Why Your Rankings Dropped (or Rose) After Google’s June 2025 Update

Hey there,

Another core update. Another ranking shuffle.

If your site gained visibility in June, congrats—you likely aligned with Google’s latest priorities. If traffic dipped, this update might explain why.

Let’s break down what changed, what it means for your site, and how to adapt your strategy moving forward.

What Is the June 2025 Core Update?

The update rolled out quietly in early June, but SEOs didn’t take long to notice the impact.

The usual volatility followed:

• High-authority sites jumped in visibility.
  

• Thin content and niche affiliate sites saw losses.
  

• Some helpful content pages disappeared—while older, trusted domains resurfaced.
  

So what’s really going on?

This time, it’s not just about content quality. It’s about how Google’s new infrastructure is interpreting that content.

Meet MUVERA and the Graph Foundation Model

Google is now leaning more on its Graph Foundation Model (GFM) and MUVERA—its Multi-Vertical Embedding Representational Architecture.

That’s a mouthful. But here’s the bottom line:

Google isn’t just crawling your content anymore. It’s interpreting, connecting, and contextualizing — across verticals and formats.

MUVERA and GFM help Google understand relationships between pages, brands, entities, and authors. They go beyond keywords to focus on topical authority and semantic relevance.

This aligns with what Google’s Search team has hinted at over the past year—especially in the “Search Off the Record” podcast and various documentation updates.

What Changed in June?

1. Authority Over Keywords

Sites ranking primarily through exact-match keywords took a hit — even some with decent content lost visibility if they lacked brand, expertise, or semantic structure.

Sites that grew authority in a niche—through helpful content, trusted backlinks, and consistent publishing—rose.

2. Entity Understanding Got Smarter

If Google sees you as a known entity—tied to a brand, person, or organization—you now have an edge.

This benefits creators and companies with author bios, schema markup, branded search volume, and consistent identity across the web.

3. Sitewide Trust Signals Mattered

Instead of judging individual pages in isolation, Google looked at the site as a whole.
One strong blog post won’t save a low-quality domain. But a well-built site with moderate posts saw gains because it scored better across the board.

4. AI Evaluation Signals Are Increasing

This update seems attuned for how AI interprets content, too. If your site isn’t readable or referenceable by large language models (LLMs), you may struggle with both Google and AI-powered experiences (like Google SGE or Perplexity).

What Does This Mean for You?

If you’re still relying on old tactics—like long-tail spam, 500-word listicles, or weak guest posts—it’s time to evolve.

Here’s what Google’s update really told us:

Build a brand.
Build authority.
Structure your content for humans and machines.

How to Adapt Your SEO Strategy

✅ 1. Audit for Topical Authority

Group your content into themes. Ask:

• Are you covering your niche comprehensively?
  

• Do you link related articles?
  

• Are you becoming a go-to resource in your space?

Use internal linking, pillar pages, and content hubs to signal depth.

✅ 2. Enhance Entity Clarity

• Add organization and author schema.

• Use consistent naming, bios, and contact info across all platforms.

• Google needs to know who you are—not just what you wrote.

✅ 3. Structure Content for AI & SEO

AI-first ranking is real. So is AI-first crawling.

Your content should be:

• Clear (structured with H2s, lists, and logical flow)
  

• Credible (with external citations or references)
  

• Contextual (explains why something matters, not just what it is)

If an AI model like Gemini or ChatGPT can summarize or cite your content clearly, you’re on the right track.

✅ 4. Review Sitewide Trust Signals

Update your About page, contact info, author bios, and privacy policy. These aren’t fluff. They build trust.

Also, remove or update low-quality content. It can drag down the entire site’s quality signal.

✅ 5. Watch Google’s Experiments

Google’s search team continues to test AI summaries, visual overviews, and zero-click results. Core updates like this aren’t just algorithm tweaks—they’re prepping search for a multimodal, AI-driven future.

Stay ahead of it.

Final Thoughts

June’s update didn’t just reward better content—it rewarded better context.

If your site tells a clear story, builds authority, and serves users well, you’re in good shape. If not, it’s time to adapt.

SEO in 2025 isn’t just about content anymore. It’s about becoming a trusted source, structured for both users and intelligent machines.

And if you need help doing that? That’s what I’m here for.

Want help rebuilding your rankings?

Book an SEO strategy call with me here →

Let’s get your traffic trending up again—this time for good.

Until next week,
Shane

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Shane Barker