Google's March 2026 core update: what Devon businesses should do next

The March 2026 core update was Google's third confirmed update in roughly ten weeks, following the February Discover update and the March spam update. It ran for 12 days from 27 March to 8 April, faster than December 2025's 18 day rollout.

Two patterns matter for small businesses.

First, the "E" for Experience in E-E-A-T is now weighted heavily. Generic content that could have been written by anyone with a laptop is losing ground. Pages that prove the writer has actually done the thing are climbing.

Second, the same signals feed AI Overviews. Google is not running two systems. The pages trusted enough to rank are the ones Google cites inside AI Overviews. Lose one, you lose both. This is why AI Search Optimisation now runs on the same foundations as classic SEO.

What good looks like for a Devon business

For a plumber in Exmouth, a B&B in Sidmouth, a garden service in Budleigh, or a charity in Exeter, the principles are the same. The pages that win after this update tend to share a handful of traits.

• First hand experience on the page. Named staff, real project photos, actual dates, specific towns served, outcomes expressed in numbers.
• Answer-first structure. The first 40 to 50 words directly answer the query the page targets.
• Topical depth. One strong, specific page per service per area beats twenty thin location pages.
• Proper schema. LocalBusiness, Service, and FAQ schema help Google read your pages correctly.
• A clear author or business bio. Who you are, what you have done, why anyone should trust you with this.
• A live Google Business Profile. Fresh reviews, new photos, regular posts.

If your pages pass the "could anyone have written this" test, you already have work to do.

Do this next

• Check your data. In Search Console, compare the 14 days before 27 March to the 14 days after 8 April. Note the pages with the biggest drops in impressions and clicks.
• Read the affected pages honestly. Could a stranger with a laptop have written them? If yes, they need real evidence of your experience. If no, look at intent match and depth.
• Add proof. Specific jobs, named towns, real photos, dates, outcomes. Swap stock images for your own work.
• Tighten the opening. The first paragraph should directly answer the query the page targets.
• Fix the schema. Add or validate LocalBusiness and Service schema. Add FAQ schema on service pages with real questions customers ask.
• Refresh, do not replace. Google rewards substantial updates to established pages. Deleting and starting over usually loses you the equity you already built.

Measure it

Watch four things over the next four to six weeks.

• Search Console impressions and clicks on your top 20 pages.
• Average position on local queries, for example "[your service] Exmouth" or "[your service] Exeter".
• Appearance in AI Overviews for brand and service queries. Check manually.
• Google Business Profile views, calls, and direction requests.

The next core update is expected in June or July 2026. Work done now will be reassessed then.

One more thing to consider

Do not panic-publish AI-written content to fill the gap. This update punishes exactly that kind of output. Slower, evidenced, locally specific pages are the ones gaining ground.

Need help reading your data?

If you have seen a drop since late March and you are not sure whether the cause was the spam update, the core update, or something else entirely, I can tell you in 30 minutes.