Latest Digital Marketing News: SEO, PPC, AI & Web Updates

Digital marketing changes quickly. Each week, Loop Digital rounds up the SEO, PPC, AI, content, and web developments that could affect how businesses market themselves online.

We focus on the developments worth knowing about, what they mean in practice, and where businesses may need to act.

Read time: 22 minutes

Updated: 28th September 2026

This week has one clear action for many businesses. If your website runs on WordPress, two separate security updates need confirming, and one of them is already being targeted by attackers.

The rest of the news is about how customers find you. Google has started a spam update, given businesses four days to reject changes customers suggest to their listing, and added a report showing who finds you by searching with a photo instead of typing.

Contents

• WordPress 7.1.2 Fixes a Critical Security Vulnerability
• Elementor Security Flaw Can Put WordPress Sites at Risk
• Google Business Profile Gives Businesses Four Days to Review Some User Edits
• Google’s September Spam Update Is Still Rolling Out
• Search Console Can Now Show Searches Started With Images
• Google Has Deployed a New AI System for Detecting Synthetic Spam
• AI Search Is Becoming More Common, but It May Send Fewer People to Websites
• Google Search Traffic Fell Sharply Across One Publisher Network
• Google Says Useful, Original Content Matters More Than Whether AI Helped Create It
• Key Takeaways
• What Should Your Business Act On Now?
• Stay Ahead of Digital Marketing Change
  
  

WordPress 7.1.2 Fixes a Critical Security Vulnerability

WordPress released version 7.1.2 on 22nd September. It contains one security fix, rated 9.2 out of 10, and Wordfence is telling site owners to update immediately.

Unlike most WordPress flaws, this one needs no login. It lets an outsider trick WordPress into opening a file it was never meant to open, and on some servers that file can then be run as code.

In practice, an attack would look like spam pages appearing on your site, visitors being redirected elsewhere, enquiry data being exposed, or Google showing a warning next to your website. Clearing that up costs considerably more than the update.

Fixes have also been released for older WordPress versions going back to 4.7. Researchers reported real attack attempts within days of the release, so this is a this-week job.

What should your business do?

Ask whoever manages your website to confirm:

• which version of WordPress is now running;
• that the update has been applied, not just scheduled;
• that a recent backup exists.

If nobody is clearly responsible for updates, that is the bigger problem. Releases like this arrive several times a year.

Elementor Security Flaw Can Put WordPress Sites at Risk

Elementor, one of the most widely used tools for building WordPress pages, has fixed a separate flaw. The Hacker News reports that it could let an attacker create a hidden administrator account and take over a website.

Why this matters

The attacker needs no password, but they do need someone already logged in to your WordPress site to click a link they have prepared. If that person is an administrator, the click quietly creates a second administrator account for the attacker. The link needs no attachment or form and could arrive by email.

The scope is narrow. Only versions 4.3.0 and 4.3.1 are affected, and the fix is in 4.3.2. Every earlier version is unaffected.

What should your business do?

• Ask whoever manages your website whether it uses Elementor, and which version.
• If it is 4.3.0 or 4.3.1, ask for it to be updated to 4.3.2 as a priority.
• If it is anything earlier, no action is needed for this issue.
• Remind anyone with admin access not to click unexpected links while logged in.

Google Business Profile Gives Businesses Four Days to Review Some User Edits

Anyone can suggest a change to your Google Business Profile, including people with no connection to your business. Google has now updated its help documentation to explain what happens next, first reported by Search Engine Roundtable.

When a suggested change needs your review, Google notifies you and you have four days to accept or reject it. If nobody responds, Google may publish it anyway, provided other public information supports it, such as your own website. Some edits are applied without any review at all.

What should your business do?

• Check which email address receives Google Business Profile notifications, and that somebody reads it.
• Make sure at least two people have access, so holidays don’t leave notifications unanswered.
• Check your hours, address, phone number and services are correct today.
• Make sure your website says the same, because Google uses it as evidence when nobody replies.

Google’s September Spam Update Is Still Rolling Out

Google began its September 2026 spam update on 24th September. It applies worldwide and across all languages, and Google says it may take up to two weeks. It is still running.

A spam update is not a broad quality update. It targets tactics that breach Google’s spam policies, such as pages mass-produced purely to rank. Most businesses running an honest website are not the target.

Rankings and traffic move during any rollout for reasons unconnected to it. A few unsettled days are not evidence that something is wrong.

What should your business do?

Watch enquiries rather than rankings. If organic enquiries are still down once Google marks the rollout complete, check with your SEO provider which specific pages changed before making changes across the site.

Search Console Can Now Show Searches Started With Images

Google has added multimodal reporting to Search Console, its free tool showing how a website performs in Google. Multimodal search simply means searching with a picture instead of typed words.

The new report covers Google Lens, Circle to Search on Android, photos uploaded into Google Search, and Chrome’s right-click “Search this image” option. It started rolling out globally on 24th September, and data only appears if your site already gets that kind of traffic.

Why it matters

Nothing about your website needs to change. It matters most for businesses selling physical things a customer might photograph rather than describe, such as products, materials, parts or plants.

What should your business do?

• Ask your SEO or marketing provider whether the multimodal figures show anything for your site.
• For most businesses, it will show very little, and that is the expected result. 
• If it does show real traffic, it is worth asking whether your product photography is good enough to be doing commercial work.

Google Has Deployed a New AI System for Detecting Synthetic Spam

Google has published details of a system called SAFE, short for Scaled Abuse Forensics Examiner. It uses several AI agents to do the kind of investigation a human anti-spam analyst would carry out, and Google says it is already deployed.

One agent looks for signs of machine-generated content, one for behaviour suggesting coordination rather than genuine activity, and one maps the relationships between accounts so whole networks can be caught rather than single pages.

Google has not described SAFE as a ranking factor, and has not said whether it plays any part in the September spam update. The takeaway is simply that Google keeps getting better at spotting content produced at scale to game search results.

What should your business do?

This targets coordinated networks, not businesses publishing genuine information about their own work.

If you are paying for high-volume content that nobody in your business contributes to, that is worth questioning on commercial grounds anyway.

AI Search Is Becoming More Common, but It May Send Fewer People to Websites

Two pieces of evidence landed this week. They should be read separately.

First, how often AI answers appear. Comscore data reported by Search Engine Land found an AI Overview on 39.4% of US desktop Google searches in June 2026, up from 25.8% a year earlier. That is US desktop data, and it measures how often the feature appeared, not whether anyone used it. It is not a UK benchmark.

Second, what people do next. A randomised experiment reported by Search Engine Land involving around 1,100 US Chrome users found that people pushed into Google’s AI Mode were much less likely to click through to a website, and reported lower satisfaction and less trust than people searching normally.

What should your business do?

Make sure you can answer one question: how many enquiries came from organic search last month, and how does that compare with a year ago? If your reporting can’t answer that, close that gap first.

Google Search Traffic Fell Sharply Across One Publisher Network

Analytics firm Chartbeat reported that Google Search traffic across its publisher network fell 40.2% year on year between July 2025 and July 2026, almost double the 21.9% drop the year before. Google Discover followed the same pattern.

One other figure is worth noting. Traffic arriving directly from AI tools grew eightfold over two years, but still amounts to a tiny fraction of the total.

What should your business do?

• Ask whoever manages your analytics to compare organic search enquiries over the last twelve months against the twelve months before. 
• If they are broadly stable, this isn’t your story. 
• If they have fallen sharply, that is a specific problem to diagnose, not a trend to accept.

Google Says Useful, Original Content Matters More Than Whether AI Helped Create It

There has been plenty of anxiety about whether AI-assisted writing can now be detected and penalised. Analysis published by Search Engine Land argues that misreads what Google is judging. Google does not penalise a page because AI was involved. It takes issue with content produced at scale mainly to win rankings, whoever wrote it.

What Google rewards is content that adds something new. The useful question for a business owner is whether a page contains anything only your business could contribute.

Things that qualify:

• your own completed projects and examples
• real pricing factors
• the questions customers actually ask you
• specialist knowledge and comparisons based on jobs you have done
• photographs of your own work.

A well-written summary of what competitors already publish does not.

What should your business do?

• Take your three most important pages and ask what each one contains that ten competitor pages do not.
• Where the answer is nothing, the fix is adding real experience, not rewriting the words.

Key Takeaways

• WordPress 7.1.2 fixes a critical flaw that needs no attacker login, and sites are already being targeted. Confirming the update is this week’s priority.
• Fixes were also issued for older WordPress versions back to 4.7.
• The Elementor flaw affects only versions 4.3.0 and 4.3.1, fixed in 4.3.2, and needs a logged-in administrator to click a prepared link.
• Google Business Profile owners have four days to reject a suggested edit before Google may publish it, so those notifications need a named reader.
• Google’s September spam update started on 24th September and may take two weeks. Movement during a rollout isn’t a reason to change anything.
• Search Console now reports searches started with an image. It is reporting only, with nothing to optimise.
• Google’s new SAFE system targets coordinated synthetic spam. It isn’t a ranking factor and needs no response.
• AI Overviews appeared in 39.4% of measured US desktop searches, and a seven-day experiment found AI Mode cut clicks to websites. Neither is a UK benchmark.
• Google’s position on AI-assisted content is unchanged. What counts is whether the page adds firsthand experience, original data or genuine expertise.

What Should Your Business Act On Now?

Review

• Whether your website has been updated to WordPress 7.1.2, backed up, and who is responsible for doing this every time.
• Whether your site uses Elementor, and if so, whether it is on version 4.3.2 or later.
• Who receives Google Business Profile notifications, and whether your listed hours, address and phone number are correct.
• Whether recent changes in Google traffic have actually affected enquiries and sales, or only rankings.

Prepare

• A named person or company responsible for website updates, backups and security notifications.
• A running list of customer questions, completed job details and pricing factors that can go into your website content.
• Reporting that connects search traffic to calls, forms and sales, not just sessions.
• Your own product photography, if you sell anything a customer might search for with a camera.

Monitor

• The September spam update until Google marks it complete.
• Whether AI-led Google results are affecting your own enquiries, rather than assuming published averages apply.
• Whether the new multimodal reporting in Search Console shows any traffic for your site.
• Your own commercial results over a quarter, which beat any single piece of industry research.

Stay Ahead of Digital Marketing Change

Security and search need different responses. A critical website flaw has a short deadline and a clear answer, which is to confirm the update has been applied and to know who does it next time. That is a management question more than a technical one.

Search changes deserve the opposite temperament. AI answers are becoming more common, and there is early evidence they send fewer people to websites, but none of this week’s figures describes your business. Your own enquiries, calls and sales do.

Visibility increasingly means making sure accurate, useful information about your business can be understood wherever customers look, rather than chasing every click.

Need help understanding which of these changes affect your business?

If you are unsure what needs action, what can wait or where a change may be affecting your enquiries, book a free consultation with Loop Digital.

Book Your Free 30-Minute Strategy Call

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Updated: 21st September 2026

This week has one clear action for many businesses, that is if your website runs on WordPress, make sure the latest security update has been applied.

The rest of the news is more about what is changing around you. Google is giving advertisers more information about competitor spend, AI-powered search is becoming more conversational, and OpenAI is testing adverts that let customers speak to a business before visiting its website.

For business owners, the priority is simple: protect your website, keep marketing spend tied to real results and make sure customers can quickly understand why they should choose you.

Contents

• WordPress 7.1.1 Fixes 11 Security Issues
• Google Ads Now Shows How Your Spend Compares With Similar Businesses
• Google Is Testing Payments to Websites for AI Answers
• New Research Suggests Nobody Can Guarantee Where AI Cites You
• ChatGPT Tests Adverts That Open a Conversation With a Business
• Google’s Voice Search Gets a More Capable AI Model
• Google Ads Can Now Dub Video Adverts Into 33 Languages
• Google Extends New European Search Results to Local Businesses
• OpenAI’s Maths Breakthrough Claim Is Disputed
• OpenAI Launches ChatGPT for Financial Services
• Key Takeaways
• What Should Your Business Act On Now?
• Stay Ahead of Digital Marketing Change

WordPress 7.1.1 Fixes 11 Security Issues

WordPress released version 7.1.1 on 17th September. It is a security and maintenance release with 11 security fixes and 38 bug fixes, and WordPress recommends updating immediately.

The security issues include flaws that could let someone plant harmful code on a page, or see information that should stay private, such as the title of a private page. Most require the attacker to have some form of login already. One can be triggered by someone without an account if a comment containing it is approved.

Fixes have also been released for older versions of WordPress going back to 4.7. However, only the latest version is actively supported, and sites on 4.6 or earlier get no security fixes at all.

What should your business do?

1. If your website is managed by an agency, developer or hosting provider, ask them to confirm that it has been updated to WordPress 7.1.1 and that a recent backup was taken beforehand. 
2. Ideally, they should also be able to confirm when the update was completed.
3. If nobody looks after your website, that is the bigger risk. Updates, backups and security checks need a named person or company responsible for them.

Google Ads Now Shows How Your Spend Compares With Similar Businesses

Some Google Ads accounts now show a Spend Benchmarks report on the account overview. It compares your weekly ad spend and clicks with a group of businesses Google considers similar, based on factors including your industry and where you advertise.

In one example, an account spending €284 a week was shown a peer figure of €268. It had 912 clicks against 765 for the peer group.

The context is useful. The risk is treating it as a target. The benchmark can come with recommendations to spend more, and two businesses in the same industry can have very different margins, order values and conversion rates.

Spending less than similar businesses doesn’t mean you’re underinvesting, and spending more doesn’t mean you’re overspending. What matters is whether each extra pound brings in enquiries or sales that make you money.

What should your business do?

If Google says similar businesses spend more than you, it’s describing them, not your business, your margins or your customers.

Do not increase your budget simply because Google says similar businesses are spending more. Instead, ask whoever manages your advertising:

• How much does each enquiry or sale currently cost us?
• How many of those enquiries become paying customers?
• Are we missing worthwhile opportunities because the budget runs out?
• If we spend more, is there evidence it will produce more profitable business?

If the answer is based on clicks and impressions rather than enquiries, sales and customer value, fix the reporting before changing the budget.

Google Is Testing Payments to Websites for AI Answers

Google has confirmed it is testing payments to some websites when their content shapes answers in AI Overviews, AI Mode and the Gemini app. The AI contribution pilot runs through Search Console, Google’s free tool for website owners.

Digiday first reported the pilot, and Search Engine Land and Search Engine Journal have covered it since. Google only pays when it judges that content significantly shaped an answer. The pilot is invite-only and aimed at publishers. What matters is that Google now treats content that informs an AI answer as valuable, even when nobody clicks through.

What should your business do?

Look at the content you already pay to produce and ask:

‘What does this page tell a potential customer that they could not get from ten competitor websites?’

Useful answers might come from:

• your own experience
• completed projects
• pricing factors
• common customer questions
• specialist knowledge
• mistakes you regularly help customers avoid.

New Research Suggests Nobody Can Guarantee Where AI Cites You

A new research paper, not yet peer reviewed, tested how one AI search agent chose which web pages to credit when answering 130 questions. The agent was built on OpenAI’s GPT-5.4.

The page shown first was cited 85.1% of the time, against 42.8% for the page shown fifth. But when the researchers swapped the order of two pages supporting the same fact, most of that effect disappeared. Top pages were cited more mainly because they were more relevant, not because of where they appeared.

Asking the same question again also changed whether a page was cited in about one case in seven. The authors present this as a warning, not a tactic, and the study says nothing about Google rankings.

What should your business do?

You do not need to change anything because of this research. If AI visibility matters to your business:

• Check a few questions potential customers genuinely ask.
• See whether your business or competitors appear.
• Repeat the checks over time rather than reacting to one result.
• Be cautious of anyone guaranteeing that an AI platform will recommend or cite you.

ChatGPT Tests Adverts That Open a Conversation With a Business

OpenAI is testing Sponsored Agents. They let someone who clicks an advert in ChatGPT start a conversation with an AI agent run by that business. The test is limited to selected advertisers in the US.

Watch Video Here.

OpenAI’s example is a shopper asking whether an advertised dining table would fit their room. The conversation is clearly labelled, kept separate from ChatGPT’s own answers, and can end with a link to the business’s website.

OpenAI also added three things:

• AI tools for creating adverts.
• An optional setting that rewrites advert copy to suit each conversation.
• Integrations with HubSpot and Shopify.

Its Shopify app is live for US merchants and reaches other markets where ChatGPT Ads run from 23rd September. No pricing or performance data has been published.

What should your business do?

There’s nothing to switch on yet. This is a US-only test.

1. Ask your team to list the ten questions customers most often ask before buying, then check your website answers each one. An AI agent would need exactly the same information.
2. If you work in finance, healthcare or legal services, get compliance sign-off before anyone lets AI rewrite your advert wording.

Google’s Voice Search Gets a More Capable AI Model

Google released Gemini 3.8 Live on 15th September, and it now powers Search Live in the Google app. Search Live lets people tap a Live icon, ask a question out loud and hear a spoken answer. They can then ask follow-up questions. Links appear on screen for anyone who wants to read more, and a text transcript is available.

Google says the new model can give step-by-step troubleshooting help, and people can switch languages mid-conversation. Search Live already works with the phone camera as well as voice. Availability depends on region and language.

The practical change is in how customers search. Someone asking a spoken question hears one answer with a few links on screen, rather than scanning a page of results and choosing where to click.

What should your business do?

You do not need a separate voice-search strategy. Instead, look at your main service pages and ask whether they clearly answer:

• Who is this for?
• How much does it cost, or what affects the price?
• How quickly can you help?
• Do you cover my area?
• What happens after I enquire?
• Why should I choose you?

If those answers are missing or difficult to find, improving them helps customers whether they use traditional Google Search, Search Live or another AI tool.

Loop Digital’s Generative Engine Optimisation services show where your business appears across AI-powered search, and where competitors appear instead.

Google Ads Can Now Dub Video Adverts Into 33 Languages

Google Ads is rolling out Video Ads Dubbing in Asset Studio, its built-in tool for creating adverts. It uses AI to translate and dub existing video adverts into 33 languages and locales. It is free for selected advertisers, and availability appears limited for now.

It could save the cost of re-recording an advert for every market. For businesses advertising only to UK customers in English, it changes nothing.

What should your business do?

If you sell internationally, ask whoever manages your Google Ads whether the feature is available in your account.

If you test it:

• start with one or two adverts;
• have a fluent speaker check the result;
• make sure the voice and wording still sound right for your business.

Google Extends New European Search Results to Local Businesses

This change affects searches made in the European Economic Area. The UK is not part of the EEA, so searches here are not affected.

On 18th September, Google updated its documentation so that two new results sections in the EEA now cover local business searches. One shows listings from approved directories and comparison sites that send Google a data feed. The other appears alongside it and shows the businesses themselves. Businesses don’t need to send Google any extra data to appear there.

What should your business do?

If you also serve customers in EU countries, such as the Republic of Ireland, check your website clearly says which services you offer there, the areas you cover and how to get in touch. Google says businesses can appear in the new results without sending it any extra information, so a clear website is what counts.

OpenAI’s Maths Breakthrough Claim Is Disputed

OpenAI says an unreleased AI model has solved the Navier-Stokes problem, using up to 10,000 AI agents working for 88 hours. It is one of seven Millennium Prize Problems set by the Clay Mathematics Institute in 2000, each with a $1 million prize.

The claim is contested. NYU professor Tristan Buckmaster alleges that OpenAI’s result may have drawn on unpublished research he was doing with mathematician Levent Alpöge, who works for Anthropic. Buckmaster says the pair had been putting their drafts into OpenAI’s Codex tool throughout the project. OpenAI has acknowledged that it started work on the problem after hearing rumours of their progress.

OpenAI denies that its researchers or AI agents saw their work. It has also said it cannot rule out that anonymised data from their use of its products helped improve its models. No evidence made public so far shows that OpenAI copied the mathematicians’ work, and the proof itself still needs to be checked by other mathematicians.

What should your business do?

The mathematics is unlikely to affect your business. The wider lesson probably does.

AI can produce work that looks detailed and confident without removing the need to check where information came from. If your team uses AI for proposals, reports, customer advice, technical work or published content:

• decide who checks the finished work;
• verify important figures and claims;
• be clear about what confidential information staff are allowed to enter into AI tools.

OpenAI Launches ChatGPT for Financial Services

OpenAI launched ChatGPT for Financial Services on 10th September. It is a version of its workplace product for investment banking and equity research teams, built with Morgan Stanley and Evercore. It includes data from providers such as PitchBook and LSEG News, and links figures and claims back to their sources so users can check them. Pricing hasn’t been published.

The product is aimed at large financial institutions, not most SMEs. It does show where business AI is heading, towards tools built for a specific industry that show where each fact came from.

What should your business do?

If you run a regulated finance firm and your team is starting to use AI for client work, speak to your compliance adviser now, before it becomes an everyday habit.

Key Takeaways

• WordPress 7.1.1 fixes 11 security issues, and WordPress sites should update now.
• Google Ads’ new spend benchmark gives useful context, but it isn’t a budget target.
• Google is paying a small group of publishers when their content shapes AI answers, with no action needed for most businesses.
• New research suggests AI citations can’t be reliably engineered, and results change from one run to the next.
• ChatGPT is testing adverts that open a conversation with a business’s AI agent, in the US only.
• Google’s Search Live now runs on Gemini 3.8 Live, making spoken search more conversational.
• Google Ads can dub video adverts into 33 languages for selected advertisers.
• Google’s new local business results in the EEA don’t affect UK searches.
• OpenAI’s maths claim is disputed and unverified, and it is a prompt to check what your team puts into AI tools.
• ChatGPT for Financial Services is aimed at large financial institutions, not SMEs.

Updated: 14th September 2026

AI search visibility is becoming easier to see, but understanding what that visibility actually delivers is still difficult. Google has acknowledged limitations in how Search Console reports AI Search, while new research using Wikipedia data adds to the debate around AI Overviews and referral traffic.

Elsewhere, a UK charity study suggests brand size alone does not guarantee AI visibility, content marketing performance has fallen to a 12-year low, and Amazon is testing another route for advertisers to access ChatGPT Ads.

AI Search Visibility Is Easier to See, but Harder to Measure

Google’s generative AI performance reports in Search Console now show impressions from AI Overviews, AI Mode and generative AI features in Discover. But the data still has important limitations.

Google’s John Mueller has acknowledged that traditional Search Console metrics do not always translate neatly to AI Search. Links inside an AI Overview inherit the position of the overall feature rather than receiving an individual position, while standard impression rules do not necessarily show whether a user actually saw a particular link.

That matters because a University of Washington working paper estimates that the introduction of AI Overviews reduced monthly external-search referrals to English Wikipedia by around 5%. The research compared English Wikipedia with German and French editions during the initial US rollout.

However, the paper has not been peer reviewed and Google disputes whether the methodology can isolate the effect of AI Overviews. The 5% figure should therefore be treated as something worth monitoring, not as a benchmark for every website.

What should your business do?

• Record a baseline for AI Search impressions, pages and countries in Search Console.
• Compare AI visibility with organic clicks, landing-page performance and conversions rather than impressions alone.
• Avoid treating average position inside an AI Overview like a traditional organic ranking.
• Monitor important pages and queries over time rather than drawing conclusions from a single reporting period.
• Review unexplained changes in Direct and organic traffic alongside AI Search visibility.

Loop Digital’s Generative Engine Optimisation services focus on how businesses are represented across generative search while keeping visibility connected to wider search and commercial performance.

UK Charity Study Suggests Brand Size Does Not Guarantee AI Visibility

A study of 15 prominent UK charities found that strong brand recognition did not automatically translate into strong AI Search visibility. Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation, RSPCA and Mind scored highly, while some other well-known organisations performed more modestly.

The report suggests broader organisations can be associated with many subjects without establishing the same depth of authority around one particular area. More focused organisations may therefore have an advantage for specific questions.

Technical accessibility matters too. Useful research buried in PDFs or content heavily reliant on JavaScript can be harder for AI systems to access than clear, structured HTML content.

The same lesson applies to businesses. Brand recognition helps, but AI systems still need clear evidence of what you do, what you know and where you have genuine expertise.

What should your business do?

• Identify the products, services and subjects where you have genuine expertise.
• Answer specific customer questions rather than relying only on broad category content.
• Turn useful research, evidence and expertise into accessible website content.
• Keep important information in clear, crawlable HTML wherever possible.
• Test how AI platforms represent your business for relevant category and comparison questions.

Loop Digital’s Answer Engine Optimisation services focus on making useful information clear, accessible and easier for answer-led systems to understand.

Content Marketing Success Falls to a 12-Year Low

Only 14% of marketers surveyed by Orbit Media said their blogs were delivering strong results, the lowest figure recorded across the survey’s 12-year history. AI adoption, meanwhile, has passed 92%.

That does not mean AI is responsible for weaker content performance. The survey found that several practices historically associated with better results have become less common, including original research, keyword research, expert collaboration, paid promotion, formal human editing and consistent use of analytics.

The distinction matters. AI can reduce the time required to research, structure or produce content, but publishing more quickly is not the same as publishing something useful, distinctive or commercially effective.

What should content teams do?

• Use AI to support the content process rather than replace research, expertise and judgement.
• Keep human editing and fact-checking in the publishing workflow.
• Add first-party experience, expert insight, original data or analysis where it genuinely improves the piece.
• Research what customers are actually searching for and asking before producing content.
• Measure qualified traffic, enquiries and conversions rather than publishing volume alone.

Loop Digital’s content marketing services focus on useful, user-centric content built around search demand, expertise and measurable business goals.

Amazon Opens Another Route Into ChatGPT Ads

Amazon is piloting access to ChatGPT Ads through Amazon DSP, allowing selected US advertisers to extend campaigns into ChatGPT through Amazon’s advertising platform.

Amazon is providing the buying and campaign-management route rather than taking control of where ads appear inside ChatGPT. The pilot is currently limited to selected advertisers in the US.

For UK advertisers, there is nothing to activate yet. The bigger point is that ChatGPT Ads is beginning to connect with established advertising platforms rather than developing as a completely separate channel.

What should advertisers do?

• Treat the Amazon DSP integration as a pilot rather than a mature advertising channel.
• Monitor whether access expands beyond selected US advertisers.
• Make sure conversion and attribution measurement is ready before testing emerging AI ad placements.
• Compare qualified leads, sales and acquisition cost rather than clicks alone.
• Consider how conversational advertising could fit alongside Search, paid social and other existing channels.

Loop Digital’s paid search and PPC services focus on lead quality, acquisition cost and measurable return across paid-media activity.

Key Takeaways

• Search Console can now show AI Search visibility, but its existing impression and position metrics still have important limitations.
• A working paper estimates AI Overviews reduced search referrals to English Wikipedia by around 5%, but the finding should not be treated as a general website benchmark.
• UK charity research suggests brand size alone does not guarantee AI visibility; focused expertise and accessible content still matter.
• Content marketing performance has reached a 12-year low despite widespread AI adoption.
• Amazon is piloting another route into ChatGPT Ads through Amazon DSP.

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Updated: 7th September 2026

Two things stand out this week. What AI systems say about your business when the evidence is thin, and what happens to paid performance when AI Overviews sit between the searcher and the result.

WordPress has set out how it will handle a rising volume of security reports, Google is testing conventional Search campaigns inside AI Mode, and an analytics fault made 1st September look like a day with no traffic at all.

Contents

• WordPress Launches a Core Security Initiative
• When AI Has Nothing on Your Business, It Describes Someone Else
• ChatGPT Now Draws More US Traffic Than Bing or DuckDuckGo
• AI Overviews May Be Affecting Shopping Ad CTR and Impressions
• Google Tests Traditional Search Campaigns in AI Mode
• Google Analytics Showed Zero Traffic for 1st September
• What Anthropic’s Watermarking Means for Content Teams
• Preferred Sources and “Highly Cited” Labels in AI Search
• Key Takeaways

WordPress Launches a Core Security Initiative

WordPress has started a coordinated programme called the Core Security Initiative. It covers three things: a tighter release process, more volunteers on the report backlog, and AI-assisted scanning to catch vulnerabilities early. WordPress says report volumes have risen because AI has made it easier to find weaknesses in code, an advantage attackers share.

What should website owners do?

• Give WordPress and plugin updates a named owner and a schedule.
• Check a recent backup exists and has been tested.
• Note which plugins are no longer maintained.

Loop Digital’s hosting and maintenance services include WordPress updates, backups and security monitoring.

When AI Has Nothing on Your Business, It Describes Someone Else

Duane Forrester makes a sharp point that when a model lacks evidence about your company, it substitutes a competitor or a category average and states it with full confidence. The weakest test is asking a model to describe your business by name. Substitutions show up on category and comparison questions instead. Rich Sanger’s AI entity footprint audit offers a related framework, scoring identity, differentiation, evidence, consistency, relationships and specialisation.

What should your business do?

• Test category and comparison questions where your name is absent.
• Note any claim a model makes that no source of yours supports.
• Check your website, Google Business Profile and directories describe the same business.
• Build independent evidence: reviews, case studies, third-party coverage.

Loop Digital’s Generative Engine Optimisation services focus on how brands are understood across generative search.

ChatGPT Now Draws More US Traffic Than Bing or DuckDuckGo

Semrush data analysed by Greg Jarboe puts ChatGPT.com ninth among US websites, up 48.38% year on year. Bing fell 50.43%, DuckDuckGo 15.83%. One publisher’s Direct traffic had grown to 78% of sessions, a reminder that AI-generated links often arrive without referrer data.

What should your business do?

• Check whether your share of Direct traffic has been climbing.
• Compare GA4 against Search Console instead of trusting either alone.
• Ask new enquiries how they found you, and record it.

AI Overviews May Be Affecting Shopping Ad CTR and Impressions

Mike Ryan of Smarter Ecommerce has spotted Shopping CTR rising while impressions fall. Clicks stayed flat, so the CTR gain reflects fewer impressions, not better performance. His theory: Google may be serving AI Overviews more on queries less likely to earn an ad click. He is clear it is a hypothesis, not proof.

What should advertisers do?

• Report impressions and CPA alongside CTR, not CTR alone.
• Check whether a rising CTR is matched by falling impressions.
• Re-baseline benchmarks set before AI Overviews became common.

Loop Digital’s paid search and PPC services focus on lead quality and measurable return.

Google Tests Traditional Search Campaigns in AI Mode

Google has begun testing exact and phrase match keywords serving text ads in AI Mode, limited to queries with explicit, direct intent. Advertisers may reach AI Mode without moving to AI Max or Performance Max. Google hasn’t said how widely the test runs.

What should advertisers do?

• Carry on with AI Max migration planning, as this changes no timelines.
• Watch for shifts in exact and phrase match performance.
• Resist loosening match types on the assumption broader targeting is now needed.

Google Analytics Showed Zero Traffic for 1st September

A widespread GA4 fault left many properties showing no data for 1st September. It was a processing issue at Google’s end, not a real traffic drop.

What should marketing teams do?

• Annotate 1st September in GA4 and any reports that use it.
• Check monthly and rolling averages before circulating them.
• Cross-check against Search Console and ad platforms, which were unaffected.

What Anthropic’s Watermarking Means for Content Teams

Steve Liu unpacks what Anthropic’s watermarking does and doesn’t prove. It’s statistical, applied worldwide, and responds to the EU AI Act. The key point: it shows text was processed by Claude, not authored by it. A light edit can carry the same signal as a full draft.

What should businesses do?

• Record where AI supports content, and at which stage.
• Keep named human review and fact-checking on anything published.
• Decide which content needs an extra approval step.

Preferred Sources and “Highly Cited” Labels in AI Search

Google’s Preferred Sources now appear inside AI Overviews and AI Mode, alongside a “Highly Cited” badge for widely referenced articles. The feature highlights original reporting that has been referenced by other publishers and can also show when an article links to a highly cited source.

The label is not a universal ranking badge. It is another reason for publishers to create distinctive, well-sourced work rather than repeat information already available elsewhere.

What should publishers do?

• Lead with original research, first-party data or useful expert analysis.
• Link clearly to primary sources.
• Keep authorship, publication dates and updates easy to verify.
• Measure links, mentions and qualified traffic rather than chasing the badge alone.

Key Takeaways

• WordPress has launched a Core Security Initiative covering releases, backlog and AI-assisted scanning.
• When AI lacks evidence about a business, it substitutes a competitor, and a content audit won’t reveal it.
• ChatGPT.com is now the ninth most visited US website, ahead of Bing and DuckDuckGo.
• Shopping CTR is rising while impressions fall, with AI Overviews a plausible but unproven cause.
• Google is testing exact and phrase match Search ads in AI Mode on high-intent queries.
• A GA4 fault showed zero traffic for 1st September and needs annotating.
• Anthropic’s watermark shows text was processed by Claude, not authored by it.
• Preferred Sources and “Highly Cited” labels now appear across Google’s AI search experiences.

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