Marketers are waking up to a fresh swirl of AI-search drama: new tests imply ChatGPT scrapes Google snippets when Bing draws a blank, Google’s AI Overviews are siphoning clicks, Meta advertisers are seeing sudden cost spikes, and SEO Twitter is coping with humor. Here is today’s snapshot.
Quick Pulse
- ChatGPT “copypastagate” thread hits 1.1 M impressions on X - mood: snarky disbelief
- Reddit r/SEO is buzzing with “SEO is not dead after all” posts - mood: smug relief
- Screenshots show Meta Advantage+ CPC up 25-40% week on week - mood: mild panic
- Publishers share Google Analytics drops after AI Overviews rollout - mood: resigned frustration
- Meme of the day: devs printing “index:yes” on coffee mugs - mood: gallows humor
ChatGPT Google Snippets Backlash
Early-morning threads from Aleyda Solís and Stéphane Bureau claim that ChatGPT with browsing enabled lifts Google SERP snippets when the Bing API cannot find an indexed page. Users replicated the test: publish a fresh page, wait until Google indexes it but Bing does not, then ask ChatGPT. The assistant returns verbatim text from Google’s snippet and states it came from a “cached snippet via web search.” X threads have exceeded 900 retweets and landed on the Hacker News front page.
“So the AI that might kill Google... is using Google.”
SEO pros say this proves traditional snippet optimization still matters for AI answers, while Google partisans mock Bing’s crawl lag. OpenAI has not commented.
Deeper dive: Confirmed: ChatGPT uses Google SERP Snippets for its Answers [A Test with Proof] and the original LinkedIn post.
Why marketers care
Featured-snippet copy can bleed straight into ChatGPT answers. Fine-tune your metadata accordingly.
AI Overviews Traffic Panic
Publishers on Reddit and Discord are sharing Google Analytics graphs showing 8-15% organic traffic dips since Google’s AI Overviews reached full US rollout. Recipe and affiliate sites are hardest hit. Tweets from @Marie_Haynes call the drop “Penguin-level.” Some SEOs advise doubling down on long-tail queries, others recommend richer schema. Google’s only statement so far: “early stages.”
“My recipes lost 20% overnight - AI ate the clicks.”
Why marketers care
Expect lower top-of-funnel volumes and diversify beyond organic search.
Meta Advantage+ CPC Surge
PPC managers are posting dashboards that show Advantage+ campaign CPCs jumping from $0.85 to $1.20 in just 48 hours. Theories range from fresh Llama 3 targeting tweaks to seasonal travel demand. Meta reps in private Slack channels deny an algorithm change and blame “seasonality.” Threads urge advertisers to switch back to manual placements until costs normalize.
“My ROAS went from 4.1 to 2.3 in two days.”
Why marketers care
Tighten budget-pacing rules and watch spend closely this week.
“Index:yes” SEO Meme
Twitter creatives are flooding timelines with mock HTTP headers like “coffee:yes” and “sleep:no” after Aleyda’s snippet test. GIFs of doors labeled “Bing crawler” stuck shut add levity, and the meme has already jumped to LinkedIn merch mockups.
“Adding index:yes to my life goals.”
Why marketers care
It is a light cultural moment that brand social teams can join for quick engagement.
Fact Check & Caveats
- OpenAI has not confirmed any Google fallback; evidence is user-side only.
- Traffic-loss screenshots lack site names and could suffer sampling bias.
- Meta CPC charts are user reported; no platform-wide benchmark is available.
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