by Dynasty D.
Recent changes to how Google handles automated searches are making it harder for rank tracking tools to collect data. While Google has always tried to limit excessive scraping, they’re now providing false results to skew what scrapers report. This change occurred during a large spam core update, muddying waters.
Why Did My Rankings Drop So Much?
First, while the poisoning of results played a part, it’s not the only factor in the recent ranking changes. The September 2026 spam update was rolled out between September 24 and October 8th. It lead to some volatility in search and was partially targeted at demoting low-effort, spammy, or AI-generated content.
During this rollout, many of our customers saw ranking reports like the following:
That dip has caused a bit of a panic, but it’s typical of what happens during an algorithm update. Most of the time, rankings recover within a month or two. If you look at the end of the chart, you’ll see that upswing starting.
We just want to assure you that we’re keeping an eye on this, and we’ll make adjustments to strategy as needed. The more concerning (and long-lasting item) is below.
Spam Core Update Statistics
During September's spam update, five times more sites lost half of their traffic than in the average update.
Semrush sensor peaked at a volatility score of 9.4 out of 10 during the update. It averages around 4.3 normally.
Google Has Started “Poisoning” the Results
Since July there’s been evidence of Google trying to limit AI bots, low-quality content, and scrapers. Now, instead of simply blocking the crawlers, Google has taken a four-pronged approach:
- Blocking the proxy networks that AI scrapers use
- Dialing up the use of CAPTCHAs
- Filling results with bad data to give inaccurate results
- Stepping up their spam protection and content rules
These items have led to issues for rank tracking tools. Though not the intended target, these SEO tools are now displaying the same inaccurate data. This is because they display similar behaviors, even if their intent isn’t nefarious.
When coupled with the latest spam algorithm update, results look a little rocky across the board.
8% of Search Results in Nozzle's Study Were Poisoned
11.4% of "near me" searches returned false ranking data.
48.4% of Home Services queries were poisoned at the peak on September 29th.
Why Would Google do This?
They want to keep bots off their results for three main reasons:
- To Stop AI From Stealing Its Work: Tools like Perplexity and OpenAI often use Google’s search results as the scaffolding of their recommendations. This lets them take advantage of Google’s proprietary data without building their own search engine.
- Protecting Publisher Relationships: Google has deals with news sites and widget providers to display specialized results. Third-party bots scrape these and can cause issues with publisher relationships.
- Skyrocketing Infrastructure Costs: Searching for “best plumber near me” or “who do you recommend for generator installation” requires computing power. Google doesn’t want to foot the server bill for millions of automated bot requests.
What Does This Mean for Contractors?
Rank tracking tools across the SEO industry are experiencing reporting inconsistencies. The problems vary by provider, and some rankings may reflect inaccurate search results rather than actual changes in Google.
For instance, a search for AC Repair in North Augusta in Whitespark now returns results from Florida, Mississippi, and Texas. Whitespark reports that the company doesn't rank for this keyword, even though it appears at the top of Google's actual search results.
Initial assessments show that non-local keywords may be impacted at higher levels. So, searches for AC Repair Orlando FL may be more accurate than plain AC Repair.
So, at the moment, comparing results to previous ones is risky. The good news? All of the rank trackers are working through a fix, but it’s unclear when that will be completed. Search Console data is not impacted and can be used to fill gaps in the meantime. We use this alongside our other tools to get a better idea of what’s going on.
However, if you look at your competitors, you’ll likely notice a similar pattern across the board:
What’s Online Access Doing?
We are in close contact with our providers throughout the process. Our SEO team is also closely monitoring for any indicators that a drop is related to a true shift and not a results issue. When things have calmed down, we will reverify the results from the most recent updates.
If you have any questions about the above update, give us a call at (810) 985-6603. We’ll be happy to help.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Incorrect data in a third-party rank tracking tool doesn't directly change where your website appears in Google. The bigger concern is making unnecessary SEO changes based on inaccurate reports. That's why it's important to verify unusual ranking movements before responding to them.
Possibly. But a lot of what we're seeing appear to be false drops. When you do a human search, many of our companies still rank at the top of the results. While Google's spam updates do cause real changes in website rankings, the impact is likely not as drastic as you're seeing. We'll only be able to ascertain the true nature of the drops once the dust has settled.
Not necessarily. Some rank tracking tools are receiving inaccurate or misleading results from Google. This can make it look like your website has lost rankings when its actual position hasn't changed. It's important to compare ranking reports with other performance indicators before drawing conclusions.
It can affect how your local rankings are reported, but that doesn't mean your Google Business Profile has lost visibility. Local rank tracking actually seems to be less impacted overall.
Google Search Console isn't affected by the same third-party scraping issues. It uses Google's own performance data to report impressions and positioning. While it can't replace every feature of a rank tracking tool, it's a useful way to evaluate your website's performance while reporting issues continue.