If you’ve noticed volatility in your rankings this month, you aren’t imagining it. December has been an incredibly active month for Google, closing out the year with a massive algorithm update and significant tooling changes for SEO professionals.

From the rollout of the third major core update of the year to game-changing features in Google Search Console (GSC), here is everything you need to know about the SEO landscape right now.

1. The December 2025 Core Update is Live

On December 11, 2025, Google officially launched the December 2025 Core Update. This is a broad core update, meaning it impacts all regions, languages, and content types.

  • Rollout Duration: The rollout started on Dec 11 and is expected to take up to 3 weeks to complete (likely finishing in early January 2026).
  • The Focus: Early analysis suggests this update is heavily focused on “Authenticity Scores.” Google is getting better at distinguishing between content written by genuine experts (with verified credentials) versus generic content mass-produced for rankings.
  • Documentation Change: Two days before the launch, Google quietly updated its documentation to state that you do not have to wait for a major core update to recover rankings. They clarified that smaller, unannounced updates happen continually, meaning improvements to your site can yield results faster than previously thought.

2. Major Upgrades to Google Search Console

While the algorithm churns, Google has gifted SEOs with three massive new features in Search Console this month:

  • Social Channel Metrics: You can now see a unified view of how your brand performs across search and social media directly in GSC. This experimental feature links your social profiles to your property to track brand visibility holistically.
  • Weekly & Monthly Data Views: Say goodbye to noisy daily charts. You can now toggle your performance reports to show weekly or monthly aggregates, making it much easier to spot long-term trends without the distraction of daily fluctuations.
  • AI-Powered Filtering: A new experimental “AI Config” tool allows you to filter your GSC data using natural language prompts (e.g., “Show me pages with high impressions but low CTR in the US”).

3. AI Overviews Shift to “Transactional”

The behavior of AI Overviews (formerly SGE) has shifted significantly in late 2025.

Earlier this year, AI snapshots were primarily informational. Data from December shows a surge in AI Overviews appearing for commercial and transactional queries. This means Google is now using AI to guide users directly to purchase decisions, often bypassing traditional product category pages.

Key Trend: A new “AI Mode” is also rolling out in Google Discover, allowing users to “ask follow-ups” directly from their feed, pushing more traffic into Google’s conversational AI ecosystem rather than direct clicks to websites.

4. What Should You Do Now?

With the core update still rolling out, volatility is normal. Do not panic and make drastic technical changes immediately. Instead:

  1. Monitor Your Authenticity Signals: Ensure your author bios are robust and linked to real-world expertise.
  2. Check Social Data: If you have access to the new GSC social features, validate that Google is correctly associating your social profiles with your brand entity.
  3. Wait for the Rollout to End: Allow the SERPs to settle (likely by the first week of January 2026) before conducting a full post-mortem on your rankings.