Monthly SEO Round Up – September 2025
The SEO landscape has experienced significant shifts throughout 2025, with September proving to be a pivotal month in accelerating these changes. This article explores the major updates in the SEO ecosystem and their implications for market strategies.
Google Ads Location Targeting
Google Ads now allows precise micro-location targeting for campaigns using Google Business Profile listings. This is beneficial for the growing trend of local searches in AI search.
This update enables advertisers to leverage Google Business Profile data for hyper-local targeting, such as radii around specific addresses or business locations, improving ad relevance for users in proximity. For instance, a supermarket chain can target ads only to users near actual stores, reducing irrelevant clicks and boosting ROI. This aligns with AI-driven search trends where local intent is rising, as users increasingly seek immediate, location-based results. The feature uses Criterion IDs from GeoTargetConstantService for proximity targeting and supports options like “presence” (physical location) or “interest” (searches related to areas). It’s available globally where location data meets privacy.
Google Chrome Verdict
A U.S. court ruling has relieved Google from selling Chrome but prohibits imposing its search engine on other browsers. However, Google will continue to pay to remain the default search provider for Safari, Firefox, and Opera, as no other search engine can compete as effectively. In the U.S. v. Google antitrust case, Judge Amit P. Mehta ruled on September 2, 2025, that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act by maintaining a search monopoly but rejected divestiture of Chrome or Android, citing potential consumer harm and irrelevance to search distribution. Instead, the court banned exclusive contracts for Google Search, Chrome, Assistant, and Gemini placements, while allowing non-exclusive payments (e.g., Google’s $20B+ annual deal with Apple for Safari defaults). This preserves Google’s browser dominance but mandates data sharing with rivals and ends “compelled syndication.” The decision impacts related markets but avoids broader breakups, with appeals likely.
Google Business Profile (GMB) Guidelines
Google announced two updates for GMB:
- The website field should point to a specific landing page URL created for the listing, not the homepage.
- The menu or order URL field should only include URLs specific to relevant services, not social media profiles or WhatsApp links.
These guidelines ensure profiles provide direct, relevant access to business info, enhancing user experience and compliance. The website field must link to a dedicated landing page (e.g., location-specific) rather than a generic homepage to avoid redirects or irrelevant content. Menu/order URLs are restricted to business-specific pages (e.g., full menus with links to meal types) and cannot include third-party links like social media or WhatsApp, as they must represent the actual business. Violations can lead to disapprovals; third-party managers need owner consent. This supports accurate representation, with P.O. boxes or non-local numbers prohibited.
AI Mode Query Controversy
A Google employee tweeted “soon” regarding making AI mode the default for queries, sparking speculation. Although the statement was later retracted, it suggested that Google is planning to make AI mode the default.
On September 5, 2025, Logan Kilpatrick (Google’s lead product manager for AI) replied “soon :)” on X to a user urging AI Mode as Search’s default, worsening rumors of an imminent shift from traditional links to AI-generated responses. This followed AI Mode’s expansion and google.com/ai redirect. However, on September 7, VP Robby Stein clarified: “wouldn’t read too much into this. We’re focusing on making it easy to access AI Mode for those who want it,” emphasizing opt-in access over forced default. Kilpatrick added it’s not replacing Search. The incident highlights Google’s AI push but underscores user choice amid concerns over publisher traffic.
Expansion of Google AI Mode
Google has expanded AI mode to 180 countries and now supports Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, and Brazilian Portuguese languages. Announced September 8, 2025, AI Mode—Google’s advanced conversational search using Gemini 2.5—now reaches 180+ countries/territories (up from U.S./U.K./India) in English, with multilingual support for Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, and Brazilian Portuguese. This enables complex queries in native languages, like market analysis in Portuguese or research in Hindi, powered by custom Gemini models. Expansion follows July’s Deep Search and Gemini 2.5 Pro additions, aiming for global accessibility while maintaining web exploration. Spanish support followed on September 23.
Pro Tools for Reddit Publishers
Reddit launched Pro Tools for publishers on September 10, 2025, in beta, targeting U.S.-based media outlets to engage over 110 million daily active users. These tools enhance content distribution and performance tracking, positioning Reddit as a vital platform for publishers amid shifting search trends. The integration of Reddit content into Google’s AI Overviews further amplifies its impact, making Pro Tools a strategic asset for visibility in AI-driven search results.
Google Merchant Center Widgets for E-commerce Websites
Google has launched three new widgets in Merchant Center—Top Quality Store on Google, Store Rating Widget, and Store Quality by Google—to help e-commerce stores appear more trustworthy. Announced September 18, 2025 (relaunch of 2024 feature), these embeddable widgets display dynamic badges based on Merchant Center scores: “Top Quality Store” (exceptional shipping/returns/images/site speed, 87%+ high-res images); “Store Rating” (high reviews, 4.0+ stars); generic for emerging stores. They show ratings, reviews, policies—boosting conversions up to 8% in 90 days.
AI Features in Google Chrome
Google Chrome’s new AI features, announced on September 18, 2025, use Gemini AI to let users ask questions, summarize videos, and manage tabs directly from the address bar, rolling out first in the U.S. with a privacy focus. Perplexity’s Comet, launched in July 2025 and free worldwide by October 2, offers an AI-driven browser that skips tabs, automates tasks like emailing or shopping, and uses voice commands. Comet’s design attracts research-focused users, challenging Chrome’s 68% market share. Chrome’s huge 3 billion+ user base keeps it strong for casual browsing, but Comet’s unique experience could draw users to smarter, AI-first browsers. This competition shows browsers are becoming tools that predict and handle user tasks.
Google Discontinues Num 100 Support
Google has ended support for a long-used feature that let users and tools pull more search results at once, reinforcing its rules against automated data scraping.
In mid-September 2025, Google quietly removed the option to load up to 100 search results on a single page, a workaround that SEO professionals relied on for quick data gathering despite years of warnings.
This change has caused widespread drops in reported website impressions—up to 77% for many sites in Google Search Console—as artificial “fake” views from bulk queries vanish, leaving behind more accurate but slimmer data sets that show fewer keywords and potentially lower average rankings.
For SEO tools like , the hit is real: gathering the same volume of results now requires far more individual searches, driving up costs by up to 10 times and slowing down processes, which could strain budgets for small agencies and force a shift to slower, compliant methods like manual pagination or custom APIs
Google Spam Update Rollout Completed
Google’s spam update, which took 27 days to roll out, has now completed. Some websites were negatively impacted, but most remained unaffected.
Search Live Feature in Google Search in the US
Google has publicly launched the “Search Live” feature in Google Search in the U.S., allowing users to interact directly with Google Search using their camera and microphone to resolve queries. Launched September 24, 2025 (U.S. English, no Labs opt-in), Search Live enables real-time voice/camera chats in AI Mode via Google app/Lens. Tap “Live” for conversational queries (e.g., matcha tutorials, electronics troubleshooting); camera shares visuals for contextual responses/links. Waveform UI shows talk/response; mute/video controls. Builds on Project Astra; privacy via on-device processing. Use cases: skill-building, repairs, navigation—expanding multimodal search.
E-commerce Shopping in ChatGPT
ChatGPT, in collaboration with Etsy and Stripe, has introduced an e-commerce option, allowing users to purchase products directly within ChatGPT. Launched September 29, 2025 (U.S. ChatGPT Free/Plus/Pro), Instant Checkout enables single-item buys from U.S. Etsy sellers (1M+ Shopify merchants like Glossier/SKIMS soon) via chat—no redirects. Powered by open-source Agentic Commerce Protocol (co-developed with Stripe), it handles discovery/payment/fulfillment seamlessly.Aims for “agentic commerce” where AI acts as shopper; expands revenue beyond subs.
Take Away
As AI-driven features like Google Chrome’s Gemini integration and Reddit’s Pro Tools reshape browsing and content discovery, and with Google’s tightened policies like the Num 100 discontinuation impacting SEO workflows, AI mode is all set to become the new standard. Multi-location businesses and publishers must adapt to hyper-local and AI-optimized strategies to stay visible. SEO tools face higher costs and slower processes, but compliance with new guidelines ensures long-term gains. No need to panic—preparation and mastering AI tools will keep businesses competitive in this evolving digital landscape.
