Google Just Changed the Way They Display Search Results
How Google's September 2025 SERP Changes Are Quietly Reshaping Dental SEO & Digital Marketing
Posted on 11/5/2025 by WEO Media |
Executive Summary: Understanding the New SERP Limitations
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What changed (Sept 2025): Google killed the &num=100 SERP parameter, so most tools now see far less depth, making top-10 rankings and SERP features disproportionately valuable.
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Data impact: Expect lower impressions in Search Console from this date—primarily a measurement artifact, not a demand or traffic crash. Re-center KPIs on sessions, calls, forms, and page-one share.
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Winning strategy: Prioritize winnable, high-value local intents (e.g., “dental implants [city]”) and aim for Local Pack, Featured Snippets, and PAA with direct, structured answers.
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Execution focus: Upgrade 3–5 revenue pages (content depth, schema, internal links, E-E-A-T: doctor bios, credentials, reviews/photos) and support them with concise Q&A posts that interlink.
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Risk control: Continuously refresh page-one assets and diversify acquisition (Google Ads/LSAs, email, community/social) to keep new-patient flow steady. |
Introduction
A quiet tweak in Google Search has fundamentally changed how the web is measured, analyzed, and learned from. In mid-September 2025, Google disabled the &num=100 parameter: a technical function that once allowed users and SEO tools to view 100 search results on a single page. This seemingly minor adjustment has created seismic ripples across the digital marketing landscape, fundamentally altering how we track rankings, measure visibility, and perhaps most importantly, train AI systems.
For dental practices investing in SEO and digital marketing, this change isn't just a technical footnote— it's a wake-up call. The stakes for page-one visibility have never been higher, and the window for reaching potential patients through organic search has narrowed dramatically. Understanding these changes is crucial for any practice looking to maintain or improve their online presence in 2025 and beyond.
What Happened: The Technical Shift
How It Worked
The &num=100 parameter was a powerful tool embedded in Google's infrastructure for years. When appended to a search query URL, it instructed Google's servers to return 100 results in a single page load instead of the standard 10. This functionality became the backbone of the SEO industry. Keyword research platforms, rank tracking tools, and competitive analysis software all relied on this parameter to efficiently gather comprehensive search result data.
SEO professionals and agencies used this capability to monitor rankings across positions 1-100, providing clients with detailed visibility reports. For a dental practice in Portland, Oregon, this meant their marketing agency could track whether their implant dentistry page ranked at position 15, 45, or 87 for specific keywords (valuable intelligence for optimization strategies).
When Was It Removed?
Industry reports pinpoint the change to September 12-14, 2025, when Google quietly disabled the parameter without prior announcement or official documentation. The SEO community discovered the change organically when rank tracking tools began failing and returning incomplete data. Google later confirmed to Search Engine Land that the parameter "is not something that we formally support," signaling this was an intentional policy shift, not a temporary bug.
Immediate Industry Impact
The effects were swift and widespread:
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Tools and scrapers broke overnight, forcing pagination through 10-result pages instead of single bulk requests—a 10x increase in API calls and operational costs
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According to Search Engine Land research, 87.7% of websites lost impressions in Google Search Console data, while 77.6% lost unique ranking terms/
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Google Search Console data appeared "cleaner" but dramatically less comprehensive, as positions 11-100 became invisible in standard reporting |
Major SEO platforms like SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Keyword Insights immediately acknowledged the disruption. Many had to fundamentally restructure their data collection infrastructure, implementing workarounds that increased costs by 900-1000% for the same data depth. Some platforms, like seoClarity, emphasized their "enterprise-scale architecture" was prepared for such changes, while others faced significant operational challenges.
 Why Google Made This Change
While Google hasn't published an official explanation, industry analysis and technical evidence point to several strategic motivations:
Curbing AI Data Scraping
The timing coincides perfectly with the explosive growth of large language models (LLMs) and AI training systems. These systems depend heavily on massive datasets scraped from the web, and Google's search results represent some of the most valuable, curated information on the internet. By restricting bulk SERP access, Google significantly hampers mass data harvesting for AI model training.
Research indicates that LLMs like GPT-4, Claude, and Gemini require hundreds of millions to billions of words for effective training. Common sources include platforms like Wikipedia, Reddit, Stack Overflow, and crucially, Google search results. The &num=100 parameter made it easy for AI companies to harvest Google's carefully ranked and filtered results at scale. One tool could make a single request and capture 100 ranked URLs with their metadata—a treasure trove for training datasets.
By forcing pagination to 10 results per request, Google increased the "cost" of scraping by 10x—not just in API calls, but in time, bandwidth, and the likelihood of triggering anti-bot detection systems. This strategic friction protects Google's competitive moat in the AI arms race.
User Behavior Alignment
From a user experience perspective, Google's change aligns with actual search behavior. Research consistently shows that fewer than 1% of users ever view results beyond page one, and virtually no organic users scroll through 100 results. The vast majority of clicks happen in positions 1-10, with dramatic drop-offs even within the first page.
For dental practices, this reality has always been clear: if your website isn't ranking in the top results for "dental implants [city name]" or "emergency dentist near me," you're essentially invisible to searchers. The &num=100 parameter served SEO professionals and bots, not actual users.
Infrastructure Efficiency
Serving 100 results instead of 10 requires significantly more server resources, such as processing power, bandwidth, and energy. At Google's scale, where billions of searches occur daily, eliminating this parameter reduces infrastructure costs and environmental impact. Additionally, smaller payloads mean faster response times and improved user experience for the overwhelming majority who never request extended results.
Strategic Control in the AI Era
Most importantly, this move strengthens Google's competitive position. By closing an easy data gateway, Google maintains tighter control over its ranking signals, algorithmic insights, and search result quality. As AI companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and others race to build more capable models, access to high-quality, ranked search data becomes increasingly valuable. Google's restriction ensures competitors can't easily harvest this intelligence to train rival systems or build competing search products.
The AI Supply Chain and a Shallower Web
How AI Systems Depend on Search Results
Large language models and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems rely heavily on indexed search results for both training and real-time operation. During training, these models consume vast datasets scraped from publicly accessible websites. Search engine results pages serve as valuable "pre-filtered" datasets. Google has already determined which content is most relevant, authoritative, and useful for specific queries.
For AI researchers, scraping positions 1-100 from Google provided diverse, quality-ranked training examples. A single search query could yield 100 different URLs, each representing a unique perspective, writing style, and information depth. This diversity is crucial for training models that can handle varied inputs and generate contextually appropriate responses.
Impact of the Restriction
Positions 11-100 represent roughly 90% of indexed content for any given query. With these positions now significantly harder to access at scale, the "discoverable web" shrinks dramatically for AI training purposes. This has several consequences:
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Dataset Homogenization: AI training data becomes concentrated on page-one sources, potentially increasing model bias toward established, high-authority sites and reducing exposure to diverse perspectives
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Quality vs. Quantity Tradeoff: While page-one results generally represent higher quality, the lack of diversity can limit a model's ability to understand niche topics, alternative viewpoints, or emerging trends
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Increased Barriers for Open-Source AI: Smaller AI projects and open-source initiatives face significantly higher costs and technical challenges in gathering training data, potentially consolidating AI development power among well-funded organizations |
Articles from TechWyse and Tortoise & Hare Software connect this change directly to reduced data accessibility for open-source AI projects, particularly those without the resources to implement expensive workarounds. Some researchers even estimate that the effective "training web" for open-source AI projects may have shrunk by 40-60% overnight.
 Implications for SEO and Content Visibility
Data Interpretation Shifts
Critical Understanding: If your Google Search Console shows sudden drops in impressions around September 12-14, 2025, this likely reflects the reporting change, not actual ranking declines. Many SEO professionals initially panicked when seeing 50-80% impression drops, only to discover their actual traffic remained stable or even improved.
The explanation: much of the "impression" data from positions 20-100 was actually generated by SEO tool bots using the &num=100 parameter, not real users. These artificial impressions inflated metrics and skewed average position calculations. With bot-generated impressions removed, Search Console data now more accurately reflects genuine user behavior but appears dramatically reduced.
SEO Practice Evolution
The new reality demands fundamental shifts in SEO strategy:
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Page-One or Bust: Visibility beyond page one now has negligible value for organic traffic. Competition for top 10 positions intensifies across all industries, including dental marketing
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Long-Tail Keyword Challenges: Long-tail keywords often rank in positions 20-100. While these rankings still exist, they're harder to measure, report on, or optimize. Many rank-tracking tools now cap reports at positions 20-30 due to increased crawling costs
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Startup Discovery Difficulties: New dental practices or those building authority face greater challenges. Previously, ranking at position 35-50 provided some organic discovery and link acquisition opportunities. This "middle ground" visibility has largely disappeared
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Tool Limitations: SEO platforms can no longer easily track or report rankings past position 20-30 where many long-tail keywords naturally rank. Rankings still exist, but measurement and optimization become significantly more difficult |
Bottom line: The measurable web just got smaller, and winning the first page matters more than ever.
Broader Ramifications
Information Concentration
With deeper results less visible to both users and AI training systems, established brands with existing authority dominate even more completely. For dental practices, this means corporate dental chains and well-established practices with years of SEO investment maintain stronger competitive advantages. Niche publishers, new practices, and smaller businesses face higher barriers to organic discovery.
Market Control Dynamics
Google gains tighter control over which websites and datasets shape both search visibility and AI learning. This centralization of information gatekeeping raises important questions about digital ecosystem health, competition, and innovation. The company that controls search result access increasingly controls which information shapes human knowledge and AI capabilities.
Algorithmic Gatekeeping
Fewer surfaced results mean algorithms, not users or researchers, increasingly decide what constitutes the internet's accessible knowledge base. The long tail of the web—specialized blogs, niche expertise, alternative perspectives—becomes functionally invisible even though it technically still exists and ranks.
The Open Data Imperative
This shift highlights the urgent need for alternative search indexes, open-source crawlers, and nonprofit data preservation projects. Organizations like Common Crawl, Internet Archive, and various academic initiatives become increasingly important for maintaining web diversity and preventing complete information centralization. For the health of both human knowledge and AI development, multiple independent sources of web data remain critical.
Actionable Advice for Dental Practices
For Your Digital Marketing Strategy
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Prioritize Page-One Optimization: Focus all SEO efforts on achieving and maintaining top 10 positions for your highest-value keywords. Invest in comprehensive keyword research to identify winnable page-one opportunities
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Technical SEO Excellence: Ensure flawless technical implementation, including structured data markup, optimized meta tags, fast page speeds, mobile responsiveness, and strong internal linking architecture
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SERP Feature Targeting: Optimize for featured snippets, local pack results, "People Also Ask" boxes, and other SERP features that provide visibility beyond traditional organic listings
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Keyword Portfolio Rebalancing: Shift focus toward higher-value, lower-competition terms where page-one rankings are achievable. Build strong topical authority clusters around your core services
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Historical Data Annotation: Mark September 2025 as a methodology break point in your analytics. Explain to stakeholders that impression drops likely reflect reporting changes, not performance declines
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Tool Verification: Confirm your rank-tracking tools' new depth limitations and pricing structures. Some platforms now charge significantly more for extended ranking data |
Diversify Your Traffic Sources
Don't put all your patient acquisition eggs in the organic search basket. Other sources include:
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Email Marketing: Build and nurture an email list of patients and prospects (this audience you own directly).
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Social Media Presence: Establish strong profiles on platforms where your patients spend time—Facebook, Instagram, TikTok for consumer engagement, LinkedIn for professional networking.
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Community Partnerships: Develop relationships with local businesses, schools, and organizations for referral opportunities.
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Paid Advertising: Strategic Google Ads campaigns can supplement organic visibility, especially for high-value procedures like implants, orthodontics, or cosmetic dentistry. |
Content Strategy Refinement
Consolidate Thin Content: Audit your website for weak pages and either improve them substantially or merge related topics into comprehensive resources.
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Build Topical Authority: Create comprehensive content clusters around your core services (dental implants, Invisalign, cosmetic dentistry, etc.) with strong internal linking.
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Protect Page-One Assets: Pages currently ranking in top 10 positions deserve ongoing optimization, fresh content updates, and protective internal linking.
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E-E-A-T Optimization: Google's Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness guidelines matter more than ever. Showcase doctor credentials, patient testimonials, before/after cases, and professional affiliations. |
 Conclusion
A seemingly small technical change—disabling the &num=100 parameter—has fundamentally reshaped how we discover, measure, and train on web information. By narrowing the accessible web to the top 10 results, Google has raised the stakes for page-one visibility while tightening control over the information ecosystem that powers both human knowledge and artificial intelligence.
For dental practices and healthcare providers, this shift demands strategic adaptation. The practices that thrive in this new environment will be those that optimize smarter, diversify traffic sources earlier, and defend an open, accessible internet through support of alternative data sources and decentralized information systems.
The next era of SEO and AI belongs to those who adapt early—building robust page-one strategies, diversifying patient acquisition channels, and maintaining technical excellence across their digital properties.
At WEO Media, we're helping dental practices navigate these seismic shifts with data-driven strategies, proven methodologies, and a commitment to sustainable, long-term growth. The digital landscape is evolving rapidly—let's ensure your practice not only adapts but thrives.
Need Help Navigating These Changes?
WEO Media specializes in strategic dental marketing that adapts to the evolving digital landscape. Contact us today
or call 888-246-6906
to ensure your practice maintains strong visibility and continues attracting new patients.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What exactly did Google change in September 2025, and why does it matter to dentists?
Google disabled the &num=100 URL parameter that let tools pull 100 results per page. Most platforms now have to showcase results in sets of 10, which raises costs and limits depth. Practically, this makes page-one rankings and SERP features far more valuable for acquiring patients via search.
Why did my Google Search Console impressions suddenly drop around Sept 12–14, 2025?
It’s usually a reporting artifact, not a traffic collapse. Much of the “impressions” beyond positions 20–100 were inflated by bots/tools leveraging &num=100. With that gone, impressions look lower but better reflect real user behavior. Check traffic and conversions before sounding alarms.
Should I change my SEO goals for core services like implants, Invisalign, and cosmetics?
Yes. Shift from “ranking anywhere” to owning top-10 for your highest-value, local intents (e.g., “dental implants [city]”). Be sure to layer in Local Pack optimization, structured data, internal linking, and content that answers common patient questions to win snippets and PAA boxes.
How do we annotate and explain the September 2025 data break to stakeholders?
Add a clear annotation (“SERP methodology change—&num=100 removed”) on Sept 12–14, 2025. In reports, separate pre-change vs. post-change impression trends and emphasize stable traffic/leads as the north star. This reframes “impression losses” as measurement changes, not performance drops.
Are long-tail keywords dead now?
Not dead, just harder to measure. Many long-tails still rank in positions 20–100, but tools are less reliable/cost-effective at tracking them. Keep long-tail content that builds topical authority, but prioritize clusters that can elevate at least one page to page one.
What content moves the needle most in this new environment?
“Page-one assets” that directly map to revenue include: comprehensive service pages (implants, clear aligners, emergency), robust FAQs, before/after galleries, treatment timelines, costs/financing, candidacy criteria, and post-op guidance. Refresh them often and interlink supporting blogs to strengthen topical authority.
Which technical SEO items are now non-negotiable?
Fast pages, mobile responsiveness, airtight internal linking, schema/structured data, optimized titles/meta, and clean crawl paths. Add E-E-A-T enhancers (doctor bios, credentials, testimonials, case photos, affiliations) to improve trust and snippet eligibility as well.
How should I rethink my keyword portfolio?
Rebalance toward high-value + realistic targets: procedure + city, condition + service, urgent intent (e.g., “same-day crown [city]”), and insurance queries. Then build topic clusters around each core service, increasing the odds your page makes it onto page one of the SERPs, with supportive articles answering adjacent questions.
If page one is crowded, how else do we keep new-patient flow steady?
Diversify: email marketing to your list, Google Ads for marquee services, Local Services Ads where relevant, social media (patient education + community proof), and community partnerships that drive referrals. Treat organic as the foundation, not the only channel.
What SERP features should dental practices target now?
Local Pack (optimize GBP categories, services, photos, reviews), Featured Snippets (clear answer paragraphs, lists, tables), “People Also Ask” (Q&A blocks), and sitelinks. Mark up pages with appropriate schema to improve eligibility and click-through.
How does this change affect AI and why should a dentist care?
Restricted bulk access makes AI systems train more on page-one sources, concentrating visibility among established sites. Dentists who consistently ship high-quality, well-structured, authoritative content are more likely to be surfaced, in both Google and AI assistants patients use to choose providers. |
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