Hint: It’s no longer just about SEO
Imagine the following situation: You’ve invested months in building your website. You’ve written high-quality content, built links, improved speed, and fixed every single technical error. Then, one morning, you open your Search Console and see the graph in a freefall.
You’re not alone. Google’s latest December update was one of the most brutal we’ve seen in recent years. While many SEO professionals have been uploading real Search Console graphs to LinkedIn showing organic traffic drops of 40%–70%, the insights from top industry names tell an even deeper story.
Just yesterday, Rasa Sosnovskyte, an international SEO expert and speaker at BrightonSEO, summarized the impact in her post, calling the update “brutal.” Her analysis of the data showed:
YMYL sites were decimated, specifically in finance and health.
Highly authoritative sites saw massive drops in visibility.
Major Publishers were hit hard in both Search and AI Overviews.
Authoritative sites lost visibility.
Large publishers were hit both in Search and in AI Overviews.
Even veteran sites with long-standing reputations took a heavy blow.
Glenn Gabe, one of the world’s leading analysts, reinforced these findings and explained that the update is based on 13 months of user behavior which is why no “quick fix” will help.
And it doesn't end there. Outlook India, one of the largest news sites in India, crashed by more than 70% in traffic. The Strategist of New York Magazine lost 50%–60% in some categories. Even the British Daily Mail and Mirror saw sharp declines in the fields of health and finance.
When sites like these with massive budgets, content teams, and global link profiles are cut down this way, it is clear that something deep has changed.
And that is exactly the point: Most SEO professionals are still looking for the answer in the wrong places.
I have been an SEO professional for 18 years, but my most important insight didn’t come from sitting in front of a screen it came from 31 years of Sales Management. In the world of sales, if you try to sell an expensive product to a customer who doesn't know you, they won't listen. They don't believe you.
Before the sale you build trust.
And Google of 2026 behaves exactly like that skeptical customer. It is no longer looking only at what is written on your site but at who stands behind it.
When I connected the world of sales to the world of SEO, I discovered the real reason for the recent drops—and the only key that can return a site to the first page.
It all starts with one concept that changes the rules of the game.
Why Google Stopped Believing Your Content
To understand what really happened in the latest update, you need to look at Google not as a search engine—but as a customer.
A skeptical customer.
A customer who has been burned one too many times.
In the last 18 months, Google was flooded with:
AI‑generated content
Spam sites
“Fake experts”
Portals writing about every topic just to capture traffic
Google had to develop a defense mechanism.
And here is where the salesperson’s logic kicks in.
Think about it: If someone walks into your office wearing a luxury suit (a designed website), speaks with confidence, and throws professional clichés at you (SEO content), but:
He has no recommendations
He has no history
No one in the industry knows who he is
He has no digital footprint outside the presentation he brought
You won’t buy a thing from him.
Why?
Because there is no trust.
Google of 2026 behaves exactly the same way.
It is no longer impressed by “pretty” content.
It doesn’t get excited by word counts.
It isn’t tempted by shady links.
And it definitely doesn’t believe sites that try to be experts in every field.
Instead, Google is looking for one thing:
The Identity Spine the backbone of your digital identity.
This is the mechanism Google uses to answer the most important question for its users:
“Who stands behind this content and can they be trusted?”
Google checks:
Does the author or brand exist outside the site?
Do they have consistent digital footprints?
Are they identified with a specific field?
Do they have a history, activity, and expertise?
Is there a match between the Entity and the content?
In other words:
Google is no longer ranking pages.
It is ranking people.
It is ranking entities.
It is ranking trust.
This explains exactly why giant sites fell and why small sites with a strong identity are rising.
How to Build the Identity Spine
The Three Stages of Entity Validation
Now that we understand why Google stopped believing the content, it’s time for the question every SEO professional wants answered:
How do you build the Identity Spine in practice?
Just like in sales, you don’t rely only on what you say you build an entire system of trust around you.
The Identity Spine consists of three clear stages:
The Injection
Schema as a Declaration of Identity
Most SEOs use Structured Data to tell Google what is on the page.
But in 2026, that’s not enough.
You must use Schema to tell Google who you are.
This means:
Connecting the site to all your Nodes across the web
Defining your entity clearly
Showing real digital footprints
Examples:
LinkedIn
Interviews
Podcasts
External articles
GitHub / CoderLegion
Conference appearances
Past roles
Schema becomes your official business card with Google.
Off‑Site Validation
Google trusts what others say about you
Google doesn’t believe what you say about yourself.
It believes what the internet says about you.
Your Identity Spine must be reinforced by:
Links from trusted sites
External mentions
Verified profiles
Media appearances
Entity relationships
Example:
On fayzakseo.com there are 166 external links — but what matters is where they come from.
If they come from trusted entities → your spine strengthens.
If not → it’s just noise.
Consistency
The silent killer of trust
In sales, inconsistency kills deals.
In SEO, inconsistency kills rankings.
If your Schema says you’re an SEO expert, but your site also contains:
Recipes
Relationship tips
Supplement reviews
Your Identity Spine breaks.
This is exactly what brought down:
Outlook India
The Strategist
Daily Mail
Mirror
And dozens more
And here’s the key connection to Glenn Gabe:
Those 13 months of user behavior?
That’s exactly how long it takes Google to build your Identity Spine.
It checks:
Are you consistent?
Do people search for you by name?
Does your brand leave a real mark online?
Identity Spine is not a trick.
It is a process of trust.
The New Map of 2026
Trust is the new ranking factor
In 2026, a first‑page ranking on Google is not a reward for optimization —
it is a stamp of trust.
The new game is simply different.
Those who don’t play it are not in the game.
To build a real entity, one that Google can believe in, you must invest in:
Social media presence
Consistent digital footprints
Content outside your site
Professional profiles
Interviews, podcasts, appearances
Links from trusted sources
Continuous activity over time
This is not “Classic SEO.”
This is:
Brand Building
Identity Building
Trust Building
Those who build a strong Identity Spine will win.
Those who don’t will disappear even with excellent content and tons of links.
Google the toughest customer in the world is standing at the door.
You have 13 months to prove you are a real brand, not just another site pretending to be one.
