By Joseph Mas
Document type: SEO Field Note
Google appears to be reinforcing long standing fundamental principles.
The Google Update can be found here posted by Search Engine Journal:
https://searchengineland.com/google-december-2025-core-update-rolling-out-now-465852
EEAT Signal Strengthening
This latest update concerning EEAT didn’t point out too much that was new, but they are reinforcing the signal strength.
Google is getting better at distinguishing between stated credentials and demonstrated expertise within the content itself. This aligns with broader trends around entity verification and provenance..
Authors must be credible with corroborated verification. 3rd party verification. Back up what you say.
You can find the previous work on Linked In about entity verification and trust nodes:
A practical Framework for LLM Consumption
Content Depth Over Length
Content depth matters more than length. This is reinforcement, not a new idea. Content should be topic driven and genuinely useful. Length should be dictated by the message and the audience rather than by arbitrary targets. When a topic is fully covered and user intent is satisfied, depth tends to signal experience, expertise, and authority.
Sites that rely heavily on AI generated content without clear subject matter expertise may be more exposed to quality reevaluation over time.
This risk is not limited to traditional search. As LLM based retrieval systems grow, signals tied to clarity, attribution, and demonstrated expertise are likely to matter more.
Content that receives no meaningful engagement over time should be evaluated for consolidation, redirection, or removal. Allowing low value or overlapping pages to persist creates internal competition and weakens overall signal clarity.
Excess and competing content adds noise and reduces the ability of strong pages to perform. Removing dead weight improves retrieval efficiency across the entire site.
For mature sites, pruning should be baked into the content schedule alongside publishing.
Technical SEO: The Essential Lynchpin
Technical SEO is still the lynchpin and fundamental requirement and should be highly considered if optimizing for AI Visibility. Without a strong technical foundation, optimization efforts may not reach their full potential.
External Links = Provenance and Entity Verification
An important thing to note is, citing resources. This is a fundamental element and has always been important, it is becoming more important. Ensure to cite sources for creatives. Verifiable expertise and provenance appear to be increasingly important across search and retrieval systems.
In Summary
Nothing really changes too much on typical Google algorithm updates, typically happens Google just reinforces or decays data signals. The fundamentals do not change, they evolve.
Observed pattern across mature SEO practices:
Teams built on durable fundamentals often experience less volatility during algorithm updates. When core quality signals are reinforced rather than replaced, sites grounded in technical integrity, content depth, and clear authorship tend to remain stable while others reactively adjust after losses.
Algorithm updates frequently increase stress for organizations that rely on short term tactics or loosely defined signals. In contrast, practices centered on long standing principles typically treat updates as confirmation rather than disruption.