Back in October 2015, Google announced a new ranking algorithm called RankBrain. Basically (very basically), Google is using an AI system to interpret millions of queries from which it learns to interpret intent and meaning – learning being the key factor.
So, nearly six months on has there been massive changes to what we’re seeing? Stone Temple Consulting have done some very in-depth research to measure the impact of RankBrain. The post deep dives into what RankBrain is, how queries are seemingly handled and discusses how this has impacted SEO (or not).
In summary, it can be seen that the overall search quality is better as a result of interpreting and matching user queries to web pages. However, when speaking purely about SEO, there seems to have been a minimal impact although they do recommend to “increase your emphasis on using truly natural language” based off of keyword research (still highly recommended) and how you are targeting your pages.
