Google Business Summit Review: AI & SEO Shifts

I was 1 of only 7 creators invited to attend the 2025 Google Business Summit and spend dedicated time with the actual Google Search team at their Washington, D.C. office.

This wasn’t your typical tech conference. It wasn’t a keynote or a panel you listened to from the back row.

I am going to tell y’all now that you are not gonna like what I have to say because it’s not bashing Google.

It was three full days of direct conversations with the engineers, AI researchers, product leads, and policy makers responsible for shaping how we all show up in Google Search.

This was intimate, with face-to-face time for sharing ideas, asking hard questions, and getting clarity on what’s really changing in our industry.

I walked away, realizing I was still writing for Google and not my readers, which really stung me because I thought I was doing the right thing.

I’m not happy I lost 98% of my traffic, but it forced me to take a hard look at my own content and strategy.

I went from making around $12,000 a month from my blog to now being lucky if I hit $300 so again don’t think I am kissing Google’s ass as you keep reading.

Yes, I relied too heavily on Google. Three years ago, I even stood on stage at TBEX and said out loud, “I need to diversify my traffic.” That was right before the first August update.

But I didn’t act. I was comfortable. I knew SEO. I understood keyword research. And I got complacent.

The truth is, we can be mad at Google all we want, but a lot of us saw the signs. We just chose to overlook them.

I know I did. So this isn’t just about what Google is doing. It’s also about what we need to take responsibility for as creators.

Before I dive in, here’s something Google admitted upfront at the summit: they know their system has favored larger sites. They didn’t mean to, but that’s how the algorithm evolved.

They told us directly that more traffic has flowed to major publications, and they’re actively trying to correct that. It’s not an overnight fix.

They even said they wish they could flip a switch to balance things out, but it takes months to reverse an overcorrection on their part.

What This Means for Travel & Food Creators

What should every content creator be doing right now?

Diversify! Diversify! Diversify! Google doesn’t owe me or you anything!

• Diversify where your traffic comes from. Don’t rely solely on Google. Use Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and last but not least, please utilize your email list.

• Video is essential. YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikToks now show up in Google Search. If you’re not posting video content, start now.

• Serve your audience, not the algorithm. Ask your readers what they want. Show up consistently. Build trust by being a human.

• AI can’t replace your story. Real connection still matters. Let people see the person behind the brand.

Let’s Start with How Search Actually Works

You probably already know this, but Google’s process is broken down into three phases:

1. Crawling – Google bots discover your content.
2. Indexing – Google processes and stores your page.
3. Serving – Google shows your content to users if it meets their intent.

Behind the scenes, Google is always paying attention to how people interact with your blog. It looks at things like how long someone stays on your page, whether they scroll, click around, or leave right away.

Based on that, Google decides if your post is actually helpful. And the search results aren’t frozen they update constantly.

So your content can move up or down depending on how useful people find it.

SEO Today Is About Satisfaction, Not Just Keywords

The old SEO strategy of stuffing keywords and writing 3,000-word posts no longer cuts it.

Google even admitted during the summit that they had unintentionally encouraged long, keyword-heavy content over the years, which led many of us creators to start writing for the algorithm instead of real people.

Now, they want to get back to basics, content that’s helpful, clear, and written with the reader in mind.

No more stuffing keywords just to check a box or adding fluffy filler just to hit a word count. Google’s AI is advanced enough to understand whether users are actually satisfied with what they find, and that’s what it now prioritizes.

That means:

• User intent is everything
• Core Web Vitals (loading, layout, and interactivity) matter
• Trust and clarity outweigh backlinks and fluff

If you don’t have time to read the full article, watch the first video below for a quick breakdown of what I learned at the Google Creator Summit and how it’s impacting the way I create content.

Understand Google’s Quality Ratings

Google uses real humans (called quality raters) to evaluate content using three main criteria:

1. Needs Met – Does your content answer what the user actually searched for?
2. Page Quality – Is your content trustworthy, useful, and clearly written?
3. Comparative Usefulness – Does it perform better than similar content?

For important topics (like health, safety, or finance), Google applies even stricter standards under the Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) label.

If you’re offering travel safety tips like I do, you have to go beyond general statements. Google expects you to show real experience, like where you went, what you did, and how it felt, and back it up with credible sources and practical advice.

They want to see that you’re an expert in your niche, not just guessing or repeating what others have said.

Social Media Now Impacts Your SEO

Google’s systems now pull video content directly into search results. That means YouTube Shorts, Reels, and TikToks are showing up right alongside traditional blog posts.

If someone searches “Is Durban, South Africa, Safe for Solo Travel?” or Is Mexico Safe? “Google might serve your blog post or your 30-second TikTok, whichever best matches the intent.

We also had a session on behavioral economics, and one of the key concepts we explored was the Endowment Effect.

In simple terms, it means people place a higher value on things they feel personally connected to.

For creators, that connection is built when your audience sees your face, hears your voice, and follows your journey across platforms.

When people feel like they know you, they trust you more, and that trust turns into engagement, loyalty, and increased visibility across search and social.

That builds trust, and trust leads to better engagement, loyalty, and even higher rankings in search. Google sees that connection and recognizes it as a signal of quality..

Takeaway: Social content isn’t optional. It has to be a part of your visibility strategy. We can’t just stop at blog posts anymore.

Social media should also support each post, whether that’s an Instagram caption, a TikTok, or a Reel. Even better?

Create a 10-minute YouTube video that complements the topic of your blog. That kind of multimedia presence helps with visibility, builds trust with your audience, and gives Google even more reason to surface your content in search results.

Stop Writing for the Algorithm. Start Writing for People.

Before you write your next blog post, ask yourself: What is the quality of this page? Are you truly answering the user’s question, or are you just trying to rank?

Google uses a Page Quality (PQ) scale to evaluate how well a page achieves its purpose, ranging from Lowest to Highest.

A high-quality page isn’t just long, it’s useful, focused, and helpful. It serves a clear purpose and delivers on that promise without distractions or fluff.

Here’s a quick breakdown:

• Lowest: Untrustworthy, harmful, deceptive, or manipulative
• Low: Meant to be helpful but missing something critical
• Medium: Has a purpose but isn’t strong enough to rate High
• High: Fulfills its purpose well with strong trust signals
• Highest: Achieves its purpose exceptionally well and serves users fully

If you’re not sure where your post falls, look at it like a reader would. Did they find what they were looking for? Did they have to scroll too much? Was it easy to trust and understand?

That’s the kind of clarity we need to bring back to content writing.

One of the clearest insights from the summit was this: most creators are still writing what they want to say, not what the user actually needs.

Food Bloggers

Food bloggers have heard the jokes for years. Readers are tired of scrolling past 14 paragraphs about your grandma’s famous pie crust, how she walked 10 miles to find the perfect berries, and how this recipe changed your family’s life.

The internet has made it clear: they just want the recipe. But many creators have pushed back because let’s face it, long content means more ad space and better payout.

And we’ve been taught that length = SEO gold.

But here’s what Google is now saying directly: stop with the fluff. Long, keyword-stuffed stories that bury the actual recipe frustrate users, and frustrated users bounce.

That’s not just bad for the reader, but also your rankings. So yes, tell your story, but keep it intentional and relevant.

Because in 2025, clarity and usefulness beat nostalgia every time.

After the summit, I went back and reviewed some of my own blog posts that had lost traffic. And if I’m being honest with myself, the problem wasn’t the niche or the word count, but that I had written for Google, not my audience.

The content was fluffy, overly long, and trying to answer every possible question instead of focusing on what the reader actually needed.

I am going to spend the next few months adjusting posts to align with what users were really searching for to see if there is improvement.

Quality isn’t about how much you say. It’s about how clearly and directly you say it.

Ask yourself:

• Am I writing for clarity or complexity?
• Am I giving my audience what they need or what I want to say?
• Is my content actually solving the problem?

Your Table of Contents Might Be Hurting You

Google shared that some Table of Contents widgets can confuse their crawlers and even reduce clarity scores.

If your content is well-written, organized with headers, and flows naturally, you likely don’t need a TOC. In some cases, removing it can help.

Takeaway: Don’t rely on tools to fix what a strong writing structure should do.

This Is Your Sign to Pivot

Google is shifting. Hard. They know the system got too focused on long-form SEO plays and forgot the reader. But they’re adjusting and so should we.

Creators like you, especially in travel and food, can stay in the game by:

• Infusing personal experience
• Prioritizing helpfulness over word count
• Matching content to real search behavior

If you’re still writing just to publish, it’s time to pause and pivot.

What You Need to Know About AI and AI Overviews

AI isn’t going anywhere. Neither are AI Overviews. If you’re hoping they’ll just disappear or stop affecting traffic, Google made it clear that’s not happening!

They also said something that stuck with me. Their commitment is to users, not creators.

That means they aren’t promising us traffic. They’re promising users the best answers, experiences, and helpful content no matter where it comes from.

We can’t rely on Google to send us traffic!

Bloomberg Article

Just days after I left D.C., Bloomberg published an article that echoed much of what creators are feeling right now, titled “Google’s AI Search Shift Leaves Website Makers Feeling Betrayed.”

While I didn’t get a chance to ask the team at Google about it directly, I know it’s making waves in the creator and publisher space. And rightfully so.

The article outlines how many of us feel like we’ve done everything “right” for years—optimized our content, followed the guidelines, created long-form value-driven posts—only to see our traffic gutted by AI overviews and shifting priorities. It’s frustrating. And it’s valid.

But it also reinforces exactly why this post exists. We can’t control Google. But we can control how we adapt.

Read the full Bloomberg article here.

A report I’m reading right now from Kevin Indig at Growth Memo confirmed what many of us have been feeling and discussing privately:

“Search queries without AI Overviews result in twice as many pageviews as those with AI Overviews. In that sense, AIOs send less traffic to the ecosystem overall, and it leads to fewer pageviews.”

So while Google has been selective in how they’re publicly framing the impact of AI Overviews, let’s be honest, publishers and creators know what it’s doing to our numbers.

Traffic is down. Discovery is harder. And even the most optimized content is being pushed further down the page.

But again, this is why we pivot. We create smarter, show up across platforms, and stop relying on Google alone to carry our content forward.

Why I Didn’t Bash Google and What I Learned About My Own Content

After my first video, the feedback was loud and clear. A lot of creators were upset that I did not criticize Google. But I was not there to tear anything down. I was there to listen and learn.

My goal with writing this article was to be transparent, honest, and not take a side.

I wanted to share my real experience at the Google Summit without sugarcoating it or turning it into a rant. And what I learned made me take a real look at my own content.

So I created this second video to explain why I did not go in on Google and to show exactly where my own content missed the mark.

I used my blog posts as examples, so click the video below to watch my response and see how I am shifting the way I create.

Final Thoughts

After everything I learned, I realized we only have two real options moving forward:

1. Give up. Let the traffic loss win. Walk away. Burnout.

2. Adjust. Shift our strategies, diversify where traffic comes from, and get honest about how much we’ve relied on Google.

Google was extra clear that whether we liked it or not, they were not here to promise us traffic.

I was upset when I heard them say that, but it’s the truth. Users want fast, clear, easy-to-understand answers.

They’re not clicking through fluffy, 3,000-word blog posts to get to the one sentence they actually need.

Times have changed. What users want has changed. So Google had to change, too. Unfortunately, a lot of us have become casualties of that shift, myself included.

But if we’re willing to pivot, listen, and serve our audience more than we serve the algorithm, just maybe we can come back stronger than ever.

I am hopeful!

Read this guide if you want to understand what Google really values: Google’s Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines