One search, all the way down
When someone has a question, my job is to make sure the right answer reaches them and that they trust it enough to act. Here's one real search, followed from the person who typed it to the months after.
The search: when is dungeon crawler carl book 9 coming out
The page that answers it
Step 1 of 6
AStart from the personEevee evolved into Espeon
It starts with a person, not a keyword
Every search is a person in a moment: on a phone, maybe in a hurry, with one thing they need to decide.
Before I build anything, I want to know who is typing, where they are and what they'll do with the answer. The words they type are only the surface.
The search is the one everyone has typed about a book, a show or a game: when does the next one come out? Here it's Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl series, and the answer is a page on my fan site, The Crawler's Cookbook.
Where these numbers come from
- 78% of the whole site's Google clicks came from phones. Google Search Console, crawlerscookbook.com by device, Mar 15 to Oct 13, data through .
Source: Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content, .
Bella: Keywords are the words. Hayden starts with the person typing them: who they are, what they're worried about, what they do next. The words come after that.
CFound: the whole site, not one page
A page gets found because the rest of the site points to it. Google mostly finds pages by following links from pages it already knows.
So the work is the whole site: every page reachable in a few links, no dead ends, nothing important hidden behind a script. One great page with nothing pointing at it is a store with no door.
On The Crawler's Cookbook, the Book 9 page sits in the middle of its site, not at the edge: 98 of 98 pages in the site's sitemap link to the Book 9 page, so a crawler can't miss it.
Each block is a page on the site. The lit one answers the search; a crawler reaches it through the links from the pages around it.
In search results
Google crawls the page, then decides whether to keep it in its index. It never promises to.
Source: Google Search Central, SEO Starter Guide; How Search Works, .
In AI answers
Google's AI answers read from the same index: a page has to be indexed before an AI Overview can link it. Other AI tools send crawlers of their own, and I let the search ones in.
Source: Google Search Central, AI features and your website, .
Search results and AI answers both start here. An AI answer can only use a page that an index or its own crawler can reach.
Where these numbers come from
- 98 of 98 pages in the site's sitemap link to the Book 9 page. My crawl of the live sitemap and every page in it, data through .
Source: Google Search Central, SEO Starter Guide; How Search Works, .
Bella: It's the giant list of pages a search engine has read and decided to keep. A page that isn't on the list can't show up, however good it is. Hayden makes sure his pages make the list. I keep a list too. It's mostly balls.
Step 3 of 6
BTell it as a storyEevee evolved into Vaporeon
Understood: what a machine actually reads
A search engine doesn't see the design. It reads the text, the headings, the links and the structured data underneath.
Drag the slider to peel the page back. What's left is what a crawler gets. I write the answer as one sentence that still makes sense on its own, because that's the piece an AI answer can lift whole. Those stay lit.
On The Crawler's Cookbook, the page answers in its first lines, says plainly what isn't known, and dates the check. Those are the sentences that stay lit below.
The same page, two ways. Drag to peel off what a person sees and keep what a crawler reads.
What a crawler reads
- H1 The Beautiful Place
- H2 What we actually know about Book 9
- H2 Is Book 9 the last Dungeon Crawler Carl book?
- H2 When is Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 10 coming out?
- H3 How long each wait has been
- Cookbook (breadcrumb)
- Books (breadcrumb)
- Read the first chapters now
- reading order
- book recaps
- Book 8
data Book, BookSeries, Person, FAQPage, BreadcrumbList
When is Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 9 coming out? No release date has been announced yet. Dinniman posted the book's prologue to Patreon in June 2026 and chapters 1-2 in August 2026. If you have seen a specific 2027 or 2028 release date, or the title Carl's Book of Boom, none of that came from Dinniman. Release date: not announced. Last checked October 13, 2026.
Same in both: the answer first, clear headings, and labels that match what a person sees.
Source: Google Search Central, Structured data search gallery, .
Bella: Labels a page wears for machines: this is an article, this is a person, this is the date. Google reads them to understand the page, so they have to match what you can see. Hayden checks that they do.
DChosen: why a person picks one answer
Being found gets a page into the list. Being trusted gets it picked: a dated, sourced, exact answer beats a vague one.
This is where search results and AI answers split, and where the results page itself matters: what sits above the plain links decides how much room is left. Flip the switch to see the same page win two different ways.
The Book 9 page on The Crawler's Cookbook earned 14.9K Google clicks. Its average Google position in July 2026 was 5.0; its average Google position from October 1 to 13, 2026 was 2.9. The same page drew 202K impressions in Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode and 11.1K citations in Bing's AI answers. I show those side by side, never as a share: Google doesn't say whether its AI and search impressions overlap.
In search results
Google writes the snippet under the link itself, mostly from the words on the page. So the page's first words are the answer, and the person picks the result that already looks like it.
Source: Google Search Central, Snippets, .
In AI answers
An AI answer
To be linked in Google's AI Overviews or AI Mode, a page must be indexed and eligible for a snippet; Google lists no extra requirements. The AI may run several related searches before it writes one answer, then cites the pages it used.
Source: Google Search Central, AI features and your website, .
Source: Google Search Central, AI features and your website, .
Where these numbers come from
- 5.0 average Google position in July 2026. Google Search Console, the Book 9 page, data through .
- 2.9 average Google position from October 1 to 13, 2026. Google Search Console, the Book 9 page, data through .
- 14,910 Google clicks. Google Search Console, the Book 9 page, Jul 11 to Oct 13, data through .
- 202,419 impressions in Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode. Google Search Console, Generative AI report, 2026-07-12 to 2026-10-11, data through .
- 11,056 citations in Bing's AI answers. Bing Webmaster Tools, AI Performance, 2026-04-13 to 2026-10-11, data through .
Same in both: the answer has to be worth trusting. A number with a date and a source beats a number without one.
Not every results page looks the same. What sits above the plain links decides how much room is left for a page to be found, and it changes by what the person wants and by industry.
One search per layout, loaded on on a phone browser, signed out, in Austin. Layouts change from load to load, so read each as a sample, not a rule.
By what they want
-
Informational
how to boil an egg
- AI Overview
- Plain links begin
- People also ask
- Videos
Further down: People also search for, What people are saying, Reddit thread inside plain links.
What it suggests, an opinion from this one load The AI Overview answers how-to questions before any link, so a page has to be the source the overview cites, with a clear, quotable answer, or it is fighting for the scroll.
ChatGPT, documented, not loaded A how-to question like this is likely answered in full in the chat with a few citations (my expectation, not documented for this query).
-
Commercial
best running shoes
- AI Overview with a product pick list
Further down: Places map pack, Video, Popular products grid, In stores nearby, Shop by store.
What it suggests, an opinion from this one load Comparison searches send people through Google's own product pages, maps and store blocks, so a review page wins by being the cited, tested pick, not by being one more list.
ChatGPT, documented, not loaded OpenAI documents that a shopping-intent question shows a product carousel with images, details and links; product results are picked by ChatGPT and are not ads; some products offer Instant Checkout inside the chat.
-
Transactional
buy airpods pro
- AI Overview: current models and prices
- Plain links begin
- Nearby stores / Where to buy
- Popular products grid
Further down: People also ask, In-store availability map, Shop by store.
What it suggests, an opinion from this one load Ready-to-buy searches are crowded with store, stock and price blocks, so the product data feed (price, stock, store info) matters as much as the page itself.
ChatGPT, documented, not loaded Documented: product carousel; prices come from third-party providers and the first price shown may not be the lowest; Instant Checkout for eligible merchants (launched 2025-09-29 for US Etsy sellers).
-
Local
pizza near me
- Places map pack: map plus three places
- Plain links begin
Further down: Discussions and forums, People also ask, Reddit thread inside plain links, What people are saying.
What it suggests, an opinion from this one load The map pack took the whole first phone screen, and Google says it ranks places on relevance, distance and how well known the business is, so a complete Business Profile with reviews is the page that matters most.
ChatGPT, documented, not loaded Documented: ChatGPT uses approximate location from IP (or device location if shared) and may rewrite 'near me' into a city query sent to search partners; on iOS and Android results may include a map.
By industry
-
Ecommerce
nike air force 1
- AI Overview: key details
- Brand site first in plain links
- Popular products grid
Further down: People also ask, Places map pack, In stores nearby, Shop by store, Images, More plain links incl. resale listings.
What it suggests, an opinion from this one load A brand's own site sat first, then Google's product grid, maps and store list, so a shop is chosen as much through its product listings as through its pages.
ChatGPT, documented, not loaded Documented product carousel, 'Try on' for clothing and accessories, Instant Checkout for eligible merchants; results are not ads.
-
Local services
plumber near me
- Sponsored plumbers block
- Businesses map pack
- People also ask
Further down: Plain links, Discussions and forums.
What it suggests, an opinion from this one load A paid block showed on one load and vanished on the next, then the map pack, so a service business is found through its profile and reviews more than any web page.
ChatGPT, documented, not loaded Same documented local behavior as 'pizza near me'.
-
Publishers and info sites
why is the sky blue
- AI Overview
- Plain links begin
- People also ask
- Videos
Further down: Plain links, Short videos, What people are saying.
What it suggests, an opinion from this one load Simple fact questions get answered in the AI Overview, so an info site earns clicks with what the overview cannot give: depth, tested data and a voice.
-
Software and SaaS
project management software
- AI Overview: list of tools
- Plain links begin: a 'best of 2026' list with expandable sub-questions
- People also ask
Further down: Plain links.
What it suggests, an opinion from this one load Software searches open on an AI list of tools, then 'best of' articles and forum threads, so a SaaS product is chosen through third-party lists and real user threads as much as its own site.
-
Sports and news
nfl scores
- Live scores box
- Plain links begin
- AI Overview, below the first plain link
- More plain links
What it suggests, an opinion from this one load The live score box answers the question with no click, so sports and news sites get chosen for what comes after the score: analysis, and being someone's Preferred Source in Top Stories.
ChatGPT, documented, not loaded Documented at launch (2024): special visual designs for sports, news, weather, stocks and maps.
ChatGPT (from OpenAI's own pages; I didn't load it for these searches): ChatGPT may search the web on its own when a question needs current information, shows citations you can tap, and a Sources list; on iOS and Android local results may include a map (OpenAI Help Center). Ads, where shown, are labeled sponsored and separated from the answer, for logged-in adults on Free and Go plans in the US and the markets added in 2026 (OpenAI). Searching the web with ChatGPT, Testing ads in ChatGPT, Shopping with ChatGPT Search, Introducing ChatGPT search.
Ads: none were labeled in these signed-out loads, so none are drawn. Google says ads are eligible to be shown above, below or within AI Overviews (Google Ads Help, About ads and AI Overviews; the page shows no date, read ).
AI answerMap and placesShoppingVideosPeople also askA direct answerThe site's own linksPlain linksOther
Bella: Google does, mostly from the words on the page. Sometimes it uses the description Hayden wrote. So he puts the answer in the first words, where Google looks.
EThe months after: measure, then change
SEO is never finished. A change takes time to show up, so I judge it over weeks, against my own data, and then decide again.
A new title isn't instant: Google has to recrawl and reprocess the page first. So I compare whole periods, check one tool against another, and keep what worked. The results page changes too, so I keep a dated list of what changed.
Google first showed the Book 9 page on The Crawler's Cookbook on . Here are its Google clicks by month; the last bar is a month still in progress.
Where these numbers come from
- the first day Google showed the page. Google Search Console, the Book 9 page, data through .
The results page itself keeps changing. Every change here has a date and the company's own page behind it, newest first.
Links move higher in AI answers. Inline links shown higher more often; a test of a dedicated spot for the one or two official sites for a task; news carousels in AI features expand and highlight Preferred Sources; Google says Preferred Sources use grew more than 7x since the start of 2026. Google, The Keyword
September 2026 spam update. Search Status Dashboard (about 14 days). Google Search Status Dashboard
Site reputation policy enforced differently in the EEA. From 2026-08-30 manual actions under this policy no longer apply to searchers inside the EEA. Google Search Central Blog
Search Console reports for AI features. New reports show impressions in AI Overviews, AI Mode and Discover AI features; rolled out to all sites by 2026-08-31. Google Search Central Blog
May 2026 core update. Search Status Dashboard (about 12 days). Google Search Status Dashboard
I/O 2026: AI search box and AI Overview to AI Mode follow-ups. Google says AI Mode passed one billion monthly users; Gemini 3.5 Flash is AI Mode's default model; a new AI search box starts rolling out; follow-up questions from an AI Overview flow into AI Mode, live worldwide. Google, The Keyword
FAQ rich results stop showing. Google stopped showing FAQ rich results in Search; its changelog noted it on May 8, and the FAQ documentation was removed in June. Google Search Central
AI answers add more ways out to the web. Suggestions for where to go next at the end of many AI responses, links from your news subscriptions highlighted, and previews of perspectives from public online discussions. Google, The Keyword
All 45 changes, back to 2019
2025
- December 2025 core update
- Google phases out more lesser-used result features
- Instant Checkout in ChatGPT
- AI Mode in 180+ more countries
- Preferred Sources in Top Stories
- June 2025 core update
- Seven rich result types phased out
- AI Mode for everyone in the US (source over a year old)
- Copilot Search in Bing (source over a year old)
- March 2025 core update
- AI Mode introduced as a Labs experiment
- Breadcrumbs dropped from phone results
2024
- Site reputation abuse policy clarified
- ChatGPT search launches (source over a year old)
- AI Overviews in 100+ countries
- Sitelinks search box retired
- AI Overviews launch in the US
- Site reputation abuse policy takes effect
- March 2024 core update and three new spam policies
- Helpful content system folds into core ranking
- Expanded Reddit partnership
2023
2019
Source: Google Search Central, Title links, .
Bella: Longer than a fetch. Google has to come back, read the page again and update what it shows. Hayden waits weeks before he calls a change a win, and he says when he doesn't know yet.
FThe miss: one wrong row, copied everywhere
My miss was not having guardrails in place to find fabricated data before it pushed live, or template-wide errors shipping in mass before I found them.
One template draws many pages. One wrong row in it is wrong everywhere at once. Press Verify to see what runs now, before anything ships.
What a full check of The Crawler's Cookbook found on , in the site's own public log:
- One wrong description of a character's old job, repeated on six pages.
- Wrong page counts on seven of the eight book pages, with the series total added up from those wrong numbers.
- A note from Matt Dinniman quoted on two pages, in words that aren't in the book.
Source: The Crawler's Cookbook corrections log, Errors we caught ourselves.
Each block is a page. Each row is a page template.
Before: nothing stopped it. The wrong row went out on every page that template draws.
Every number, recomputed from the raw data
Every figure on the stats page is recomputed from the raw Search Console and Bing rows by a route that skips my export pipeline, then compared with the finished page. A month counts only when every one of its days is in the rows, a site never shows a month past its own export, and the portfolio never shows a month any public site's export doesn't fully cover. It needs the raw files, so it runs on my machine at every data refresh and gates the weekly merge, and its built-in test, which plants wrong months, percentages and dates, runs on every build.
Every drawn block, matched to the real game
The little block shapes kept spreading across the site. This check compares each one with the game's actual pieces, so the menu, diagrams, sprites and logo still belong to the same visual system, and it checks that every Eevee sprite is drawn at a whole-number scale.
This page can't go live with a made-up example
In October 2026 I named my own miss: no guardrail caught invented details before they went live, and one wrong line in a template shipped on many pages before anyone found it. My page that follows one real search, start to finish, now can't go live while its example is a stand-in, and every number on it needs its source and the date its data runs through. A typed number in the example's words, a number with no source, or a stand-in published as the real thing stops the build.
Every new check has to catch a planted mistake before I trust it. All of the checks, in plain words
Bella: Yes, and he says so right there. Then he built checks that read every page before it goes live, so the same mistake can't sneak through twice.
That's one search
Every search I work on goes through the same six steps. The system behind them has six pillars, one Eevee evolution each.