The 2026 catch-up: eight things that changed this year
Welcome to What Now. Every week we’ll pick five to eight things that changed in search, give each one a verdict, and tell you what to do about it on your platform.
This first issue is a catch-up on the year so far. If you read only one item, read the first: Google is telling everyone, in writing, that the fundamentals still win.
- Verdict: Do it now
Google says AEO and GEO are "still SEO"
Google's May 2026 guide on AI search says optimizing for AI features is optimizing for search. Original content, indexable pages, Merchant Center and Business Profile matter. No special AI files are needed.
What to do: Treat this as permission to focus on fundamentals. Check indexing in Search Console, and keep Merchant Center and your Business Profile complete.
Source: Search Engine Journal
- Verdict: Do it now
Zero-click searches hit 68% in the US
SparkToro data shows 68% of US Google searches ended without a click in early 2026, up from about 60% in 2024.
What to do: Stop judging search on sessions alone. Add impressions, AI citations and leads to your monthly report.
Source: Search Engine Land
- Verdict: Do it now
Being cited in AI Overviews roughly doubles your clicks
Across 2.43 billion impressions, cited brands got 2.07% click-through on informational queries, compared with 0.94% for uncited ones.
What to do: Find your top informational pages in Search Console, search those queries, and note whether you're cited. Rewrite the ones that aren't to answer the question in the first paragraph.
Source: Seer Interactive
97% of llms.txt files got zero requests
Ahrefs studied 137,000 domains. 28% had an llms.txt file, and almost none of those files were ever fetched.
What to do: Leave it on if your plugin makes one for free. Don't spend money or time on it.
Source: Ahrefs
- Verdict: Watch
Schema didn't move AI citations in a 1,885-page test
Adding JSON-LD produced no meaningful lift in AI citations. Schema still drives rich results and helps machines identify your brand.
What to do: Keep your schema clean and accurate. Don't buy it as an AI ranking fix.
Source: Ahrefs
- Verdict: Watchshopify
Shopify launches Agentic Storefronts and the Universal Commerce Protocol
Shopify opened its Catalog to brands beyond Shopify and launched UCP with Google, so AI agents can find and buy products across merchants.
What to do: Get your product data complete now: titles, variants, GTINs, accurate inventory. That pays off whichever agent wins.
Source: Shopify
- Verdict: Skipshopify
OpenAI scales back Instant Checkout in ChatGPT
OpenAI moved most purchases back to merchant apps and sites in March 2026. The Agentic Commerce Protocol remains.
What to do: If an agency is pitching you in-chat checkout, ask what changed. For most merchants, product feeds matter more than checkout integrations.
Source: Digital Commerce 360
- Verdict: Watchheadless
WebMCP arrives in Chrome as a preview
WebMCP lets a site expose real functions (search, book, add to cart) to AI agents in the browser. Chrome has a preview and Cloudflare offers a one-click developer preview.
What to do: Nothing to ship yet. If you run a headless site with search or booking, note it for your 2027 roadmap.
Source: InfoQ