June 2025 AI & SEO News Roundup
📅 Month Overview
June 2025 was a seismic month for AI and SEO, ending with Google’s surprise core update announcement on the final day. Between massive ranking volatility, AI Mode going public, and major Search Console updates, this month reshaped the search landscape more than any single month in 2025.
🚨 BREAKING: Google June 2025 Core Update
The Last-Day Surprise
On June 30, 2025, Google released the June 2025 core update, stating “The rollout may take up to 3 weeks to complete” – making this the second major core update of 2025, following March’s massive algorithm change.
SERP Volatility Throughout June
The update wasn’t entirely unexpected. Since late April, volatility has shown up nearly every week, with reports on April 9, 16, 22, and 25, then May 1, 8, 12-13, 16, 21, 29, June 4, 9, and finally June 16-18 
Most Affected Industries:
- Finance, Health, News, and Food showed the highest volatility, with these YMYL categories tied to trust and product reviews seeing the most movement
- Local businesses experienced dramatic map pack reshuffling
- E-commerce pages lost mobile visibility
The AI Connection
Google has not confirmed a core update, but the patterns suggest background adjustments connected to AI Overviews and zero-click behavior – indicating this update may be Google’s biggest AI integration yet.
🤖 AI Mode Goes Public
Full US Rollout
AI Mode rolled out to all US users and then Google brought it to Labs for users in India, representing Google’s most significant search interface change since mobile-first indexing.
Revolutionary Search Experience
AI Mode offers a conversational, ChatGPT-like interface where users can ask complex, multi-part questions and receive detailed responses with follow-up capabilities. AI Overviews is driving over 10% increase in usage of Google for the types of queries that show AI Overviews
Deep Search Capabilities
Google announced Deep Search coming to AI Mode, which “can issue hundreds of searches, reason across disparate pieces of information, and create an expert-level fully-cited report in just minutes”
📊 Search Console Gets Major Upgrades
New Integrated Insights Report
On June 30, 2025, Google announced the new version of Search Console Insights, integrated directly into the main Search Console interface, replacing the current standalone beta experience
Key Features:
- Trending Analysis: Identify “trending up” and “trending down” pages
- Simplified Metrics: Accessible insights without requiring data expertise
- Achievement System: Milestone tracking for SEO progress
- Deeper Integration: Enhanced connection with Performance reports
AI Mode Data Integration
Starting June 16, 2025, Google’s AI Mode counts toward the totals you see in your Search Console Performance report
How AI Mode Metrics Work:
- Clicks: Any external link click in AI Mode counts
- Impressions: Page appearance in AI response counts
- Positions: Calculated like standard search results
The Data Mixing Problem
Google Search Console starting lumping AI Mode data into the performance report, which makes things worse, not better – creating confusion for SEO professionals who need to understand traditional vs. AI traffic sources.
🎙️ Voice & Audio Revolution
Search Live Launch
On June 18, Google announced they are launching a new “Search Live” voice search feature in the Google mobile apps for both Android and iOS, available for US-based users enrolled in the AI Mode experiment
Audio Overviews Testing
Google is testing Audio overviews in Google Search, with live audio search available but live visual being tested – signaling Google’s push into multimodal search experiences.
📈 Traffic & Click Impact Analysis
The Zero-Click Reality
One user on WebmasterWorld wrote, “Impressions are fine. But clicks are crashing. It’s like people see us, but never click” – highlighting the growing disconnect between visibility and traffic.
AI Overview Impact
AI Overviews appear to be a major factor. In some cases, impressions increased because summaries now display above traditional blue links. But users no longer need to click through if answers are shown directly
Local Business Disruption
Local businesses saw the Google 3 Pack reshuffle repeatedly. Some listings dropped out during peak hours, then returned with new review highlights or different categories displayed
🔧 Technical Updates
Structured Data Changes
On June 12, Google announced the phase‑out of seven low‑usage structured data types—including Book Actions, Course Info, Claim Review, Estimated Salary, Learning Video, Special Announcement, and Vehicle Listing
New Loyalty Programs Support
Google added support for loyalty programs structured data, expanding e-commerce optimization opportunities.
Google Serving Bug
Google confirmed a serving bug that caused some serious issues one night, temporarily disrupting search results.
📰 Industry Interviews & Insights
Google Executive Statements
June saw multiple high-profile interviews with Google executives:
- Sundar Pichai: “Google AI Mode Will Be Incorporated Into The Main Search”
- Liz Reid: Discussed ads and SEO integration with AI search
- Executive team: “Google Questions AI Overview Click Studies & Says Web Is Thriving”
The Reality Gap
Some of those interviews make you wonder if they live in the same planet as we do. Google seems to have recently been indexing less, we have the great decoupling – highlighting the disconnect between Google’s optimistic messaging and SEO professionals’ experiences.
🌍 Global Impact
International Expansion
Google’s June 2025 core update is here, and Indian marketers are already bracing for the aftershocks, with this update marking Google’s second major shake-up of the year
ChatGPT Competition
ChatGPT Mostly Source Wikipedia; Google AI Overviews Mostly Source Reddit – revealing the different content preferences of major AI systems.
📊 Key Statistics
- AI Mode Usage: Over 10% increase in usage of Google for queries that show AI Overviews
- Visual Search: More than 1.5 billion people are using Google Lens to search what they see every month
- Core Update Timeline: 3 weeks for full rollout (June 30 – July 21, 2025)
🎯 What This Means for SEOs
Immediate Actions
- Monitor Core Update Impact: Track rankings and traffic changes through July
- Embrace AI Mode Optimization: Ensure content can be cited by AI systems
- Explore New Search Console Insights: Use trending data for content planning
- Prepare for Zero-Click Reality: Develop brand awareness strategies
Strategic Shifts
- Multi-Platform Thinking: Optimize for Google, ChatGPT, and emerging AI systems
- Voice & Audio Content: Prepare for audio search experiences
- Original Research Focus: Become a primary source for AI citations
- User Experience Priority: Sites with poor engagement suffered most in June
🔮 Looking Ahead to July
Expected Developments
- June Core Update completion and impact assessment
- AI Mode integration with main Google Search
- Continued AI Overviews expansion
- Voice search feature refinements
Watch for
- Further Search Console AI data integration
- New structured data opportunities
- Continued SERP volatility as algorithms settle
- Evolution of zero-click search strategies
💡 Bottom Line
June 2025 marked the month when AI search transitioned from experimental to mainstream. The combination of the core update, AI Mode public launch, and Search Console integration represents Google’s most aggressive push toward AI-first search experiences.
Key Takeaway: Traditional SEO isn’t dead, but it’s rapidly evolving. Success now requires optimizing for both human users and AI systems, with a focus on expertise, authority, and becoming a primary source for information rather than just ranking high.
The search landscape that emerges from July’s core update completion will likely be fundamentally different from the one we knew in May – and that’s exactly what Google intended.
