Google added a new help document to its search developer documentation named Google Search’s guidance on using third-party SEO tools, services, and advice and updated the older Do you need an SEO? document on Friday. Google primarily added in topics around generative AI optimization and more guidance on trusting third-party tools and other SEO advice.
Why. Google said it posted these document updates and changes because it wanted to “highlight important considerations when evaluating third-party SEO tools and advice, and to simplify some sections and remove outdated examples in existing documentation.”
Third-party SEO tools, services and advice. Google’s new help document named Google Search’s guidance on using third-party SEO tools, services, and advice digs into advice from Google on how you should consider advice from third parties and using third-party SEO services and tools.
This includes how to:
- Evaluate and verify external SEO advice against official Google guidelines
- Think critically about using third-party SEO tools and services
- Assisting in sitemap generation
- Establishing indexing directives
- Offering to generate “SEO-optimized” content for you
- Providing advice they claim will improve the ranking of your existing content
- Promising improvements for AI experiences and search formats (also known as “AEO” or “GEO” tools)
Google added that it does not endorse any third-party tool and warns about tools claiming so. It also warns about tools or services that claim “using a service or tool doesn’t guarantee ranking success.” Google added, “Third-party tools don’t have access to our internal ranking data. They can’t guarantee performance.”
Google does recommend you use Google Search Console, which provides you with “key information and data directly from Google Search itself,” Google wrote.
Hiring an SEO document update. Google also made updates to the Do you need an SEO? help document. Google added in topics around Optimizing for generative AI, where Google references a newish help document on that topic.
Google also posted in this document new content about SEO tools including:
- “If your SEO uses a third-party tool, keep in mind that Google doesn’t evaluate or endorse third-party SEO tools, and these tools don’t have access to Google’s internal ranking data. Be wary of tools that claim to be “acceptable” or “approved” by Google Search.”
- “If your SEO offers to do an SEO audit for you, be sure to carefully consider what’s involved and only grant read access to Search Console (at this stage, don’t grant them write access). An SEO audit should be about giving you realistic estimates of improvement, and an estimate of the work involved. If they guarantee you that their changes will give you first place in search results, find someone else.”
- “Evaluate your SEO’s recommendations and tools they use. Before making significant changes to your site based on a third-party tool’s audit, be sure to check their recommendations against official guidance from Google Search, think critically about any claims or recommendations you hear, and make your own informed decisions.”
The document was also cleaned up and made shorter and more concise.
Why we care. Reviewing Google’s official documentation is always something SEOs should be doing. New documents that Google posts are useful to read and understand. Understanding the changes made to older help documents is also important.
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