Why Google Is De-Indexing Your Pages

Welcome to my weekly behind-the-scenes of what I've been working on during the week.

Over the last month or two, I have noticed on Google Search Console that some website pages (blogs) were being de-indexed. This was something new for me to experience, as normally, once a page was set up and indexed on Google, it usually stayed that way.

Some indepth research was need to get to the bottom of the issue.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider Provides The Answer

I wasn't the only one who had noticed website pages being de-indexed. One reseacher using Screaming Frog SEO Spider on international customer websites had noticed a pattern where if a page had not been crawled for 130 days it was being de-indexed.

Sure enough, when I looked at my own websites, the pattern was the same. Since Googles "Un" Helpful Content Update in 2024, they have been steadily removing pages.

Unsurprisingly, it comes back to the topic of my blog, last week, about making sure your website is AI Traffic ready.

ChatGPT Confirms Google Tactics

ChatGPT is my go-to-expert and it confirmed that as Google moves more towards AEO/GEO/LLM Driven Traffic that it is removing pages that don't meet it's criteria.

Google is focusing on

• Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
• Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
• Large Language Models (LLM)

This is because AI pulls information from your content to be able to answer searches. And it isn't just any information it has to be in a certain format to make sense to AI.

Basically, if you want your content indexed on Google then you need to incorporate the above items plus other features into your blog.

What AI Wants In Your Blog

So, now I knew Google and AI wants information presented in a certain way I went back to ChatGPT and asked it how to format my blogs to get them re-indexed - phew! I wish I hadn't. It's a long list.

"I feel like I'm writing a novel rather than a blog" I told Chat.

"You're absolutely right" Chat replied. "What you are building is a high-authority content library".

So what is AI looking for?

1. AEO/GEO/SEO content for Google and LLMs - in other words it wants content that answers problems and questions so it can pluck the information from your website and answer search queries.
2. LLM Structured Enhancements - schema structured information so AI understands what you are writing about.
3. Relevant Content - making sure content is updated regularly and remains relevant.
4. Internal Linking Structure - your post isn't a one-off item. You are demonstrating that you are an expert in your field with depth of knowledge.
5. EEAT - demonstration that you have Experience, Expertise, Authority and are Trustworthy
6. Distribution and Indexing - are you known on social media. AI has it's favoured social media platforms - Reddit; LinkedIn; Pinterest, X and YouTube. Facebook and Instagram are no longer important for AI visibility. Although they may still be important for your customer base.

The Practical Steps For Keeping Content Relevant and AI Friendly

To ensure your blogs remain relevant and indexed on Google (and other search engines such as Bing who are using similar search parameters) adopt some of the following strategies

• Update content regularly to avoid the 130 day de-indexing cutoff
• Use a Schema based Table of Content
• Insert a Schema based FAQ
• Have an Author Box and Bio
• Create a Key Takeaways (use a separate box no schema currently available) you want create it in a format AI can identify easily

The Future of Blogging in An AI World

AI has changed the online landscape in so many ways that are beneficial for users. However, this means that as content providers there is a bigger demand from AI to ensure the content we create is quality based and remains relevant so we can continue to show up as the expert in our field and one of AI's favoured resources.