Anyone who interprets this as a blanket warning against AI-assisted writing is mistaken. Google does indeed distinguish between AI as a tool and AI as a substitute for substance. This distinction determines whether a page fares better or worse following the rollout.
How this update differs from its predecessor
The March 2026 Core Update was a broad recalibration – volatility across all sectors, with ‘helpful content’ signals as the key driver. The May update is more targeted. According to Semrush, the volatility score during the rollout period was 78 out of 100; Sistrix recorded 65 out of 100, and Accuranker 72 out of 100 – all significantly above normal levels.
Three sectors were particularly hard hit: finance, jobs and health. According to Solis, visibility in these areas shifted primarily towards sources considered to be the strongest destination for the respective search intent – away from aggregators and generic advice sites.
What Google means by ‘AI slop’
‘AI slop’ refers to AI-generated text produced en masse, with no editorial value, no fact-checking and no discernible expert perspective. In its official communications, Google has consistently emphasised that it is not the production tool that counts, but the result. The May update makes this clearly visible in practice.
Domains that had filled thousands of largely identical URLs with automatically generated text – be it ‘keyword + city’ or ‘product + variant + category’ – lost ground across the board. Where no human had reviewed the content, no unique data points had been incorporated and no author was identifiable, the algorithm re-ranked the results. By contrast, according to Search Engine Land, those who produce AI-assisted content, edit it editorially, incorporate their own experience and ensure authorship is transparent remained largely unaffected by this update.
Substance beats scale
On the winners’ side, a consistent pattern emerges. Sites with genuine user reviews, authentic product descriptions and demonstrable expertise have seen an upturn. This strikes at the heart of E-E-A-T – Google’s quality assessment framework for experience, expertise, authority and trustworthiness.
Those who credit authors, link to sources, incorporate their own data and showcase first-hand knowledge are sending exactly the signals that the algorithm rewards. Content that feels like a copy of the top 10 results – just with a slightly different sentence structure – loses out. This is a must for anyone who has previously published AI-generated text without an editorial review.
Typical characteristics of the update’s winners:
- Transparent authorship with a linked author profile
- Your own data, test results or real-world examples as content anchors
- Visibility in AI Overviews (Google SGE) – Pages that appear as cited sources in AI responses saw disproportionately high gains
- Clear source structure with external references
- A consistent brand experience across all URLs
What to do now – following the rollout
The update is now complete. Conclusions drawn whilst the rollout was still underway were mere noise – now the proper analysis begins. Anyone who lost rankings between 21 May and 2 June is faced with the question of whether there is a quality issue or whether new SERP elements are pushing organic results down the rankings. At first glance, both look the same in Google Search Console.
A sensible starting point: a content audit for all pages that have lost visibility – organised by URL type. Programmatic pages, how-to guides and transactional pages have different underlying causes and require different solutions.
Practical steps for the next two weeks:
- Export rankings from Google Search Console and compare them with the figures from 20 May – exactly before the rollout
- Forming URL clusters by page type: programmatic, editorial, transactional
- Identify the biggest losers and formulate a hypothesis for each cluster – authorship, lack of sources, lack of original content
- SERP analysis for affected keywords: check whether organic clicks have been lost to featured snippets, knowledge panels or AI overviews
- Pilot a content review – revise one page per cluster, evaluate the results after four weeks
- Add author profiles where they’re missing – a name, photo and link to a profile page are enough as an initial signal
FAQs on the Google May 2026 Core Update
When was the Google May 2026 Core Update completed?
The May 2026 Core Update began on 21 May 2026 and was officially declared complete on 2 June 2026. The rollout therefore lasted just under twelve days – slightly shorter than the two weeks originally announced.
Which sectors were particularly affected?
Sites in the finance, jobs and health sectors were particularly hard hit. Job portals saw an average increase in visibility of 15 to 20 per cent, whilst YMYL sites without verifiable authorship and source attribution lost ground.
What is AI slop and why is it losing visibility?
‘AI slop’ refers to vast amounts of AI-generated content with no editorial value, no verifiable facts and no identifiable authorship. Google assesses the substance of the content – if this is lacking, the algorithm re-ranks the results accordingly.
Can I make changes straight away following the update?
As the May update has been complete since 2 June, it now makes sense to carry out targeted revisions based on a content audit. Google generally recommends waiting until the rollout is fully complete before taking any action.
How can I tell whether my loss of visibility is caused by the algorithm or by SERP elements?
Comparing clicks and impressions in Google Search Console provides insight: if impressions and clicks fall at the same time, this suggests an algorithmic re-evaluation. If impressions remain stable whilst clicks are falling, new SERP elements such as AI Overviews or Featured Snippets are displacing organic traffic.
