Surviving Google's core algorithm updates

Originally published at thatdevpro.com. Part of ThatDevPro's open SEO + AI framework library. ThatDevPro is an SDVOSB-certified veteran-owned web + AI engineering studio. Open-source AI citation toolkit: github.com/Janady13/aio-surfaces.

Google's Core Algorithm Updates — Detection, Response, Recovery, and Prevention

A comprehensive installation and audit reference for monitoring Google's core algorithm updates, classifying their impact on a website, executing the response protocol, tracking recovery, and building structural resilience to future updates. This document is dual-purpose: installation manual and audit document.

1. Document Purpose & How to Use This Document

1.1 What This Document Is

This is the canonical reference for handling Google core algorithm updates — the periodic broad-spectrum changes Google makes to its ranking systems that can dramatically reshape search results across millions of sites simultaneously. Core updates are different from spam updates, helpful content updates (now part of core), product reviews updates, and minor tweaks. Core updates are the largest, most consequential, and most disruptive changes Google deploys.

This document specifies how to detect when a core update is happening, how to assess its impact on a specific site, how to respond constructively (rather than panic-react), how to track recovery over the typical 60-90 day post-update period, and how to build a site that's structurally resilient to future updates.

1.2 Three Operating Modes

Mode A — Install Mode: Building monitoring and response infrastructure into ongoing site operations. Follow Sections 2 → 14.

Mode B — Audit Mode: Evaluating an existing site's preparedness for or response to core updates. Skip to Section 11.

Mode C — Hybrid Mode: Audit current state then install missing infrastructure.

1.3 How Claude Code CLI Should Consume This Document

1. Read Section 2 — collect client variables and historical update impact data
2. Read Section 3 — understand what core updates are and aren't
3. Install monitoring infrastructure — Section 5
4. Define response protocols — Section 6
5. Build resilience patterns — Section 7
6. Validate — Section 11
7. Generate report — Section 14

1.4 Conflict Resolution Rules

1.5 Required Tools

• Google Search Console — primary source for traffic and ranking data
• Google Analytics 4 — for engagement data and traffic patterns
• Semrush Sensor / Mozcast / Advanced Web Ranking — for SERP volatility tracking
• Ahrefs / Semrush — for ranking history and competitor comparison
• Wayback Machine — for historical site state research
• Google Search Status Dashboard — status.search.google.com/
• Algoroo / SEMrush Sensor / RankRanger — for daily SERP volatility tracking

2. Client Variables Intake

# ============================================
# CORE UPDATES FRAMEWORK CLIENT VARIABLES
# ============================================

# --- Business Identity (REQUIRED) ---
business_name: ""
primary_domain: ""
business_industry: ""
ymyl_classification: ""              # "full", "partial", "lite", "non" (affects update sensitivity)

# --- Site History (REQUIRED) ---
domain_age_years: 0
historical_traffic_baseline: 0       # Pre-most-recent-update average daily organic traffic
historical_keyword_count: 0          # Number of keywords ranking in top 10
last_known_volatility_event: ""      # Date of last identified algorithm impact

# --- Past Core Update Impacts (REQUIRED) ---
past_update_impacts:
  - update_name: ""                  # e.g., "March 2026 Core Update"
    update_date: ""                  # YYYY-MM-DD
    direction: ""                    # "loss", "gain", "neutral", "mixed"
    magnitude_percent: 0             # Percent change in organic traffic
    pages_most_affected: []          # URLs with biggest changes
    hypothesis_about_target: ""      # What this site/team believes the update targeted
    remediation_actions_taken: []
    recovery_status: ""              # "full", "partial", "none", "still_in_progress"
    recovery_completion_date: ""

# --- Monitoring Infrastructure Status (REQUIRED) ---
has_gsc_property_verified: false
has_ga4_configured: false
has_serp_volatility_monitoring: false
has_ranking_tracker: false           # Ahrefs, Semrush, AWR, etc.
has_brand_alert_monitoring: false    # Google Alerts, Mention, Brand24
has_competitor_tracking: false

# --- Response Capability (REQUIRED) ---
has_documented_response_protocol: false
response_team_identified: false
response_team_members: []
emergency_communication_channel: ""  # How team alerts each other to volatility

# --- Site Resilience Posture (RECOMMENDED) ---
eeat_score: 0                        # From framework-eeat.md audit
hcs_score: 0                         # From framework-hcs.md audit
ymyl_score: 0                        # From framework-ymyl.md audit if applicable
sqrg_estimated_rating: ""            # From framework-sqrg.md
content_quality_distribution:        # From HCS audit
  highest_or_high: 0                 # Percentage
  medium: 0                          # Percentage
  low_or_lowest: 0                   # Percentage

# --- Documentation (RECOMMENDED) ---
has_algorithm_update_log: false      # Internal log tracking all updates and impacts
has_post_update_review_process: false
has_quarterly_resilience_audit: false

# --- Recent Update Status (FILLED DURING ACTIVE UPDATE) ---
current_update_active: false
current_update_name: ""
current_update_started: ""           # Detection date
current_update_status: ""            # "rumored", "rolling_out", "completed", "in_recovery"
current_update_traffic_change: 0     # Percentage
current_update_response_phase: ""    # "detect", "assess", "diagnose", "remediate", "recover", "review"

3. What Core Updates Are

Google deploys algorithm changes constantly — hundreds of small updates per year. Most are imperceptible to individual sites. Three categories of updates have outsized impact and are publicly named by Google:

3.1 Core Updates

Core updates are broad changes to how Google's core ranking algorithms evaluate content. They typically:

• Roll out over 1-3 weeks (some longer)
• Affect rankings across all niches simultaneously
• Are publicly announced by Google before, during, and after
• Get named after the month and year (e.g., "March 2026 Core Update")
• Cause significant SERP volatility during rollout
• Reshape rankings substantially — some sites gain, some lose, most see some change

Google deploys 3-6 named core updates per year. Recent core updates and their characteristic focus:

• March 2024 Core Update — Integrated the Helpful Content System into core ranking; expanded site reputation abuse guidance
• August 2024 Core Update — Refined HCS signal weighting; addressed feedback about small site recovery from prior core updates
• November 2024 Core Update — Significant rollout addressing site quality holistically
• December 2024 Core Update — Targeted AI mass-production patterns specifically
• March 2025 Core Update — Significant E-E-A-T re-weighting
• June 2025 Core Update — Refinements to AI Overview source selection
• November 2025 Core Update — Reputation and content originality emphasis
• March 2026 Core Update — Most recent major update at time of this framework's creation; focused on entity-based ranking and AI citation worthiness

3.2 What Core Updates Are Not

Core updates are not:

• Spam updates — These target manipulative practices specifically (link schemes, doorway pages, scraped content). Spam updates are separate.
• Reviews updates — Targeted at product/service review content quality. Now folded into core updates as of late 2023.
• Helpful Content updates — Now part of core ranking system as of March 2024.
• Manual actions — Penalties applied by human reviewers, communicated via Search Console. Different mechanism entirely.
• Indexing changes — When pages drop out of the index entirely, that's typically a different issue (technical, manual action, or sitewide spam).
• SERP feature changes — When the SERP itself changes layout (more AI Overviews, more videos, etc.), that's separate from core updates though often coincident.

3.3 What Core Updates Reward and Punish

Google's official guidance: "There's nothing wrong with pages that drop after a core update. They haven't violated our spam policies nor are subject to a manual or algorithmic action, as can happen to pages that do violate those policies. In fact, there are no specific actions to take to recover from a core update. Negative rankings are not a signal that you have done anything wrong."

In practice, core updates appear to:

Reward:

• Strong E-E-A-T signals (see framework-eeat.md)
• Helpful Content System compliance (see framework-hcs.md)
• Entity-based authority (see framework-knowledgegraph.md and framework-entitysalience.md)
• Genuine first-hand experience and original content
• Demonstrated topical authority through depth
• Sites with strong reputation research signals (see framework-sqrg.md)
• Sites with high information gain (see framework-infogain.md)
• For YMYL: credentialed authorship and rigorous editorial process

Punish:

• Thin or low-value content
• Aggregated content that doesn't add original insight
• Mass-produced AI content without expert review
• Sites with reputation issues
• YMYL content from non-credentialed sources
• Sites violating spam policies (though spam violations typically trigger spam updates)
• Sites with significant Helpful Content System failures
• Sites that game freshness signals without substantive updates

3.4 The Recovery Truth

Recovery from a core update is possible but not guaranteed. Google's guidance: "Improvements in your content might result in better rankings — though changes might not be reflected until the next core update."

Core updates are evaluative re-baselines. Once Google's evaluation of a site changes negatively, recovery typically requires:

1. The site genuinely improving (content quality, E-E-A-T, etc.)
2. Time for Google to recognize the improvement
3. The next core update incorporating the new evaluation

Sites typically don't "recover" between core updates. They might see modest fluctuation but the major re-baseline happens at the next core update. This means recovery cycles are typically 90+ days minimum, often 6-12 months.

Some sites never recover. If the core update detected fundamental issues with the site's purpose, content strategy, or trust posture, those issues need fundamental remediation. Cosmetic changes don't trigger recovery.

4. Update Detection Protocol

4.1 Signals That an Update Is Happening

Detect updates through multiple signal sources:

4.1.1 Official Google announcements

Google typically announces core updates via:

• @SearchLiaison on X — primary public communication channel
• developers.google.com/search/blog — official blog posts
• status.search.google.com — Search Status Dashboard
• Reddit r/google_seo and r/seo — community confirmation

Set up alerts:

# Monitor SearchLiaison via RSS or alternative
# Monitor Google Search Blog RSS:
# https://developers.google.com/search/blog/feed.xml

4.1.2 SERP volatility tools

Daily volatility tracking:

• Semrush Sensor — semrush.com/sensor/ — daily volatility per category
• Mozcast — moz.com/mozcast/ — Moz's tracker
• Advanced Web Ranking SERP Volatility — daily
• Algoroo — algoroo.com — ranking volatility tracker
• CognitiveSEO Signals — independent volatility tracker

When volatility spikes 7+ across multiple trackers, an update is likely active.

4.1.3 Site-specific signals

For each monitored site, set up:

• GSC daily traffic alerts — flag any day with >15% traffic deviation
• Ranking tracker alerts — flag tracked keywords with >5 position drops
• Server log monitoring — sudden Googlebot crawl pattern changes
• Brand mention alerts — sudden coverage in SEO publications

4.1.4 Industry signal aggregation

Monitor:

• Search Engine Land — official update coverage
• Search Engine Roundtable — Barry Schwartz's daily volatility coverage
• Search Engine Journal — algorithm coverage
• r/SEO — community-level confirmation

4.2 Detection Workflow

When potential update is detected:

1. Confirm via multiple sources — Don't react to single-source rumors
2. Document detection time — Note the moment volatility appeared
3. Note Google's communication status — Has Google confirmed officially?
4. Open algorithm update incident log entry — Begin tracking impact

Algorithm update incident log template at /admin/algorithm-incidents/{{date}}-{{update-name}}.md:

# Update Incident: {{UPDATE_NAME}}

## Detection
- Detected: {{DATETIME}}
- Detection sources: {{LIST}}
- Google confirmation: {{YES/NO/PENDING}}
- Confirmation date: {{DATE_IF_CONFIRMED}}

## Volatility Indicators
- Semrush Sensor: {{SCORE}}/10
- Mozcast: {{SCORE}}
- Other trackers: {{SCORES}}
- Industry sources reporting: {{LIST}}

## Initial Impact Assessment (24 hours post-detection)
- Traffic delta vs 7-day average: {{PERCENTAGE}}
- Top affected pages: {{LIST}}
- Top affected keywords: {{LIST}}

## Working Hypothesis
{{WHAT_WE_THINK_THIS_UPDATE_TARGETS}}

## Status
{{DETECTING / ASSESSING / DIAGNOSING / REMEDIATING / RECOVERING / REVIEWED}}

4.3 The 72-Hour Hold

Critical rule: do not take significant remediation action within 72 hours of detection.

Reasons:

1. The update is probably still rolling out — early data is incomplete
2. SERP volatility within an update is normal and self-corrects
3. Knee-jerk responses cause damage that's hard to reverse
4. The update may not target what you think it targets
5. Three days of data lets you distinguish signal from noise

During the 72-hour hold:

• Document what's happening
• Monitor (don't react)
• Read Google's official communications
• Read industry analysis
• Survey community discussions
• Resist client/stakeholder pressure to "do something now"

After 72 hours, you have enough data to begin assessment.

5. Update Impact Assessment

5.1 Quantitative Impact Analysis

After 72 hours, gather data:

5.1.1 Site-wide traffic delta

Compare: 7-day average post-detection vs 7-day average pre-detection
Compare: Same period year-over-year (control for seasonality)
Compare: Specific weekday-to-weekday (Monday vs Monday)

Calculate:
- Total organic traffic change (%)
- Total organic clicks change (GSC)
- Total impressions change (GSC) — distinguishes ranking from CTR issues
- Average position change (GSC)

5.1.2 Per-page impact

In GSC Performance report:

1. Filter date range: 7 days post-update vs 7 days pre-update
2. Sort by traffic change descending and ascending
3. Identify pages with >25% traffic change in either direction
4. Document URL, change percentage, page type, primary topic

Build a per-page impact spreadsheet:

url,page_type,primary_topic,traffic_pre,traffic_post,traffic_delta_pct,impressions_pre,impressions_post,impressions_delta_pct,position_pre,position_post,position_delta,ymyl_status,word_count,content_age_days,last_refresh_days_ago,has_credentialed_author,notes
/articles/medication-guide,article,health/medication,1247,621,-50.2,4500,3200,-28.9,3.2,4.8,-1.6,full_ymyl,2400,367,367,no,major_loss_no_credentialed_review
/articles/site-speed-guide,article,seo/technical,892,1108,+24.2,3200,3850,+20.3,4.1,3.6,+0.5,non,1850,121,32,yes,small_gain

5.1.3 Per-query impact

In GSC Performance:

1. Pivot by query
2. Identify queries with significant change
3. Determine if changes cluster around specific topics or page types

5.1.4 Per-content-type impact

Group affected pages by type:

• Blog articles
• Service pages
• Product pages
• Local landing pages
• Author/author pages
• Resource/tool pages
• Category/hub pages

Compare change distribution across types. If one type is dramatically worse hit, the update likely targeted something specific to that type.

5.2 Pattern Recognition

Look for patterns among losing pages:

Content patterns:

• Common topic clusters?
• Common content type?
• Common publication age?
• Common author?
• AI vs human-written?
• Original vs aggregated content?
• Length patterns?

Quality patterns:

• Common E-E-A-T weaknesses?
• Common HCS failures?
• Common YMYL gaps?
• Thin content patterns?

Technical patterns:

• Common URL structures?
• Common templates?
• Common rendering issues?
• Common Core Web Vitals issues?

Reputation patterns:

• Topics where the site has weak authority?
• Topics where competitors have stronger E-E-A-T?
• Niches where the site doesn't fit the established expert pattern?

Document patterns in the incident log.

5.3 Hypothesis Formation

After pattern analysis, form 2-3 hypotheses about what the update targeted:

Example hypotheses:

• H1: "Update targeted AI-generated YMYL content without expert review. Pages lost: 80% are AI-assisted YMYL articles. Pages held: 90% have credentialed reviewers."
• H2: "Update reweighted entity-based authority. Pages lost: those on topics where the site lacks topical authority. Pages held: those in our 3 primary topical pillars."
• H3: "Update penalized aggregator pages. Pages lost: 'best of' lists with no original testing. Pages held: original testing/research pages."

Test each hypothesis against the data:

• Does the pattern hold across the affected page set?
• Are there counter-examples?
• Does the hypothesis explain the magnitude of loss?
• Is the hypothesis consistent with Google's official communications?

The hypothesis that explains the most data is most likely correct. If multiple hypotheses fit, multiple changes may have happened.

5.4 External Hypothesis Validation

Compare to industry analysis:

• What's the consensus from Search Engine Land, Search Engine Journal, Barry Schwartz's coverage?
• What patterns are other practitioners reporting?
• Has Google given any specific guidance about this update?

If external analysis matches your internal pattern, confidence is high. If it doesn't match, either your situation is unusual (worth investigating why) or your hypothesis is wrong.

6. Response Protocol

6.1 Response Phase Decision Matrix

Based on impact assessment, choose response track:

Minimal impact (<10% traffic change):

• Document the update
• Monitor for 30 days
• No remediation action
• Review at quarterly resilience audit

Moderate loss (10-30% traffic change):

• Document patterns identified
• Initiate targeted remediation on identified weaknesses
• 60-90 day recovery monitoring
• Full audit using applicable frameworks

Significant loss (30-50%):

• Comprehensive audit using all foundational frameworks
• Aggressive remediation
• 6-12 month recovery expectation
• Strategic review of content portfolio

Catastrophic loss (>50%):

• Full strategic reset
• Remove or significantly remediate large content sections
• Likely 12+ month recovery if at all
• Consider whether site model is viable

6.2 What Not to Do (Immediate)

Within first 30 days post-update, avoid:

• Mass deletion of content — without rigorous analysis, you may delete the wrong content
• Mass canonicalization changes — can compound the problem
• Mass redirect operations — if rankings recover, redirects work against you
• Major site architecture changes — distracts from the actual issue
• Removing internal links — if you misdiagnose, you've lost link equity unnecessarily
• Changing CMS or stack — adds variables that obscure what's working
• Buying/exchanging links — never appropriate, especially during an update
• Mass content rewriting — rewriting hundreds of articles in panic mode produces lower-quality content

6.3 Constructive Response Actions

6.3.1 If E-E-A-T issues identified

Apply framework-eeat.md remediation per pillar:

• Strengthen author credentials and bio pages
• Add reviewer credit to YMYL content
• Improve schema graph for entity recognition
• Build reputation infrastructure
• Add citation lists to factual content

6.3.2 If HCS issues identified

Apply framework-hcs.md remediation:

• Identify and remove/consolidate thin content
• Refocus on topical pillars
• Improve About page substantively
• Add original value markers per article
• Disclose AI use properly

6.3.3 If YMYL issues identified

Apply framework-ymyl.md remediation:

• Add credentialed reviewers
• Add primary literature citations
• Build out editorial and corrections policies
• Add topic-specific disclaimers per article

6.3.4 If entity issues identified

Apply framework-entitysalience.md and framework-knowledgegraph.md:

• Reinforce primary entity per page
• Build entity sameAs graph
• Pursue Wikidata entry
• Strengthen topical hub pages

6.3.5 If technical issues identified

Apply Tier 1 of the 14-tier framework:

• Fix Core Web Vitals issues
• Resolve crawl errors
• Improve mobile experience
• Address indexing problems

6.4 Remediation Documentation

Track every remediation action in the incident log:

## Remediation Actions Taken

### Week 1 ({{DATE_RANGE}})
- {{DATE}}: {{ACTION}} — {{PAGES_AFFECTED}} — {{REASONING}}
- {{DATE}}: {{ACTION}} — {{PAGES_AFFECTED}} — {{REASONING}}

### Week 2 ({{DATE_RANGE}})
- {{DATE}}: {{ACTION}} — {{PAGES_AFFECTED}} — {{REASONING}}

### Week 3+ ({{DATE_RANGE}})
{{...}}

This documentation is essential for:

• Understanding what helped (correlation with recovery)
• Avoiding repeated mistakes
• Learning across multiple updates over time

6.5 Communication With Stakeholders

During an update, communicate clearly with clients/management:

Initial communication (within 48 hours of detection):

• "Google deployed a core update. Industry-wide volatility is significant."
• "Our site is showing {{IMPACT_DESCRIPTION}}."
• "We're in the data-gathering phase. Substantive remediation begins in 72-96 hours."
• "Recovery expectation: {{TIMEFRAME_BASED_ON_IMPACT_LEVEL}}."

Weekly during active update:

• Status of impact (improving/stable/worsening)
• Hypothesis about update targets
• Remediation actions in progress
• What we're not doing and why
• Expected next milestone

Post-stabilization (4-6 weeks post-update):

• Final impact assessment
• Comprehensive remediation plan
• Recovery monitoring schedule
• Strategic recommendations

7. Recovery Tracking

7.1 Recovery Indicators

Monitor weekly:

Recovery signal indicators:

• Traffic trending upward week-over-week
• Lost keywords regaining position
• Affected pages crawled more frequently
• New impressions in GSC for previously suppressed queries
• Indexed page count returning to baseline
• Engagement metrics improving on remediated content

Continued suppression indicators:

• Traffic remains flat at reduced level
• Keywords don't recover position
• Crawl frequency doesn't return to baseline
• New content also struggles to rank

7.2 Recovery Timeline Expectations

Based on impact severity:

Recovery is not linear. Expect ups and downs week-to-week. The trend over 30-60 day windows is what matters.

7.3 Cross-Update Recovery Patterns

Review historical update impact data:

• Did this site recover from previous updates? On what timeline?
• Were recovery efforts effective?
• What patterns of remediation correlate with recovery?

Build institutional memory of what works for this specific site.

7.4 When Recovery Doesn't Happen

If 6-12 months post-update show no recovery signals:

1. Reassess hypothesis — was the diagnosis correct?
2. Audit remediation execution — did we actually do what we documented?
3. Compare to recovered competitors — what did they do differently?
4. Consider strategic reset — is the site model fundamentally compromised?

Strategic resets may include:

• Migrating to a new domain
• Spinning off categories into separate sites
• Drastically reducing content footprint
• Rebuilding from a different angle

These are major decisions made over months of consideration, not immediate post-update reactions.

8. Building Resilience to Future Updates

The best response to a core update is having built a site that wasn't going to be hit by it in the first place. Resilient sites share characteristics.

8.1 Foundational Resilience

E-E-A-T strong by default — Sites that score 110+/130 on E-E-A-T audit before an update are resilient by default. Apply framework-eeat.md continuously, not reactively.

HCS-aligned content strategy — Sites that publish for users, not for search, weather updates better. Apply framework-hcs.md.

YMYL standards maintained — YMYL content meeting elevated standards rarely loses in updates. Apply framework-ymyl.md.

Entity authority — Sites with strong entity recognition through Wikidata, Wikipedia, schema graph, and topical authority weather updates better. Apply framework-knowledgegraph.md and framework-entitysalience.md.

8.2 Content Portfolio Resilience

Topical focus — Sites covering 3-7 topics deeply outperform sites covering 30 topics shallowly. Don't dilute.

Quality over quantity — Better to have 100 high-quality articles than 1000 mediocre ones. The mediocre ones drag the whole site down.

Genuine first-hand expertise — Content built on actual experience holds value through algorithm changes.

Original research and insight — Information Gain (see framework-infogain.md) is durable across updates.

Refresh discipline — Time-sensitive content kept current; outdated content retired.

8.3 Trust Infrastructure Resilience

Reputation infrastructure — Strong reviews, earned media, industry recognition compound over time and protect against reputation-targeting updates.

Author identity stability — Real, credentialed, persistent authors. Not turnover-heavy author rosters.

Technical foundations solid — Fast, secure, accessible, well-structured sites are easier for Google to evaluate accurately.

8.4 Operational Resilience

Algorithm update log maintained — Every update tracked. Learning compounds.

Quarterly resilience audits — Catch drift before it costs.

Foundational framework compliance — These frameworks are not one-time installs. Maintain compliance continuously.

Don't over-optimize — Aggressive optimization creates fragility. Sites that try to game algorithms get hit by algorithm changes.

8.5 Resilience Audit

Quarterly, score the site against:

Score: 30 max. Resilient site: 25+/30. Sites scoring below 20 are at substantial risk in core updates.

9. Learning From Updates

9.1 Post-Update Review Cadence

After each core update completes (typically 4-6 weeks post-rollout):

1. Conduct full impact analysis
2. Validate or revise hypothesis
3. Document what remediation worked or didn't
4. Update institutional knowledge
5. Update this framework if patterns suggest framework gaps

9.2 Cross-Update Pattern Analysis

Annually, review all algorithm update incidents:

• What patterns repeat across updates?
• What characteristics of this site keep getting hit?
• What characteristics keep being rewarded?
• What strategic changes should the site consider?

9.3 Industry Learning Integration

Continuously consume:

• Search Engine Land's algorithm coverage
• Google Search Central blog
• Search Engine Roundtable's daily reports
• WhitePress, Search Engine Journal analysis
• @SearchLiaison communications

But filter heavily — much SEO commentary is speculation. Trust patterns from your own data more than generic guidance.

10. Spam Updates and Manual Actions (Adjacent Issues)

While this document is about core updates specifically, related events require similar protocols.

10.1 Spam Updates

Spam updates target manipulative practices. If a site is hit by a spam update:

• Review Google's spam policies (developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies)
• Identify and remediate violating practices
• Recovery from spam updates can be faster than core updates if violations are clearly remediated

10.2 Manual Actions

Manual actions are penalties applied by human reviewers and communicated via Search Console.

• Check Search Console > Security & Manual Actions > Manual actions regularly
• If a manual action is issued, follow Google's reconsideration request process
• Document everything; reconsideration requires showing remediation

10.3 Algorithmic Action Without Public Update

Sometimes sites lose ranking without a publicly-named update. Possible causes:

• Localized algorithm changes
• Targeted spam intervention
• Hacking/security compromise
• Technical issue (de-indexing, canonical confusion)
• Reputation event

Investigation:

1. Check Search Console for security warnings, manual actions
2. Audit technical health (crawl errors, indexability, redirects)
3. Audit reputation (new negative content, hacked pages)
4. Audit content (was something published that violates policies?)
5. Compare to volatility trackers — was there an unannounced update?

Many "algorithmic actions" without public updates turn out to be technical issues or reputation issues remediable by direct action.

11. Audit Mode

11.1 Algorithm Update Preparedness Audit

Score the site:

11.2 Active Update Response Audit

If currently in an active update response, score:

11.3 Post-Update Review Audit

After update completes (4-6 weeks post-rollout), score:

12. Common Mistakes & Anti-Patterns

12.1 Panic Reaction

Anti-pattern: Within 48 hours of detecting an update, mass-deleting content or rewriting articles.

Why it fails: Premature action based on incomplete data causes more damage than the update did.

Fix: Respect the 72-hour hold. Gather data before acting.

12.2 Misdiagnosis

Anti-pattern: Assuming the update targeted thing X without checking the data, then remediating for thing X.

Why it fails: If the update actually targeted thing Y, your remediation doesn't help — and it may hurt by introducing new issues.

Fix: Data-driven hypothesis formation. Validate hypothesis against patterns and external sources before acting.

12.3 Treating Updates as Penalties

Anti-pattern: Believing the site was "punished" and looking for what to "fix" to make Google "stop punishing."

Why it fails: Updates re-evaluate quality holistically. Looking for a specific "violation" misses the structural nature of the change.

Fix: Treat updates as evaluative re-baselines. Improve the site genuinely, not as remediation theater.

12.4 Expecting Quick Recovery

Anti-pattern: Running emergency remediation hoping for recovery within weeks.

Why it fails: Recovery typically takes 90+ days minimum, often 6-12 months. Expecting faster sets up false hope and premature additional changes.

Fix: Realistic recovery expectations. Plan for the long game.

12.5 Single Update Focus

Anti-pattern: Treating each update as isolated event, not learning across them.

Why it fails: Misses pattern recognition. Sites that don't learn keep getting hit by similar update types.

Fix: Cross-update pattern analysis. Build institutional learning.

12.6 Tracker Chasing

Anti-pattern: Reacting to daily volatility tracker fluctuations as if every spike is a major update.

Why it fails: Most volatility is noise. Reacting to noise causes thrashing.

Fix: Trust multi-source confirmation before treating something as a major update.

12.7 Ignoring Foundational Frameworks

Anti-pattern: Trying to recover from an update without ever auditing E-E-A-T, HCS, YMYL, or SQRG compliance.

Why it fails: Updates reward sites that comply with foundational frameworks. Skipping them limits recovery.

Fix: Use update events as forcing function for foundational framework audits.

12.8 Stakeholder Pressure-Driven Decisions

Anti-pattern: Making changes because a client or executive demands action, not because data supports it.

Why it fails: Pressure-driven changes often hurt more than help.

Fix: Educate stakeholders on the 72-hour hold, the diagnostic process, and realistic recovery timelines. Hold the line on data-driven response.

12.9 Ignoring Spam Update vs Core Update Distinction

Anti-pattern: Treating a spam update like a core update or vice versa.

Why it fails: Different remediation protocols. Spam violations need direct remediation; core update issues need quality improvement.

Fix: Identify which type of update is occurring before responding.

12.10 Over-Documenting While Under-Acting

Anti-pattern: Spending all energy documenting impact and analyzing patterns, never actually executing remediation.

Why it fails: Analysis paralysis prevents recovery.

Fix: Documentation supports action, doesn't replace it. After 7-14 days of analysis, execute remediation in parallel with continued monitoring.

13. Maintenance Schedule

13.1 Daily

• Monitor SERP volatility trackers
• Check GSC for traffic anomalies
• Watch @SearchLiaison and industry news for update mentions

13.2 Weekly

• Review tracked keyword positions for unusual movement
• Check brand search results for new negative content
• Monitor traffic patterns for trend shifts

13.3 Monthly

• Review crawl stats for unusual patterns
• Check for new manual actions or security issues
• Assess content portfolio quality distribution

13.4 Quarterly

• Full resilience audit (Section 8.5)
• Foundational framework compliance refresh (E-E-A-T, HCS, YMYL, SQRG)
• Cross-incident pattern review
• Update institutional knowledge base

13.5 Annually

• Comprehensive year-in-review of all updates and impacts
• Strategic resilience planning for upcoming year
• Framework document revisions based on year's learning
• Stakeholder education on update reality

13.6 During Active Update

• 24-hour intervals during first week
• 72-hour intervals during weeks 2-4
• Weekly during recovery monitoring (months 2-6)

14. Implementation/Audit Report Templates

14.1 Post-Update Analysis Report Template

# Post-Update Analysis: {{UPDATE_NAME}}

## Update Identification
- Update name: {{NAME}}
- Detected: {{DATETIME}}
- Confirmed by Google: {{DATETIME}}
- Rollout completed: {{DATETIME}}
- Industry consensus on focus: {{SUMMARY}}

## Impact on This Site
- Total traffic change: {{PERCENTAGE}}
- Direction: {{LOSS/GAIN/MIXED}}
- Pages with >25% loss: {{COUNT}}
- Pages with >25% gain: {{COUNT}}
- Average position change: {{NUMBER}}
- Magnitude classification: {{MINIMAL/MODERATE/SIGNIFICANT/CATASTROPHIC}}

## Pages Most Affected
### Largest Losses
{{TABLE_OF_TOP_10_LOSSES}}

### Largest Gains
{{TABLE_OF_TOP_10_GAINS}}

## Pattern Analysis
{{IDENTIFIED_PATTERNS_ACROSS_AFFECTED_PAGES}}

## Hypothesis
**Primary hypothesis**: {{H1_DESCRIPTION}}
**Evidence supporting**: {{EVIDENCE}}
**Counter-evidence**: {{COUNTER_EVIDENCE}}

**Alternative hypothesis**: {{H2_DESCRIPTION}}
**Evidence supporting**: {{EVIDENCE}}

**Hypothesis confidence**: {{LOW/MEDIUM/HIGH}}

## Remediation Plan
### Phase 1 (Immediate)
{{ACTIONS}}

### Phase 2 (30 days)
{{ACTIONS}}

### Phase 3 (90 days)
{{ACTIONS}}

## Recovery Tracking
- 30-day check-in: {{SCHEDULED_DATE}}
- 60-day check-in: {{SCHEDULED_DATE}}
- 90-day check-in: {{SCHEDULED_DATE}}

## Lessons for Future Updates
{{INSIGHTS_TO_INTEGRATE}}

## Sign-Off
{{ANALYST_NAME}}, {{DATE}}

14.2 Algorithm Update Audit Report Template

# Algorithm Update Preparedness Audit

**Site**: {{BUSINESS_NAME}}
**Audit Date**: {{TODAY}}

## Resilience Score
{{X}}/30 — {{RESILIENT/AT_RISK/VULNERABLE}}

## Foundational Framework Status
- E-E-A-T: {{SCORE}}/130
- HCS: {{SCORE}}/54
- YMYL: {{SCORE}}/48 (if applicable)
- SQRG: {{ESTIMATED_RATING}}

## Monitoring Infrastructure Status
{{LIST_WITH_STATUS}}

## Response Capability Status
{{LIST_WITH_STATUS}}

## Past Update Impact History
{{TABLE_OF_PAST_UPDATES}}

## Risk Assessment
{{ASSESSMENT_OF_LIKELY_VULNERABILITIES}}

## Recommended Resilience Improvements
{{PRIORITIZED_LIST}}

## Sign-Off

End of Framework Document

Document version: 1.0
Last updated: 2026-04-29
Maintained by: ThatDeveloperGuy

Core updates are the most disruptive periodic events in SEO. The frameworks in this document — combined with foundational compliance with E-E-A-T, HCS, YMYL, SQRG, and entity-based authority — create resilience. Sites that build resilience proactively spend less time in reactive recovery. Sites that wait for updates to expose weaknesses spend significant time in recovery cycles.

The most important truth about core updates: the best response is not having needed one in the first place. Build sites that earn their rankings through genuine quality. Audit continuously. Improve continuously. Don't wait for updates to reveal what was always going to be revealed.

Companion documents:

• framework-eeat.md
• framework-ymyl.md
• framework-hcs.md
• framework-sqrg.md
• framework-infogain.md
• framework-entitysalience.md
• framework-knowledgegraph.md
• framework-aicitations.md

About this framework library

This article is the Dev.to republish of a framework reference document from ThatDevPro's SEO + AI engineering library. Canonical source: https://www.thatdevpro.com/insights/framework-coreupdates/

ThatDevPro is an SDVOSB-certified veteran-owned web + AI engineering studio operating from Cassville, Missouri. The studio runs the full 14-tier Engine Optimization stack and ships open-source tooling for AI citation engineering.

Companion 14-tier Engine Optimization stack (each tier is its own article):

1. Tier 1 — Foundation
2. Tier 2 — Search Visibility
3. Tier 3 — AI Domination
4. Tier 4 — Entity and Authority
5. Tier 5 — Local Domination
6. Tier 6 — Content and Multimedia
7. Tier 7 — Social and Community
8. Tier 8 — Data, Analytics, Conversion
9. Tier 9 — Monitoring and Intelligence
10. Tier 10 — Workflow and Operations
11. Tier 11 — Marketplace and Retail
12. Tier 12 — International
13. Tier 14 — Advanced and Immersive

Need this framework implemented on your site? See the Engine Optimization service or hire through ThatDevPro contact.