Every few months, a new headline lands about Google’s algorithm changing everything. AI is destroying search. Rankings are collapsing. Small businesses need to act now or disappear from Google entirely. Most of it is overblown. But 2026 is different enough that it is worth explaining what has actually changed, what it means for businesses in Kingston, London and Surrey, and what you can do about it. Some of it matters a lot. Some of it is not worth losing sleep over. I will tell you which is which.
What the Google 2026 Algorithm Actually Changed
Google ran three major core updates in 2025, in March, June and December, and each one tightened the same screws: is this content genuinely helpful, and is it from a source that actually knows what they’re talking about? That question now shapes how most sites rank.
The biggest shift is not AI replacing search results. It is Google getting much better at telling the difference between content that demonstrates real expertise and content that just uses the right keywords. A Kingston accountant who has handled local business tax returns for ten years should now outrank a generic national directory, if their website is set up properly. That is the direction things are moving.
A few specific changes are worth knowing about:
- Content freshness matters more. Pages updated in the last three months get more visibility. Old, static service pages are losing ground.
- Page structure is being read by AI systems as well as Google’s traditional crawlers. Clear headings, well-organised content and proper schema markup help both.
- Thin content is being penalised harder. A single sentence under a service heading is not enough anymore.
- Local signals have become a bigger part of the ranking picture, especially for service-based businesses.
AI Overviews: Should Local Businesses Be Worried?
This is the question I get asked most often right now, and the honest answer is: less than you probably think, if you are a local service business.
AI Overviews are the summaries that appear at the top of some Google results, generated by Google’s AI rather than linking to individual pages. They have reduced clicks to websites for certain types of searches. Ahrefs analysed 146 million search results in November 2025 and found that only 7.9% of local searches trigger an AI Overview, compared to over 22% for non-local queries.. The searches most affected are informational ones, like when someone ask ‘how does conveyancing work’ rather than ‘conveyancing solicitor Kingston.’
If someone is looking for a web designer in Kingston, a plumber in Wimbledon or an accountant in Surrey, they want to speak to a local business. They are not looking for a generic AI summary. That intent is still sending people to websites and Google Business Profiles, not keeping them on the results page.
If someone is searching for a web designer in Kingston, they want to speak to someone local. AI Overviews are not changing that.
What AI Overviews have affected significantly is blog and article traffic. If you have invested heavily in informational content, such as how-to guides, explainers, general advice articles, you may have seen traffic to those pages fall. Google is now answering many of those questions itself. This does not mean you should stop writing content, but it does mean the content needs to do more than just answer basic questions. It needs to demonstrate your specific expertise and local knowledge.
- AI Overviews affect informational searches far more than local or transactional ones.
- Service businesses in Kingston and surrounding areas are less exposed than content-heavy sites.
- Blog content that shows genuine expertise and local knowledge still performs. Generic how-to content is losing traffic.
- Being cited in AI Overviews is becoming its own form of visibility: well-structured, authoritative pages are more likely to appear as sources.
E-E-A-T: Why Google Wants Proof, Not Promises
E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. Google added the first E for Experience in 2022, and it has become more significant with every update since. The principle is simple: Google wants to surface content from people who have actually done the thing they are writing about, not just people who have researched it.
For a small business in Kingston or London, this is genuinely good news. You have real experience. You have completed real projects for real clients in the area. The problem is that most small business websites do not show any of this. They have a services page that says ‘we provide professional results’ and a contact form. That is not enough anymore.
Google wants to know you have actually done this work, not just that you say you have.
Google’s own guidance through Google Search Central is clear that original, first-hand content is what their systems are trained to reward. That means real project examples, real client outcomes, specific local knowledge, not generic text that could apply to any business in any city.
What E-E-A-T looks like in practice for a local business:
- Service pages that reference actual projects you have completed, with location and context.
- An About page that explains how long you have been doing this and what kind of clients you work with.
- Case studies or project examples, even brief ones, that show real work rather than stock descriptions.
- Testimonials on the relevant service pages, not just collected on one Reviews page.
- Consistent business information: name, address, phone number, across your website and all directories.
- Schema markup that tells Google exactly what your business does, where you operate and how to contact you.
Your Google Business Profile Is Your New Homepage
This is not new advice, but it has become more urgent. Your Google Business Profile is now the primary source of data that Google uses to answer local queries, including in AI-generated results. If your profile is incomplete, out of date or inconsistent with your website, you are losing visibility.
Research on local search in 2026 consistently shows that AI-driven local results pull directly from Business Profile data. The businesses that appear when someone searches ‘web designer near me’ or ‘web designer Kingston’ are the ones with properly set up, actively maintained profiles. This is one of the fastest ways to improve local visibility without touching your website at all.
- Make sure your service categories are specific, not just ‘Web Designer’ but the subcategories that match what you actually do.
- Add photos regularly. Active profiles with recent photos perform better than static ones.
- Respond to every review. This signals to Google that the business is engaged and trustworthy.
- Post updates when you complete projects or have news. Treat it like a simple feed, not a static listing.
- Keep your address, phone number and website URL exactly consistent with what appears on your site and in other directories.
Your Google Business Profile is doing more work than your website for many local searches. It needs to be treated that way.
What Your Website Actually Needs to Do in 2026
The fundamentals have not changed. Fast load times, mobile-friendly design and clear structure still matter enormously. What has changed is what Google is looking for beyond those basics.
The websites I build for businesses in Kingston and across London and Surrey are structured to perform for local search specifically. That means dedicated service pages for each service, with local context built in. It means adding completed projects to those pages as examples. It means proper schema markup so Google can read exactly what the business does and who it serves.
Here is what is worth prioritising on your website right now:
- Service pages with depth. Each service should have its own page with a proper explanation, local context and at least one real example or case study.
- Location pages or location references. If you work across Kingston, Richmond, Wimbledon and Surrey, your site should reflect that in a way that feels natural and specific.
- Schema markup. Local business schema, service schema and review schema all help Google understand your business accurately. This is something I include in all the sites I build.
- Page speed and Core Web Vitals. Google still measures how fast your pages load and how stable the layout is as it loads. A slow site is a signal of a poorly maintained business.
- Internal linking. Your blog posts and case study pages should link back to your relevant service pages. This is how you use content to strengthen the pages that actually generate enquiries.
- Updated content. Static websites that have not been touched in two years are losing ground to ones with fresh content and recent examples.
None of this is complicated, but it does require someone to actually do it. Most business owners do not have the time or the knowledge. That is why I offer ongoing support after launch rather than just handing over a website and disappearing.