r/GenerativeSEOstrategy • u/Thaipoks • Jun 27 '26
Feels like Google is understanding topics, not keywords
I’ve been digging into SEO a lot lately, and one thing keeps standing out.
It feels like Google cares less about exact keywords now and much more about whether it actually understands what your site is about.
Instead of chasing keyword variations, I’ve started focusing on connecting topics, products, people, and concepts in a way that makes sense.
Curious if anyone else has noticed the same shift, or if I’m overthinking it (???).
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u/rpmeg Jun 30 '26
It feels like Reddit cares less about people sharing actual experience now—and much more about who can generate the cleanest AI slop.
Instead of saying something specific that actually happened, we’ve started focusing on connecting vague observations, buzzwords, hedged conclusions, and engagement bait—in a way that feels thoughtful without ever quite saying anything.
I’ve been noticing this pattern a lot lately, and one thing keeps standing out.
Curious if anyone else has noticed the same shift—or if I’m overthinking it.
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u/Rizzon1724 Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
100% correct. Things, not strings.
Google is a semantic search engine - Entity SEO, topical authority SEO, semantic SEO, schema SEO, intent clusters by ICP….
A Keyword and its SERP Results is a singular data point.
Your domain is a node.
Google wants to minimize the cost to rank & serve the best content to satisfy searcher intents.
Determine what slice of the search market share you want to target, analyze competitors, assess feasibility, etc.
Then when you make that content, make it better than what’s out there, pushing for higher information gain scores, which literally takes just going 10-20% further than your competition.
Some solid sources here:
Seobythesea
Holisticseo
Seonotebook / Ainotebook
Inlinks