--- title: "Google rankings shook on 24 October. Should you do anything?" description: "Rank tracking tools showed a big Google shake-up on 24 October 2026. Google hasn't confirmed anything. Here's what to check, and what to leave alone." url: https://dumbcmo.com/blog/google-ranking-shake-october-24 category: "Getting found" tags: ["news", "google updates", "seo", "rankings"] published: 2026-10-26 updated: 2026-10-26 reading_time: 3 min author: "The DumbCMO" --- # Google rankings shook on 24 October. Should you do anything? > **TL;DR:** Many rank trackers spiked on Saturday 24 October 2026, which suggests Google changed something. Google hasn't confirmed it. Wait a week, check Search Console, and change nothing in a panic. [Notebook](https://dumbcmo.com) › [Blog](https://dumbcmo.com/blog) › Getting found › Google rankings shook on 24 October. Should you do anything? Your sales dipped on Saturday and you panic-opened Google. Your name has slid from position 3 to 6. You start rewriting your homepage at midnight. Please don’t. ## In normal-people words On 25 October 2026, Search Engine Roundtable reported that **many third-party rank tracking tools showed major ranking swings on Saturday 24 October**. Its writer thinks Google released a ranking change from Friday into Saturday. Here’s what that does and doesn’t mean: - **Google hasn’t confirmed anything.** The evidence is tool charts and chatter from site owners, not a Google announcement. - Some owners reported traffic drops, especially from Google Discover and News. - It follows a spam update that ran from 24 September to 8 October, plus unconfirmed shake-ups around 16 and 20 to 21 October. - Rank trackers themselves had a bumpy month, so some of the noise may be the tools. > **The DumbCMO:** A chart wobbled. Your business did not catch fire. Breathe. ## What to do, in order **Before you touch anything** - **If** Your enquiries and sales look normal **→ then** Do nothing. Seriously. - **If** Your Search Console clicks fell sharply for a week or more **→ then** Then look into it. Compare pages that dropped with pages that didn’t. - **If** You just rewrote pages in a panic **→ then** Note what you changed and when. Don’t keep changing while Google is still settling. ## The chai stall version It rained on Saturday and fewer people came to your stall. You don’t rebuild the stall. You wait to see if Sunday is dry. **One bad day isn’t a trend. Two weeks is.** ## Do this today - [ ] Open Search Console, Performance. Set the date range to the last 28 days and compare with the 28 before. - [ ] Note your top five pages by clicks. Check whether those fell, or just one odd page. - [ ] Look at your actual enquiries and sales for the week, not only rankings. - [ ] Write down what you changed on your site this month, so you can tell your own edits apart from Google’s. - [ ] Check again in a week before deciding anything. ## Not-so-frequently asked questions ### Was this definitely a Google update? Not confirmed. Tools and forum posts suggest something changed, but Google hasn’t said so. ### Should I wait for Google to announce it? Don’t wait for an announcement to look at your numbers. Do wait before making big changes. ### How long do these shake-ups last? Often a few days to a couple of weeks, but it varies. See [How long does SEO take?](/blog/how-long-does-seo-take). ### Do I need an SEO audit? Only if your clicks fell and stayed down. A sudden panic audit is usually a sales pitch. ## Things your agency won’t say - “Google just updated, you need us now” is the most reliable pitch in SEO. - Rank tracker charts are tool guesses, not Google’s own data. Search Console is closer to the truth. - If you answer customers well and your reviews are good, most updates barely touch you. ## Jargon Jail **Locked up: “Ranking volatility”** How much search positions are jumping around. **It means lots of results moved, not that yours did.** ## Where to go next - The basics: [What is SEO?](/blog/what-is-seo) - Patience pays: [How long does SEO take?](/blog/how-long-does-seo-take) - Everything on search: [SEO, dumbed down](/seo) ## Sources 1. Search Engine Roundtable, [“Google Search Ranking Volatility Gets Heated October 24th”](https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-ranking-volatility-heated-42373.html), 25 October 2026. ## Related notes - [Google’s AI summary now shows on over 80% of searches](https://dumbcmo.com/blog/ai-overviews-on-80-percent-of-searches): Tracking tools now put Google’s AI summary on 80%+ of searches, up from about half in mid-2025. Your clicks may keep falling. Your job is to be the business the summary mentions. - [Does SEO still matter now that Google answers with AI?](https://dumbcmo.com/blog/seo-in-the-age-of-ai-answers): Yes, SEO still matters, but fewer people click through when Google shows an AI summary. Be the business the summary is built from: clear answers, real reviews and a name people search for. - [How long does SEO actually take?](https://dumbcmo.com/blog/how-long-does-seo-take): Expect three to six months before SEO brings steady visitors, and longer in busy markets. The early weeks are setup. The payoff is that it keeps working after you stop. --- From [DumbCMO](https://dumbcmo.com): The marketing notes you were too embarrassed to take.