The June 2025 Google Core Update, which rolled out from June 30 to July 17, delivered a significant evolution in how Google evaluates and displays content. This update built upon previous changes, especially the March 2025 update, by integrating advanced artificial intelligence into search, expanding AI Overviews, and introducing new mechanisms for zero-click search experiences. The update reinforced Google’s emphasis on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness), prioritising high-value content that meets user intent with depth, originality, and transparency.
The update included the rollout of Audio Overviews, enabling AI-generated voice summaries to appear in select search results, each citing authoritative sources. Google also enhanced Search Console with a 24-hour comparison feature, allowing site owners to monitor ranking volatility and respond to performance changes in near real time.
Volatility during this rollout was broad-based. The update impacted news media, affiliate, e-commerce, and YMYL (Your Money, Your Life) sectors, as well as any site dependent on programmatic or mass-produced content, especially those with significant AI-generated materials.
Comparison
While both the March and June 2025 core updates were broad in scope, their technical focus and market effects differed in critical ways.
- March 2025: Targeted mass, low-quality, and programmatic content; devalued templated affiliate and forum sites; emphasised author transparency and firsthand expertise.
- June 2025: Built upon this foundation, expanding the use of AI Overviews and zero-click features, further raising the bar on E-E-A-T, and piloting new audio and ad placements within Google’s AI Mode.
Update features
Feature | March 2025 | June 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Rollout duration | 14 days | 16–18 days |
| Core focus | Eliminate low-quality content | Reinforce E-E-A-T, deepen informative content |
| Affected sectors | Health, finance, retail, travel | News, affiliates, YMYL, e-commerce, info sites |
| New features | Standard core refinement | AI Overviews, AI Mode, Search Console tools |
| AI overviews | Spike in select queries | Broad integration, increased zero-click events |
| AI Mode | US pilot, early experimentation | Wider integration, ad placement, “Search Live” |
| User/Intent | Valued firsthand expertise, YMYL | Greater alignment, UX/technical signals |
| Forum/Programmatic | Forums (excl. Reddit) devalued | Ongoing suppression of low-depth AI content |
| SERP | High in health/finance; snippet drops | Impressions up, clicks down, zero-click surge |
| Search Console | N/A | 24-hour comparison view for updates |
Zero-click AI
Zero-click AI, commonly referred to as zero-click search or AI Overviews, represents a fundamental change in how users interact with Google’s search engine. In this paradigm, users receive direct answers on Google’s results page, removing the necessity to click through to external sites.
AI-generated summaries, or "AI Overviews," synthesise credible information from multiple authoritative sources and are positioned prominently at the top of results. These are complemented by other zero-click formats, including featured snippets, direct answer boxes, knowledge panels, People Also Ask, local packs, rich snippets, calculators, and converters.
Impact
- Zero-click rate: 60% of searches now result in zero clicks, with users satisfied by information on the results page.
- Publisher traffic: News sites, for example, saw annual visits drop from 2.3 billion to 1.7 billion after the expansion of AI Overviews.
- E-commerce and affiliates: Traditional click-through declines; brand mentions and visual placements gain importance.
Google AI Mode
Google’s AI Mode, also known as Search Generative Experience (SGE), introduces a conversational and interactive interface for search, powered by Gemini 2.5. This mode allows users to engage in follow-up actions such as booking appointments or contacting businesses directly from the search results.
This interface continues to evolve and is gradually being introduced outside the United States, though branding and features may vary. The broader use of SGE and AI Overviews shifts user journeys away from external websites and towards a self-contained Google experience, heightening the challenge for businesses reliant on organic search traffic.
Impact analysis
Challenges
- Reduced click-through rates:
As more queries are satisfied on the results page itself, click-through rates (CTR) for traditional blue links are declining. This is particularly acute for news, informational, and affiliate websites, where users often find concise answers or summaries without leaving Google. - Traffic volatility:
Publishers, e-commerce brands, and informational sites are experiencing significant declines in organic traffic as a larger proportion of user queries result in zero-click outcomes.
Opportunities
- Brand visibility
Being cited by Google’s AI Overviews delivers reputational value, even if it does not immediately convert to traffic. This increases trust and may drive future branded searches or direct visits. - SERP feature
Adapting content to match the format and requirements of featured snippets, AI Overviews, and other zero-click features can improve a brand’s presence and authority within search. - Diversification
Expanding visibility beyond Google, via social search (TikTok, YouTube), niche forums, and voice search, mitigates the risk of reliance on organic clicks from traditional search results.
Compliance
The March and June updates together created a strict environment for AI-generated and programmatic content:
Area | March 2025 | June 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Mass-produced AI content | Penalised thin, generic, repetitive AI content | Ongoing suppression, only expert-reviewed and deep AI content retained |
| Originality and value | Emphasis on unique, firsthand expertise | Additional trust/authority signals needed |
| Programmatic SEO | Templated/affiliate sites penalised, deindexed | Continued devaluation unless expert-driven |
| E-E-A-T requirements | Stronger author scrutiny | Further scrutiny, clear expertise mandatory |
| SERP/CTR | Drop in CTR for generic pages | Zero-click surges, AI Overviews show only authoritative content |
Only well-cited, original, and expert-enhanced AI content is being surfaced in AI Overviews. Generic or unedited AI content and mass programmatic pages are now systematically excluded from Google’s top results.
Australian
News and Media
Australian publishers face greater scrutiny. Authority, original reporting, and editorial transparency are required for inclusion in AI Overviews and Google News.
- Significant volatility is seen as global and local publishers compete for citations in zero-click answers.
Retail and E-Commerce
Sites with thin or duplicated product listings have lost visibility. Original, in-depth product guides with compliance and customer experience details are rewarded. Adherence to Australian Consumer Law, ACCC advertising guidelines, and privacy standards is now an indirect ranking factor.
- Thin or duplicate product listings now face ranking drops.
- Sites optimising for authoritative reviews, customer experience, and compliance information see improved rankings.
Health and Finance (YMYL)
Strict compliance is essential. Content must be regularly updated by domain experts and meet regulatory requirements. Trust, author credentials, and transparency are mandatory to avoid devaluation.
- Regulatory compliance with local standards is mandatory; failure leads to devaluation.
- Content must be continually updated and reviewed by experts.
Programmatic sites
Mass AI-generated or templated reviews are heavily filtered out. Only genuine, expert-authored reviews and comparisons with clear value to users are retained.
- Mass AI-generated reviews or thin comparison pages are now routinely filtered out.
- Only genuine, expert-authored reviews with clear value are sustained.
Compliance
Australian businesses must ensure full compliance with the Privacy Act, ACCC guidance, and advertising regulations. Transparency in author profiles, disclosure statements, and fact-checked expertise aligns both with Google’s trust signals and Australian law.
Recommendations
- Content
Remove or update low-value, thin, or duplicative content, especially AI-generated and programmatic material. - E-E-A-T
Highlight author credentials, organisational authority, and unique perspectives in all published content. - Zero-click
Structure pages with clear, concise answers, bullet points, and FAQs for inclusion in AI Overviews and other SERP features. - Monitor
Utilise the 24-hour comparison tool in Search Console to respond rapidly to volatility and performance changes. - Diversify
Expand brand presence to YouTube, TikTok, industry platforms, and voice search to reduce reliance on traditional organic clicks.
The June 2025 Google Core Update represents a turning point in search. Compared to March 2025, it deepens Google’s investment in AI Overviews, zero-click experiences, and stringent quality signals. For Australian organisations, compliance, editorial transparency, and ongoing adaptation are no longer optional.
Next steps:
- Perform a comprehensive audit of all digital content.
- Prioritise regulatory and trust signals in every piece.
- Optimise for both AI Overviews and classic SEO.
- Monitor search and user trends closely, adapting strategy proactively.
Organisations that invest early in these areas will sustain their authority and visibility, even as Google’s AI-led evolution transforms the search landscape.