Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
OpenAI added shopping search features to ChatGPT Search, also improved citations and trending/autocomplete. Google said changing the lastmod date isn't going to help you with SEO. Bing is testing new AI summary answers. Google is testing a new shopping ads design. Bing is testing removing the words from the Bing logo at the search bar.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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ChatGPT Search Gains Shopping Search Features (Not Ads) & More
OpenAI has begun rolling out shopping search features directly into ChatGPT Search across fashion, beauty, home goods, and electronics categories. These are not ads or affiliate-driven, but they are powered by structured data from third-party sources. OpenAI also announced improved citations, WhatsApp integration and trending and autocomplete. -
Google: Changing Lastmod Date In Sitemap Isn't An SEO Hack
Google's John Mueller explained that changing the dates in your XML Sitemaps lastmod date to all show today, the most recent day, won't favor your rankings or SEO. He said on Reddit, "setting today's date in a sitemap file isn't going to be something that works in favor of anyone, it's just lazy." -
Bing Tests New AI Answer Summary
Microsoft is testing a new format for an AI Answer or AI Summary in the Bing Search results. This shows the AI generated answer as a list of terms that can be expanded and clicked on to generate a new search result set. -
Google Tests New Shopping Ads Design
Google is testing a new design for the shopping ads format, one that looks a bit more like the image pack design than shopping ads. The normal shopping ads are more in a carousel format, and not rows of products, as well. -
Bing Search Without Microsoft Name By Logo
Microsoft is testing removing its name, i.e. Microsoft Bing, next to the logo in the Bing Search bar. Normally the search bar has the Microsoft Bing name next to the logo on the left side of the search bar, now Microsoft is just testing showing the logo. -
Matzah Delivery At Google NYC
Passover was a couple of weeks ago and it seems Google had 40 boxes of matzah delivered to the Google office in New York City. We saw Googlers eating matzah last year, the same boxes.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Google is testing out a new treatment for favicons showing on desktop as if they were dot points, with all other components aligned to the right. This favicon alignment test is also coupled with the grey hover test and a thicker s, SERP Alert on X
- Feature alert: Now you can switch chat models during your https://t.co/gZKADER7S8 conversation! Compare models and learn what you like best, all anonymously provided by us. Give it a try, DuckDuckGo on X
- Permalinks too long.. will this affect SEO?, Reddit
- Stats of @AskPerplexity on X is nuts! 200M impressions, ~1M profile visits, in 3 months., Aravind Srinivas on X
- Update: you can't make this stuff up. @MicrosoftAds has taken my request to link to two client accounts, and they have now attempted to link those two client accounts TOGETHER rather than to my agency. Good grief, Kirk Williams on X
- Y'all, @BustaRhymes sent me this so y'all know in advance what's about to take place at #seoweek, Mic King on X
- You can use Perplexity directly from WhatsApp now. Answers, sources, image generation. A lot more features coming soon there! +1 (833) 436-3285, Aravind Srinivas on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- OpenAI adds shopping features to ChatGPT Search
- How much does SEO really cost
- Smarter ways to visualize search marketing data in 2025
- WordPress pages or posts: Which should you use?
- How to calculate link building ROI and justify your SEO investment
Other Great Search Stories:
Industry & Business
- Google increased CEO Sundar Pichai’s security costs by 22% in 2024, CNBC
- Google Parent Alphabet to Sell High-Grade Corporate Bonds, Bloomberg
- Google registered hundreds of typos domains of its brands, Domain Name Wire
- Microsoft’s Datacenter Freeze – 1.5GW Self-Build Slowdown & Lease Cancellation Misconceptions, SemiAnalysis
- In Google’s Antitrust Case, a Guilty Verdict—for Advertising, Wall Street Journal
- Register now for Search Central Live Deep Dive 2025, Google Search Central Blog
- Yelp vs Google Antitrust Case Survives First Big Test, Near Media
Local & Maps
- Does adding destination city or airport IATA codes improve organic traffic?, SearchPilot
- Local Search: A Quick Guide for Small Businesses, Semrush
Mobile & Voice
- Gemini app coming to kids, parents can manage with Family Link, 9to5Google
- Google Assistant continues to be taken apart one screw at a time as Gemini gets set to replace it, PhoneArena
- Google shifts Android news to a virtual event ahead of its I/O developer conference, TechCrunch
- Chromecast with Google TV is levelling up with a feature from its successor, Android Authority
SEO
- 4 AI Tools That Create Custom Music Tracks for Your Marketing – Full Scream Ahead!, Search Engine World
- From Cautious to Confident: How SEO Copywriters Can Make AI Work for Them, SuccessWorks
- Google AI Overviews Optimization: Is It Worth It?, WordStream
- How to build an SEO strategy for AI Overviews, Majestic SEO Podcast
- Should you use Google Extended in Robots.txt?, Marie Haynes
PPC
- Adjust View-Through Conversion Weight for Display and Video, PPC News Feed
- How to Do an Actually Useful PPC Competitive Analysis Using AI, Ahrefs
- The hottest takes on Google's cookie chaos and potential breakup, Digiday
Other Search
- Americans think AI will have a bad effect on news, journalists, Pew Research Center
- GPT-4o Is An Absurd Sycophant, Zvi Mowshowitz
- Introducing Add To Cart AI: The First True End-to-End AI Shopping Agent for E-Commerce Stores, Add To Cart AI
Feedback:
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