If your rankings slipped in mid December and you haven’t changed much on your site, the timing points to Google’s December 2025 Core Update. Plenty of business owners describe their content as “safe”: accurate, polite, and not trying to game the system. Yet “safe” doesn’t mean protected. Search is a league table, and a core update reshuffles the ladder regardless of intent. Even sites working with established search engine optimisation practices can see sudden movement.

Google’s Search Status Dashboard shows the rollout began on 11 December 2025 and may take up to three weeks to complete. Google’s public line is familiar too: it’s a regular update intended to surface more relevant, satisfying results from all types of sites. That statement matters less than how results actually shift once the update settles.

Why respectable pages can fall

Google rarely spells out what changed inside a core update, so anyone claiming a single “cause” is guessing. The official documentation keeps you focused on outcomes: how pages perform before and after the rollout, and whether your content is genuinely serving searchers. When “safe” content drops, the explanation usually fits one of these patterns.

1) Your page matches the topic, but not the current intent

Search intent drifts without warning. A guide that once satisfied beginners can lose out when people start wanting prices, comparisons, local options, or a short answer first. The facts may still be right, but the format no longer fits the job.

This is why a ranking drop often clusters around one type of query, such as informational posts, while other sections of the site stay stable. Many businesses only notice this pattern after a SEO consultant maps affected keywords back to intent changes.

2) It reads like an internet average

Core updates often expose sameness. Many industries publish near-identical explainers built from the same sources and headings. Google’s Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines (updated 11 September 2025) warn raters about scaled content abuse: pages created mainly for the site owner, with little value compared with other similar pages, regardless of how they were produced.

You don’t need thousands of URLs to look “scaled.” One article can feel mass-made if it’s padded, vague, or built from stock phrases. This is where the difference between generic output and best SEO services becomes visible.

A quick check: does the page show something verifiable? Dates, numbers, local detail, worked examples, photos, or direct references to primary sources.

3) Site reputation became more sensitive

Your “good” pages can now be judged more heavily in the context of your whole site. If you host thin third-party material, have legacy sections built for volume, or publish content that feels off-topic for your brand, Google may reassess trust and relevance across the domain.

Google’s documentation on site reputation abuse explains that publishing third-party content mainly to exploit a host site’s ranking signals is a spam issue, and it has clarified that policy over time. Even businesses that never ran parasite-style tactics are feeling the effect. Staying within the rules avoids penalties, but it does not guarantee strong visibility. That gap is often where a best SEO agency focuses its effort.

4) Your expertise exists, but the page doesn’t show it

This hits trades, professional services, and local businesses especially hard. The team knows the work, but the content feels anonymous. No author details. No evidence of hands-on experience. No clear “last reviewed” date on fast-moving topics. Nothing that signals accountability.

Working with a SEO consultant can help here, because an external reviewer can spot gaps you’re blind to and turn “we know this” into “the page proves this.”

What to do next, without panic edits

During a rollout, rankings can swing day to day. Most mistakes happen when site owners chase that movement. Google’s own core update guidance remains steady:

• Confirm the start and end of the rollout using the Search Status Dashboard
• Wait until it completes, then compare a week after completion with a week before the rollout began
• Review your top pages and queries and look for a shared theme in what fell

Once you see the theme, improve pages in ways a reader would notice quickly:

• Put the answer near the top, then add depth for people who want it
• Cut filler. If a section doesn’t earn its place, remove it
• Add proof and specificity: examples, constraints, sources, and update notes
• Consolidate overlapping pages so multiple URLs are not competing for the same query

That’s where search engine optimisation stops being a set of tricks and becomes a publishing standard.

When it makes sense to get help

If you’re comparing providers for best SEO services, ask how they approach evidence, authorship, and content consolidation, not just keyword targets. For Sydney businesses wanting a local lens, SEO experts in Sydney can turn a rankings wobble into a priority list that’s realistic for a busy team.

If you’d rather start with a defined scope, affordable SEO packages let you address the pages most likely to affect leads and revenue first, without committing to a full rebuild.

When the December rollout finishes, the numbers will settle. Sites that recover tend to treat the drop as feedback and respond with better pages, not louder pages.