Weekly Organic & AI Search Update
Flooring Supplies
Week of 17 to 23 October 2026 · vs. previous week & same week last year
A steadier week: clicks edged up, more keywords reached the top 5, and review ratings are back on product pages
The headline
Clicks edged up 3.6% to 2,972, and keywords in the top 5 rose to 212 (from 165), back in line with their levels before the theme launch. Top 10% coverage eased to 82% (from 86%), matching the 80 to 82% recorded before launch. Product review ratings are now back in the product structured data (checked 26 October), one of the fixes we recommended, and image loading has improved. The main issue still outstanding is mobile responsiveness, where apps and tracking scripts are now the biggest factor.
Organic clicks (GSC)
2,972
▲ 3.6% vs last week▼ 61.4% vs last year
Top 10% coverage
82%
▾ was 86% last week
Keywords in top 5 (of 325)
212
▲ was 165 last week
AI sessions (GA4)
158
▲ 75.6% vs last week▾ 20% vs last year
The numbers this week
Actual figures for this week and last week, with the change alongside. Source: Google Search Console.
| Metric | This week | Last week | vs last week | Last year | vs last year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Organic clicks | 2,972 | 2,869 | ▲ 3.6% | 7,704 | ▼ 61.4% |
| Average position lower is better | 14.5 | 14.7 | 0.2 better | 12.0 | 2.5 lower |
Why clicks are down on last year
Clicks are 61% below the same week last year, but the new theme is only part of this. Most of the gap was already in place before the theme launched.
| Comparison | Clicks a week | vs same week last year (7,704) |
|---|---|---|
| Typical week just before the theme launched (early to mid September) | around 3,950 | ▼ around 49% |
| This week (17 to 23 October) | 2,972 | ▼ 61% |
Around 49 points of the 61% gap pre-date the theme. The remaining 12 points reflect the fall since 24 September. Source: Google Search Console.
1. The changing search landscape
Through the summer, before any theme change, Flooring Supplies was running around 20 to 30% below last year. Brand manufacturers such as Karndean and Quick-Step, and large retailers, have strengthened on the broad category searches (laminate, LVT, oak and wood flooring), where the site has slipped down page one, alongside wider ranking volatility from Google’s updates this year. UK Flooring Direct was running a similar 24% below last year in July, so this part is shared across the market rather than specific to Flooring Supplies.
2. Last year’s unusually strong autumn
In 2025, Flooring Supplies’ clicks rose from around 5,500 a week in the summer to around 6,600 to 7,700 a week from September to November, roughly a third higher. UK Flooring Direct had no similar lift (its clicks were broadly flat between summer and autumn 2025). This makes Flooring Supplies’ year-on-year comparison much tougher from September onwards, regardless of the theme, and is why the gap had already widened to around 40 to 44% in the weeks before launch.
3. The theme change and Google’s September spam update
Since 24 September, clicks have run roughly a quarter lower than the pre-launch level, adding around 12 points to the gap. Two things happened that day: the new theme went live, and Google began rolling out its September 2026 spam update, which completed on 8 October. Rankings have recovered since the update finished, which suggests the update accounted for a meaningful part of the dip. The theme issues remain the part within our control: review ratings have now been restored, and mobile responsiveness is the main fix still outstanding. With rankings back to pre-launch levels, we would expect clicks to start following as these fixes take effect.
| Week | Context | Clicks | vs last year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 to 11 Sep | Previous theme | 3,858 | ▼ 44% |
| 12 to 18 Sep | Previous theme | 4,023 | ▼ 42% |
| 19 to 25 Sep | Theme live and update began (24 Sep) | 3,945 | ▼ 40% |
| 26 Sep to 2 Oct | New theme, update rolling out | 2,673 | ▼ 61% |
| 3 to 9 Oct | New theme, update completed 8 Oct | 2,990 | ▼ 59% |
| 10 to 16 Oct | New theme, first week after update | 2,869 | ▼ 63% |
| 17 to 23 Oct | New theme, review ratings restored | 2,972 | ▼ 61% |
Source: Google Search Console.
What we are aiming for: UK Flooring Direct shows the gap can be closed
UK Flooring Direct operates in the same market and faced the same shifts, but narrowed its year-on-year gap from around 28% below last year in early summer to around 8% in the four weeks to 16 October, as its rankings improved. It has since moved to the same theme (15 October) and seen a similar early dip, which is why the theme fixes now matter for both sites. That earlier trajectory is what we are working to replicate for Flooring Supplies: first completing the theme fixes, then rebuilding visibility on the broad category searches. We will be on hand to support the developers and track recovery week by week.
| Period | UK Flooring Direct vs last year | Flooring Supplies vs last year |
|---|---|---|
| 30 May to 26 Jun | ▼ 29% | ▼ 25% |
| 27 Jun to 24 Jul | ▼ 27% | ▼ 31% |
| 25 Jul to 21 Aug | ▼ 6% | ▼ 18% |
| 22 Aug to 18 Sep | ▼ 14% | ▼ 44% |
| 19 Sep to 16 Oct | ▼ 8% | ▼ 56% |
Organic clicks over four-week periods, compared with the same weeks last year. Source: Google Search Console.
Search visibility
Tracked keyword rankings at the reporting week end (24 October check) for the Brand Focus keyword set, with movement against last week. Source: SE Ranking.
82%
Top 10% coverage
▾ was 86%
212
Keywords in top 5
▲ was 165
265
Keywords in top 10
▾ was 278
313
Keywords in top 30
▾ was 317
More keywords reached the top 5
Keywords in the top 5 rose sharply to 212, with many moving up from positions 6 to 10. That brings the top 5 back in line with its levels in September, before the theme launched. Top 10% coverage eased slightly to 82%, matching the 80 to 82% recorded before launch, and only three tracked keywords are not ranking.
Theme fixes: progress update
Our performance review and updated implementation guide have been shared with the development team. Status as of 26 October.
1. Product review ratings (now live)
Product pages now include review and rating structured data again, so products are eligible for star ratings in Google once it recrawls the pages. It can take a few weeks for the stars to reappear in the search results, and we will track this.
2. Image loading (improved)
Images further down the page now load as visitors scroll, which cut the number of images loading straight away on the homepage from 104 to 19 (our retest, 23 October).
3. Mobile responsiveness (still outstanding)
How quickly pages respond when real visitors tap or click (Google’s INP measure) is 228ms across the site, above Google’s 200ms target and up from 152ms before launch, though it eased slightly from 234ms last week. The development team’s analysis shows most of the remaining JavaScript comes from apps and tracking rather than the theme itself, including tracking that is currently loaded twice. Consolidating this tracking is the agreed next step, and we will retest once it is done. The cookie banner will continue to load first, as this is needed for consent compliance.
4. Already fixed
The three structured-data issues we flagged at launch have been resolved, and the site remains fully indexed.
AI traffic
Visits arriving from AI tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and similar), pulled from GA4.
AI sessions this week
158 ▲ 75.6% vs last week (90)▾ 20% vs last year (197)
AI sessions, weekly trend
Weekly sessions from AI tools (GA4). 158 this week, with ChatGPT referrals recovering.
AI sessions recovered this week
ChatGPT referrals rose from 82 to 151 this week, back towards their level before 9 October. This supports last week’s view that the dip was a temporary tracking change across many websites rather than lost visitors. AI sessions fluctuate week to week, so they are best read as a trend.
Next steps
- Consolidate the duplicate tracking (Tag Manager loading twice and extra analytics tags) to cut the JavaScript slowing mobile responsiveness.
- Continue the mobile performance fixes in the updated implementation guide, to bring INP back under Google’s 200ms target.
- We will monitor star ratings returning in Google, retest the site after each change, and track recovery week by week.
Prepared by Fibre Marketing · Reporting week 17 to 23 October 2026, all figures final · Sources: Google Search Console, SE Ranking, GA4
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