October 2025 felt like one of those months where if you blinked, you missed three different "future of the web" moments. Honestly, the SEO community spent most of it trying to figure out if their traffic was actually dropping or if Google just broke the measuring tape.
Between the sudden disappearance of the num=100 parameter and the massive expansion of AI Mode to over 200 countries, the landscape shifted. It wasn't just a minor tweak. Google basically handed us a new set of rules and said, "Good luck, we're changing the scoreboard too."
The Search Console Data "Glitch" That Wasn't
If you logged into Google Search Console in late October and saw your impressions tanking, you weren't alone. People were panicking. But here’s the thing: it wasn't an algorithm hit.
Google killed the &num=100 parameter.
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For the non-nerds, that's the URL modifier that used to let SEO tools and power users see 100 results on a single page. By removing it, Google essentially "cleaned up" how impressions are counted. If your site was sitting at position 85, you used to get an impression every time a tool or a curious user loaded that giant list. Now? You only get the "hit" if someone actually clicks through to the ninth or tenth page of results.
Basically, the data is just more honest now. Your "loss" in visibility was mostly just ghost traffic that never really mattered anyway.
Google Search News October 2025: AI Mode Goes Global
While everyone was obsessing over data parameters, Google quietly flipped the switch on AI Mode (the evolved version of SGE) for more than 40 new countries. We're talking a total of 200+ countries now.
This is huge.
It’s not just a chat box anymore. In October, we saw Google testing multi-colored map pins in AI Mode. Red, blue, yellow—each color categorizing results (like "coffee shops" vs. "gas stations") to make visual scanning faster. They also started testing a feature where you can highlight a specific sentence in an AI answer and immediately use it as a prompt for a follow-up.
It makes the search experience feel less like a library and more like a conversation with a very fast researcher.
The Rise of "Agentic" Search
OpenAI also threw a massive wrench in the gears this month with the launch of the Atlas browser. It’s a browser built entirely around ChatGPT. Why does this matter for Google Search? Because Atlas is designed to do things, not just find things.
We're moving into the era of "Agentic Commerce." In October, users started being able to buy stuff directly within ChatGPT via Instant Checkout. Etsy was the first big partner, but Shopify is already in the wings.
Google is feeling the heat. That’s why we’re seeing them push AI-generated summaries in place of traditional meta descriptions. They want to give you enough info so you don't feel the need to leave their ecosystem.
Query Groups: A Gift for the Lazy (and the Smart)
Finally, Google Search Console Insights got a "Query Groups" feature.
It’s kinda great.
Instead of you having to export a CSV of 5,000 keywords and manually group "how to fix a bike" and "bicycle repair guide," Google's AI does it for you. It clusters queries by intent.
- It shows you which topics are winning.
- It highlights where you have "thin" coverage on a specific subject.
- It effectively kills the old-school obsession with single-keyword tracking.
If you’re still trying to rank for one specific 3-word phrase, you’re playing a 2018 game in a 2026 world.
The "Frankenstein Recipe" Problem
It wasn't all wins for Google in October. We started seeing reports of "Frankenstein Recipes" in the AI Overviews.
The AI was taking the prep time from one site, the ingredients from another, and the baking temperature from a third. The result? Inedible disasters. This highlighted a massive flaw in how Google's LLMs (like Gemini 3 Flash) synthesize data.
For high-stakes niches—think health, finance, or even just a $50 brisket recipe—the AI's tendency to "blend" information is a major trust issue. Google is already testing a "source-aware" layout for recipes to combat this, putting original publisher cards at the top and the AI summary at the bottom.
What You Should Actually Do Now
Look, the "October Surprise" in search wasn't a single update; it was a vibe shift. If you want to stay relevant, stop writing for the bot and start writing for the outcome.
- Audit your "Answer Targets": Look at your top 10 pages. Do they have a clear 2-4 sentence summary at the top? If not, the AI will write one for you, and it might get it wrong.
- Ignore the "Impression Drop": If your Search Console numbers look weird, check your actual clicks. If clicks are stable, you're fine. It's just the
num=100ghost leaving the building. - Optimize for Visuals: With the new colored map pins and visual AI Mode, your images need to be high-res and have descriptive alt-text. Google is "looking" at your pages more than ever.
- Embrace Intent, Not Keywords: Use the new Query Groups in Search Console to see what your users actually want. If they’re asking "why" and you’re giving them "how-to," you’re going to lose the AI Overview spot.
The web isn't dying, but the way we find stuff is definitely being rebuilt from the ground up. October was just the month they took the scaffolding down.
Next Step: Log into your Search Console Insights today and check the "Query Groups" tab. See which topic clusters are driving your traffic and identify one "content gap" where you have impressions but low click-through rates.