SEO news: November 2025
Martin Hill
The evolution of AI tools and search engines in shopping, improved ChatGPT, and changes in user search behavior. The most interesting news for November are here!
ChatGPT as your personal shopping advisor
OpenAI is launching a new shopping research feature that transforms ChatGPT into an intelligent shopping assistant. Instead of tedious searching through e-shops, the chatbot performs in-depth market research for you and offers tailored results. This step brings ChatGPT one step closer to the vision of a comprehensive "operating system" for everyday life and so-called agentic shopping.
The process takes place in four steps:
- Intent analysis: First, ChatGPT understands exactly what you are looking for and why.
- Logical reasoning (Chain of Thought): Internally, it maps out a process to find the best possible option.
- Querying external sources: It actively searches for information outside of its own database.
- Final guide: It compiles a clear shopping list of recommended products.
Characteristics and advantages:
- High personalization: The assistant takes into account your personal taste, style, and even the things you explicitly dislike.
- Google shopping integration: Product information (names, photos, prices, and ratings) is up-to-date and matches data directly from Google Shopping.
- Accuracy: Thanks to the combination of artificial intelligence and real-time web data, you get a tailored overview of the product offerings.
Google launches revolutionary AI shopping feature
Google has introduced a major update to its Search and Gemini assistant, designed to make holiday shopping easier for users. By connecting with the Shopping Graph and utilizing new "agentic" features, Google is becoming an active helper in both the selection process and the purchase itself.
Main news:
- Improved AI Mode: Shopping queries are now answered with a rich visual overview that combines pricing, reviews and stock availability in a clear, user-tailored format.
- Shopping directly in Gemini: The Gemini app now features interactive product lists, comparison charts and an overview of the best prices from across the web.
- "Let Google call": When searching for items nearby (near me feature), Google can call local stores on your behalf to verify if the product is actually in stock.
- Agentic shopping and payment: If you are tracking a product's price and it drops to your target level, Google will now offer to complete the purchase for you directly on the merchant's website using Google Pay.
This update represents a major shift where AI no longer just advises, but actively acts on behalf of the user (agentic shopping).
OpenAI launches GPT-5.1: Smarter, more human and more customizable ChatGPT
OpenAI launched the new GPT-5.1 model series in mid-November. This update focuses not only on higher intelligence but also on a more natural communication style and better personalization options.
New models in the GPT-5.1 series:
- GPT-5.1 Instant: The most widely used model is now "warmer" in communication, more intelligent and more precise in following instructions.
- GPT-5.1 Thinking: This advanced reasoning model is now more intuitive. It can manage time more effectively - responding faster to simple tasks while demonstrating greater persistence and depth of analysis when tackling complex problems.
Key improvements:
- More enjoyable conversations: OpenAI responds to user feedback - AI should also be fun and human when interacting.
- Voice tone settings: Intuitive controls are being introduced, allowing you to easily adjust the tone of ChatGPT's responses to better suit your style or a specific situation.
- More efficient thinking: The "Thinking" model now intelligently adjusts the length of its reasoning based on the difficulty of the question, which in practice means less waiting for common queries and more thorough answers for difficult ones.
This update is another step toward making ChatGPT feel like a personal tool that fully adapts to the needs and preferences of each specific user.
Study: Google AI Overviews caused a drastic drop in click-through rates (CTR)
New data from Seer Interactive confirms that the introduction of AI directly into search results (AI Overviews) is fundamentally changing user behaviour. People are getting answers directly on the Google page and are much less likely to click on other links, whether organic or paid.
Key data (decline between June 2024 and September 2025):
- Organic results (SEO): For queries with AI insights, CTR dropped by 61% (from 1.76% to just 0.61%).
- Paid advertising (PPC): For the same queries, click-through rates dropped by 68% (from 19.7% to 6.34%).
- Broader Impact: Even in cases where the AI Overview does not appear, organic CTR has dropped by 41%. This confirms that users are generally clicking less and are seeking answers on other platforms such as ChatGPT or TikTok.
Why is this happening? It's not just the AI answers themselves, but also the increasing number of other features on the page (called SERP features), such as YouTube videos, product cards or maps. Google is trying to keep users' attention to itself instead of sending them to other sites.
Citation as a new strategy: being "just" on the first page is no longer enough. The decisive factor is whether Google AI directly cites you in its summary:
The cited brands have 35% higher organic CTRs and 91% higher paid CTRs than companies that are missing from the AI selection.
What does this mean for marketing? Metrics are shifting from net traffic to conversion quality. The goal is no longer to bring anyone to the site, but to build such strong authority that AI systems recommend you as a trusted source.