Google may have released an update to its local ranking system between January 5 and 6, 2025. Multiple bloggers reported experiencing volatility on the local search results pages, with many suddenly losing rankings. However, the bloggers later recovered their rankings, leading to considerations that the loss of rankings may have resulted from a bug rather than an unconfirmed update.
What Are People Saying?
Joyanne Hawkins posted about the unconfirmed update on X (formerly Twitter). She suggested that the unconfirmed local ranking update made reviews and opening hours irrelevant to local SEO.
As a result, multiple sites with little to no reviews suddenly ranked higher than established sites with more reviews. Some bloggers even reported defunct businesses that had closed down, ranking highly for local results.
I think a Google engineer somewhere pressed a wrong button and was like – Reviews? Open businesses? Nah, we don't need either of those in the algorithm 😆 pic.twitter.com/6UMOpf2SHh
— Joy Hawkins (@JoyanneHawkins) January 6, 2025
Jason Brown shared the reports of a site that had lost most of its local rankings to this unconfirmed update. The report indicated that the site dropped between five and 22 ranks from its previous position.
Here is one client's @brightlocal report. https://t.co/GUhK5Hujp3 pic.twitter.com/k73tUNtrhz
— Gulf of America Jason Brown 🇺🇦 (@keyserholiday) January 6, 2025
After analyzing comments from local SEOs, Glenn Gabe suggested that the so-called unconfirmed local ranking update may have been a bug. He added that the bug caused severe volatility on the local search results pages, just like an algorithm update.
Sounds like a bug based on comments from those heavily involved in Local Search, but we haven't heard anything official yet. Looks like some big local ranking changes. Stay tuned. https://t.co/qz53SnoV5u
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) January 6, 2025
Jason Brown later shared the local pack for a local search query. He added that the supposed unconfirmed update was likely a bug and appears to have been resolved. Barry Schwartz also shared his opinion, stating that the affected sites were already recovering their rankings.
The Google local search update may have been a bug and may be resolving itself now – story updated at https://t.co/6S5iDkmJEL https://t.co/lB1aRW7XIN
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) January 6, 2025
What’s Next – Dealing With This Update
It remains unclear whether these local ranking changes was a bug or an unconfirmed update. However, most bloggers and SEOs agree it was a bug. It has also been resolved, which means affected sites should have recovered their rankings.
Overall, there is nothing much to worry about. However, you should monitor your site with Rank Math Analytics. If you were affected by the update and it was not resolved, you should wait a few days to see if it would resolve. If there are no changes, you should refer to this guide on recovering from a Google algorithm update.
