Position #1 On Google Is Dead (8.1 Million Searches Prove It)

E1165: Position #1 on Google is dead, at least as a single, static ranking you can check once and trust.

Joy Hawkins returns to break down a study of 8.1 million Google search results that found organic rankings became 48.7% more volatile after the May 2026 Core Update. 97% of the tracking reports analyzed started shuffling, and two people searching the same phrase at the same time now regularly see different rankings.

The volatility didn't disappear after the update ended. It stayed elevated.

We get into what this means for SEO, rank tracking, local search, AI Overviews, Google's new AI local results, content pruning, scaled AI content, reviews, and measuring whether SEO is actually making money.

Topics we cover:

- The 8.1 million-search study that found Google rankings became 48.7% more volatile

- Why 97% of the tracking reports studied started shuffling

- Why saying "we rank #1" or "we rank #3" is becoming increasingly inaccurate

- How two people searching the exact same keyword can see completely different results

- Why city + service keywords such as "Denver plumber" were among the searches hit hardest

- Why checking a keyword once is no longer enough to measure rankings

- How many searches Joy wants before she trusts rank-tracking data