Google September 2022 Core Update (12 September 2022): What Changed and How to Recover

The Google September 2022 core update was a broad core update that started on 12 September 2022 and completed on 26 September 2022, a 14-day rollout. It had no specific target and was generally reported as weaker than past core updates, but it landed three days after the helpful content update finished and overlapped a product reviews update. The main challenge with this one is working out which of the three actually moved your traffic.

You can see where it sits among the other updates in my full list of Google algorithm updates.

Detail	Information
Update name	Google September 2022 Core Update
Type	Broad core update
Rollout started	12 September 2022 (around 11:26am ET)
Rollout finished	26 September 2022
Rollout length	14 days (Google had said up to two weeks)
Confirmed by Google	Yes: “The rollout was complete as of September 26, 2022”
Official source	Google Search Status Dashboard: ranking updates history

What the September 2022 core update changed

Like every broad core update, this was a general reassessment of content quality and relevance. Google gave no specific target. It was the second core update of 2022, after the May 2022 core update.

What makes it distinctive is context rather than content. In the space of about a month, Google ran:

• the first helpful content update, a site-wide classifier for search-first content (25 August to 9 September);
• this core update (12 to 26 September);
• the September 2022 product reviews update (20 to 26 September), overlapping the second half of the core update.

Each has a different mechanism and a different fix. Treating a helpful content loss as a core update problem, or the reverse, leads to the wrong recovery plan. So for this update, careful attribution is most of the work.

Here is the practical difference. The helpful content system asks whether a site, as a whole, publishes a high share of content made mainly for search engines, and the fix is removing that content. A core update reassesses how well individual pages meet the needs of specific queries compared with competing pages, and the fix is improving those pages. The product reviews system only looks at review content and asks for first-hand testing and evidence. A site can be affected by one, two or all three, and the work for each is different enough that guessing wrong costs real time.

Timeline

Date	Update	What it affected
25 August to 9 September 2022	Helpful content update	Site-wide signal for search-first content
12 September 2022	Core update begins (around 11:26am ET)	All content, broad reassessment
20 September 2022	Product reviews update begins	English product review content
26 September 2022	Core update and product reviews update both complete	All content

Who was affected

Data providers saw early swings, but the industry consensus was that this core update was weaker than past ones. Review sites had the hardest time reading their data, because the concurrent product reviews update hit the same pages in the same week. As always, Google named no affected sectors, and these are reported observations.

A weaker update on average does not mean a mild one for every site. If your site depended on a small number of high-value queries, even a modest reassessment of those queries could produce a noticeable change in traffic or leads. Judge it by your own data, not by industry volatility charts.

How to tell if the September 2022 core update hit your site

Here the goal is to separate three overlapping updates using daily data and content type.

1. Plot daily clicks from 15 August to 15 October 2022. In Search Console, use the daily view rather than a two-window comparison. Note where the step down (or up) actually starts.
2. Match the step to the dates.
   • Decline starting between 25 August and 9 September: more likely the helpful content update.
   • Decline starting between 12 and 19 September across many page types: most likely the core update.
   • Decline starting from 20 September on review pages only: consider the product reviews update.
3. Split by content type. Filter review URLs separately from everything else. If non-review pages moved from 12 September, that is the core update. If only reviews moved from 20 September, it is more likely the reviews update.
4. Look at the shape. An even, site-wide decline including your best pages points to the helpful content system. Losses clustered on particular pages or query types point to the core update.
5. Then do a standard core update comparison. Compare 29 August to 11 September with 27 September to 10 October 2022, look at which queries and pages lost most, and who now ranks above you.
6. Rule out the usual suspects. Tracking changes, site releases, indexing problems and manual actions.

How to recover from the September 2022 core update

Once you are confident the core update is the cause, the approach follows Google’s core update guidance: there is no specific fix, and recovery comes from broad, sustained quality improvement. Given the timing, I would also check the helpful content angle, because the two overlap in what they reward.

1. Confirm the attribution first. If the evidence points to helpful content or reviews instead, follow that update’s recovery path. It saves months of effort aimed at the wrong problem.
2. Review the losing pages against the winners. For the top lost queries, compare depth, accuracy, freshness, format and evidence of expertise.
3. Apply Google’s self-assessment questions. Original information, complete coverage, insight beyond the obvious, a trustworthy presentation and clear authorship.
4. Remove obvious drag. Thin, outdated or overlapping pages weaken a site under both core and helpful content assessments. Merge or retire them.
5. Improve rather than tweak. Avoid changing title tags and word counts in the hope of a quick bounce. Make substantive improvements to the pages that matter.
6. Measure at the next core update. Recovery most often shows at a later core update, with some movement possible in between.

Evidence	Most likely update	Where to focus
Site-wide drop from late August	Helpful content	Remove search-first content
Clustered drops from 12 September	Core	Page quality, intent, expertise
Review pages only, from 20 September	Product reviews	Hands-on evidence, comparisons

My on-page optimisation services cover the page quality and intent work. If the diagnosis also reveals crawling or indexing problems, my technical SEO services deal with them separately.

Is it still relevant today?

The September 2022 core update has long been superseded by later core updates. Its lasting relevance is as an example of clustered updates: Google often runs several updates close together, and getting the attribution right is the first step in any recovery. The method here, daily data, content-type splits and the shape of the decline, still works whenever updates overlap.

Frequently asked questions

When did the September 2022 core update start and finish?

It started on 12 September 2022, around 11:26am ET, and Google said the rollout was complete as of 26 September 2022.

Was the September 2022 core update big?

The industry consensus was that it was weaker than past core updates, although data providers saw early swings.

How do I know if it was the core update or the helpful content update?

Check daily data. A decline from 25 August to 9 September, spread across the whole site, points to helpful content. Declines from 12 September clustered on certain pages or queries point to the core update.

Did the September 2022 product reviews update overlap the core update?

Yes. It ran from 20 to 26 September 2022, during the second half of the core update rollout.

Sources

• Google Search Status Dashboard: ranking updates history
• Google Search Central: core updates documentation
• Keywords Everywhere: September 2022 core update

If your traffic dropped in September 2022 and you are not sure which update caused it, or you are facing overlapping updates now, I can untangle the data for you. Request a free audit, or see what my SEO audit services include.