"Found another site with 200+ "best" listicles - this one is a very expensive exact-match domain owned by an SEO agency, where the #1 best company in each listicle is either that agency or the EMD itself. It worked really throughout 2025, but the drop also started right on ~Jan..."
"So many big brands who scaled search traffic using unnecessary and irrelevant content losing traffic from usual search results nowadays meanwhile senior executives working for those brands posting that their GEO/AEO..."
Google has begun targeting websites that rely heavily on low-quality, LLM-generated listicles and thin content designed primarily for search engine optimization. SEO experts including Lily Ray and Gagan Ghorta have documented substantial organic visibility drops for sites employing these tactics, with declines beginning around January 2026. Enterprise companies scaling content through LLM-focused activities have been particularly affected, including brands vocal about AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) strategies. The pattern extends beyond listicles to thin-content targeting LLMs. While enterprise adoption of these tactics varies, the algorithmic shift suggests Google is increasingly penalizing content created primarily for algorithmic consumption rather than genuine user value.
Read at Search Engine Roundtable
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