March 2026 Google Core Update: What Your Practice Needs To Know

Google released its first core update of 2026 on March 27, with the rollout running through April 8. Core updates happen a few times a year, overhauling the systems Google uses to decide search rankings. Keep reading to determine how this latest update may have affected your practice’s visibility in therapy-related search results.

About Google Core Updates

Since content on the internet is always changing, core updates give Google a chance to recalibrate its ranking systems to ensure it continues presenting helpful, reliable results to searchers. From your standpoint, core updates matter because they affect whether your practice continues to appear for search terms related to your therapy services.

It can take a while to see the full effects of a core update on your website’s performance, so you shouldn’t panic if your rankings initially drop. Google recommends waiting at least one week after the rollout to check your traffic and rankings. That gives your website some time to stabilize to its new normal so that you can determine if it needs optimizations.

Optimizations for Google Core Updates

Below are some common themes among the websites that are ranking well following the March 2026 Core Update. They can help you optimize your practice website if you’ve seen a drop in performance since March. Or, you can use them to future-proof your website, setting yourself up for minimal disruptions during upcoming core updates.

Prioritize Information Gain

Information gain is a Google ranking factor that measures how much new information you provide about a topic with your content. Instead of regurgitating what’s already out there, you should use your years of experience in the mental health field to add expert commentary and personal insight to your website content.

Narrow Your Focus

Google favors websites that show their expertise in a particular area. For your website, stick to creating content about your specific area of focus. Show the depth of your knowledge on these mental health conditions and therapeutic approaches by building several pages that discuss them from different angles.

Use AI Strategically

Google doesn’t penalize AI-assisted content outright, but it’s starting to target content that’s been churned out at scale without any human input. Our recommendation is to use AI for assistance, such as brainstorming topics for blog posts, but not for the entire content creation process.

Final Thoughts

Staying on top of Google’s core updates can be daunting, but it’s an important part of ensuring your practice remains visible in search results. TherapySites’ team of experienced SEO professionals can take this task off your plate and implement our optimization tips for Google’s recent core update. Whether you’re looking to create new content or enhance existing pages, we’re here to help your website get noticed for the topics that matter most to your practice.

Tom Daniel
General Manager