SEO Daily News Recap for Thursday, December 18, 2025
Organic SEO & Search News
8 Best LLM Tracking Tools: Find the best LLM tracking tools for your brand with a comparison of 8 platforms monitoring AI visibility and share of voice across major LLMs.
How Does Yelp’s Review Solicitation Enforcement Work? (2025 Update): Learn about Yelp’s updated review solicitation rules enforcement, including automated detection and penalties for incentivized reviews.
AI Overview fan-out rankings boost citation odds by 161%: Study: Analysis reveals that pages ranking across Google AI Overview fan-outs lead to over half of all citations.
Paid Search & Platform Innovations
Google Adds AI Content Detection Tools to Gemini: Google introduces AI content detection tools to Gemini, enabling users to check if content was AI generated before sharing.
Google adds location targeting controls to Demand Gen campaigns: Google enhances Demand Gen campaigns with native location targeting controls for more precise geo-targeting.
Apple will add more App Store search ads: Apple expands App Store search ads in 2026 based on relevance rather than higher bids.
General Digital Marketing
TikTok Reportedly Sold to US Investor Group: After negotiations, TikTok’s American operations are set to be acquired by U.S. investors.
Instagram’s Implementing New Limits on Hashtag Use: Instagram will enforce a five tag limit per post for hashtags.
How to Diagnose and Fix Google Maps Ranking Drops: Learn a step-by-step process to confirm, identify, and recover from Google Maps ranking drops.
Dive into our detailed sections for more insights and updates.
Organic SEO & Search News
SEO Daily News and Algorithm Updates
TikTok Reportedly Sold to US Investor Group
After a year of wrangling, it looks like TikTok’s American operations will be sold to U.S. investors.
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Social Media Today – Latest News
YouTube Expands Voice Replies, Superchat Goals, AI Creation Tools and More
A broad range of expansions in YouTube’s final feature update of the year.
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Social Media Today – Latest News
Instagram’s Implementing New Limits on Hashtag Use
Instagram will implement a five tag limit per post.
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Social Media Today – Latest News
Daily Search Forum Recap: December 18, 2025
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…
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Search Engine Roundtable
Google Reviews Disappearing Bug Fixed
Back in October, many businesses reported that reviews left on their Google Business Profiles were disappearing. It wasn’t happening to every business, but it was widespread. Last night, I was told the bug had been fixed and that the reviews should be returning.
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Search Engine Roundtable
Gemini 3 Flash Rolling Out For Google AI Mode
Google is bringing Gemini 3 Flash to AI Mode, bringing much of Gemini 3’s power without waiting too long – hence the "Flash" part of the name. Robby Stein from Google said, "Starting today, we’re rolling it out globally in Search as the default model in AI Mode."
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Search Engine Roundtable
Google fixed month-long delay with page indexing report
Google Search Console is once again sending out page indexing issue notifications as well.
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Search Engine Land
Technical SEO
8 Best LLM Tracking Tools: Track Your Visibility Across LLMs
Find the best LLM tracking tools for your brand. We compare 8 platforms that monitor AI visibility, citations, and share of voice across major LLMs.
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Unknown Source
Google explains JavaScript execution on non-200 HTTP status codes
Google noted that if the HTTP status code is non-200 (for example, on error pages with 404 status code), rendering might be skipped.
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Search Engine Land
Google Advice On Setting Canonical URL With JavaScript
Google updated its JavaScript SEO best practices document with a new section on how to set the canonial URL when using JavaScript. Google wrote, "The best way to set the canonical URL is to use HTML, but if you have to use JavaScript, make sure that you always set the canonical URL to the same value as the original HTML."
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Search Engine Roundtable
SEO Tools and Data Analysis
You Can Now View the Most ‘Ratioed’ Users on X
A listing of the most disagreed with users, and samples of their posts.
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Social Media Today – Latest News
Google Adds AI Content Detection Tools to Gemini
So now, you can check if something was AI generated before sharing.
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Social Media Today – Latest News
How Bayesian testing lets Google measure incrementality with $5,000
What’s often misunderstood about Google’s incrementality testing and how Bayesian models use probability to guide better decisions.
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Search Engine Land
Local SEO
How to Diagnose and Fix Google Maps Ranking Drops
Lost rankings or calls from your Google Business Profile? Learn a step-by-step process to confirm a drop, find the real cause, and recover your local rankings fast.
Source:
moz (en-US)
AI and Machine Learning in SEO
AI Overview fan-out rankings boost citation odds by 161%: Study
Analysis of 10,000 keywords shows pages ranking across Google AI Overview fan-outs account for over half of all citations.
Source:
Search Engine Land
New AI Visibility Awards spotlight brands thriving in AI-generated search results
Semrush’s new AI Visibility Awards reveal which brands are winning trust — and share of voice — in AI-generated search results.
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Search Engine Land
Elena Verna
Elena Verna returns to break down Lovable’s explosive $200M ARR climb—and why AI forces every company to reinvent its growth playbook from the ground up
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Lenny’s Newsletter
Google’s Danny Sullivan & John Mueller On SEO For AI
John Mueller from Google had Danny Sullivan from Google on the Search Off the Record podcast to talk about "Thoughts on SEO & SEO for AI." In short, they both said SEO for AI is the same as SEO for traditional search but then they got into it.
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Search Engine Roundtable
How to use AI to diagnose and improve search intent alignment
AI can act as a second set of eyes for content, helping evaluate intent signals, compare top results, and refocus underperforming pages.
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Search Engine Land
Content Marketing and Strategy
Snapchat Shares Insights into Evolving Connection Opportunities
The report looks at the evolving definition of "conversation," and why brands should take note.
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Social Media Today – Latest News
Career Development and Industry Trends
Why SEO annual plans fall apart – and how to build one that holds up
Annual SEO planning still works when it’s built for reality. Learn how to set goals, prioritize work, and execute quarter by quarter.
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Search Engine Land
User Experience and SEO Optimization
X Tests Watch History Tab
An easier way to find that one video you saw one time…
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Social Media Today – Latest News
How Does Yelp’s Review Solicitation Enforcement Work? (2025 Update)
Learn how Yelp enforces its review solicitation rules in 2025, including automated detection, Consumer Alerts, and penalties for incentivized reviews—plus what changed, how violations are flagged, and how businesses can avoid warnings.
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Sterling Sky Inc
Paid Search & Platform Innovations
Paid Search and Advertising
Google adds location targeting controls to Demand Gen campaigns
Google has added native location targeting controls to Demand Gen campaigns, giving advertisers more precise geo-targeting.
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Search Engine Land
Apple will add more App Store search ads
Apple is adding more App Store search ads in 2026, expanding inventory while keeping placements strictly based on relevance rather than higher bids.
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Search Engine Land
Microsoft Testing Underlines In Bing Ad Description Snippets
Microsoft is also testing underlining the text of the Bing Ads search snippets and descriptions. I am not sure if those underlined words are links or not but I assume so.
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Search Engine Roundtable
Job Postings
Job Postings
12/18/2025
Growth Marketing Manager (Website & SEO) ~ iManage ~ $140,000 – $175,000 ~ Hybrid (Chicago, IL, United States)
Job Description We offer a flexible working policy that supports a healthy balance between personal and professional well-being. This role requires in-office presence on Tuesdays & Thursdays to collaborate, connect, and learn from peers – while also maintaining the flexibility for meaningful work-life balance. Being a Growth Marketing Manager at iManage Means… You’ll be joining […]
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In-house SEO jobs – SEOjobs.com
Job Postings
12/18/2025
Senior Manager, Search & AI Discoverability ~ Xometry ~ Hybrid (Waltham, MA, United States)
Job Description Xometry (NASDAQ: XMTR) powers the industries of today and tomorrow by connecting the people with big ideas to the manufacturers who can bring them to life. Xometry’s digital marketplace gives manufacturers the critical resources they need to grow their business while also making it easy for buyers at Fortune 1000 companies to tap […]
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In-house SEO jobs – SEOjobs.com
