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Core update

A core update is a broad change to how Google ranks organic search results, made several times a year, that can move a store's pages up or down even when nothing is wrong with them.

How it works

A core update targets no specific site: as other pages improve, a page can slip without breaking any rule. From March 2025 to May 2026 Google announced five core updates, each taking 11 to 18 days to roll out.

A drop in organic traffic during an update can have other causes. Google’s guide to traffic drops lists the ones to rule out: crawling or indexing errors, security issues, spam, site moves and a change in demand.

Google advises waiting a full week after the update ends before comparing traffic. Rankings can take months to recover, sometimes until the next core update. The ecommerce SEO audit lists the checks in order.

Where you see it

  • Google Search Status Dashboard → Ranking: each core update with its start date and duration.
  • Search Console → Performance report: clicks and positions, with a Compare tab for two periods, such as year over year.

Example

Example store, not client data.

The tableware shop’s organic clicks fall by 25% in early April, from 2,000 to 1,500 a week. The March 2026 core update started on 27 March and ran for 12 days, to around 8 April. After waiting a full week, the shop compares 15–21 April with 20–26 March, the week before the rollout. To rule out seasonality, it then checks the same weeks a year earlier.

Not to be confused with

  • Seasonality — a yearly fall in demand: fewer people search, whatever the ranking. Google suggests checking top queries in Google Trends to see if only your site dropped.

Right and wrong readings

  • Wrong: “Rankings fell during the core update, so Google penalised the site.” Right: core updates don’t target specific sites. A manual action for breaking the spam policies is a separate thing, listed in Search Console’s Manual Actions report.
  • Wrong: “Positions dropped, so rewrite the pages now.” Right: Google sees no need for drastic changes after a small drop, such as from position 2 to 4, and advises a deeper look after a large one, from 4 to 29.

Sources