Mackerel Media’s Search and Digital Marketing Roundup – October 2025
October has been a busy month in search, with new announcements from Google, Microsoft and OpenAI influencing how users are discovering and interacting with information online. Let’s take a closer look at the latest SEO news stories from October and what it means for brands and advertisers.
Google is planning on expanding ads within its AI Overviews to more English-speaking markets outside of the US. This latest development means that advertisers can now reach and target users within generative-AI searches, rather than relying on traditional ad placement. This update means that many advertisers will need to start to optimise their content for more natural, conversational searches, rather than conventional keyword bidding. This integration of ads within AI generated search results means a new opportunity for brands to drive engagement earlier on the users search journey.
Google Unites Chaotic Search Queries
On the reporting front, Google has announced Query Groups for Google Search Console. This new feature groups similar search queries together, showing click volume and whether the related searches are trending up or down. This update offers clearer insights on which search terms and overall topics that users are using to discover your website, rather than searching through a wide range of similar query variations. Google plans to roll this out gradually, starting with websites with a large volume of queries.
One Post to Rule Them All
Google now lets users publish a single post across multiple Google Business Profile listings at once. Rather than updating each location manually, you can now create a post for one profile and you’ll be given an option to copy the update to other profiles you manage. This update is a major time-saver for businesses with multiple locations and business profiles, helping them to more effectively update content across all listings.
Microsoft has launched a new Bing Places for Business platform, making it easier for businesses to create and manage their listings across Bing Search and Bing Maps. Their updated platform includes a simplified import process from Google Business Profile, new bulk editing tools and a recommendation tool which suggests high-impact updates like adding photos, updated social links, recommended business categories and transaction focused links such as booking and reservation options. This new update will help many organisations with their local SEO efforts, ensuring that their businesses remain visible across local search results and Copilot generative-AI results.
Shopping AND Chatting
OpenAI has teamed up with PayPal, so that soon users will be able to pay for purchases directly within ChatGPT. Beginning in 2026, PayPal plans on integrating into ChatGPT’s instant checkout feature, so that purchases can be made within the chat experience. With over 434 million users, PayPal’s integration will make AI chat based shopping faster and much more accessible to millions of users worldwide.
Google’s AI: Powered by YouTube
Finally, a recent study shows that YouTube is the most cited video source in AI search results, appearing over 200 times more often than any other platform. According to data from BrightEdge, YouTube accounts for nearly 30% of all citations within Google’s AI Overviews, far surpassing competitors such as Vimeo and TikTok, who receive less than 1% of citations. This finding highlights YouTube’s dominance in AI search and reinforces the growing importance of video visibility for brands to maintain a presence and relevance in generative-AI search.
