrails, and storytelling.

Source:
moz (en-US)

Google’s product packs are now a primary sales channel. Here’s what the data shows

Analysis of 63,000+ merchants reveals what separates brands winning traffic from product packs versus those just showing up.

Source:
Search Engine Land

AI Chatbot Traffic: What It Is, and How to Get More

AI chatbots currently drive 0.28% of web traffic, but conversion rates can be 23x higher than organic search. Learn how to track and grow this channel.

Source:
SEO Blog by Ahrefs

Google Ads Create Video With AI Button

Google Ads is testing a new "Create video" beta feature that has the Gemini logo next to it. So this feature uses Gemini, Google’s AI, to create the video for you for your Demand Gen campaigns.

Source:
Search Engine Roundtable