2026-02-04 AEO, GEO, Agentic Commerce Update
TL;DR
- •Measurement is getting shakier: a new analysis suggests GSC query data misses a large portion of impressions, pushing teams to triangulate with other signals.
- •Google clarified crawler file-size limits (not a behavior change, but it affects how teams reason about crawl + indexing constraints).
- •Google is now filing bugs directly against WordPress/WooCommerce plugin crawl-waste issues—crawl problems are increasingly 'plugin-layer' problems.
- •WordPress published AI contribution guidelines (anti 'AI slop'), signaling stricter norms for AI-generated code/content quality in major ecosystems.
- •SEO/GEO ops: annual roadmaps break faster because AI integrations + retrieval logic shift continuously—planning needs shorter cycles and faster instrumentation.
Key Updates
1) GSC data may be materially incomplete → measurement stack needs redundancy
A new analysis argues Google Search Console's query-level reporting can hide a significant share of impressions, making single-source decisions risky—especially when AI features change click behavior. Practical implication: build a lightweight 'measurement redundancy' system (rank trackers + server logs + analytics + AIO visibility tracking) so you can distinguish AIO cannibalization vs. true demand drop.
2) Google clarified Googlebot file-size limits docs (doc clarity, not behavior change)
Google updated documentation to separate general crawler defaults from Googlebot specifics, including different limits for HTML/text vs PDFs. Even if it's 'just docs,' it matters operationally: large docs/PDF-heavy sites (common in B2B) should treat file-size constraints as part of their 'AI visibility surface area,' since crawling infrastructure also serves products beyond classic Search.
3) Google's crawl team is filing bugs against WordPress plugins (crawl waste is now a platform ecosystem issue)
Google's crawl team reportedly filed issues against ecommerce plugin behavior that can waste crawl budget (e.g., URL parameter / add-to-cart patterns). For ecommerce + content sites, this shifts the playbook: crawl health isn't only 'your SEO team's problem'—it's also vendor/plugin governance. Teams should audit parameter explosions and push fixes upstream with plugin maintainers.
4) WordPress published AI guidelines to reduce 'AI slop' (quality standards are tightening)
WordPress published AI usage guidelines for contributors, explicitly calling out 'AI slop' patterns (e.g., hallucinated references, generic PRs). Commercial implication: ecosystems will increasingly reward verifiable quality (tested, attributable, license-compatible). For GEO/AEO, this points to a broader trend: platforms will bias toward content/code that is auditable and provenance-aware.
5) Why SEO roadmaps break: continuous updates + AI integrations shorten planning half-life
The argument: search behavior and retrieval change continuously (SERP layouts, AI integrations, retrieval logic), so annual plans become fragile. GTM implication: treat SEO/GEO like product growth—run shorter cycles, instrument faster, and allocate budget for 'continuous adaptation' (not one-time projects).
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