This Week in AI Search - 8 April 2026

Google March 2026 core update - still settling

The March 2026 core update finished rolling out on 28 March. Volatility remains elevated. Ranking fluctuations continue into April, especially in YMYL sectors. Several sites that initially gained visibility saw partial corrections this week. If your rankings shifted, give it another 2-3 weeks before drawing conclusions or making reactive changes. For full tracking data, see our algorithm changes tracker.

Claude's market share continues to climb

Anthropic's Claude has quietly become the third most-used AI assistant behind ChatGPT and Gemini. Exact market share figures vary by source. But Claude's referral traffic to business websites has grown measurably over the past quarter. Claude can no longer be treated as an afterthought. Content that performs well in ChatGPT does not automatically perform well in Claude. The models weight different signals.

Perplexity Publishers' Programme gaining traction

Perplexity's revenue-sharing programme with publishers continues to attract participants. It pays publishers when their content is cited in Perplexity answers. This creates a direct financial reason to be the cited source. The model may influence how other AI platforms approach publisher relationships. It also reinforces the importance of being citation-worthy, not just indexable.

New AI SEO tools launching weekly

The AI search tools market is expanding fast. At least three new tools launched in the past two weeks claiming AI citation tracking or optimisation features. We are evaluating these for our tools comparison. The market is maturing, but quality varies widely. Our Q2 pricing comparison covers the established players.

UK businesses still behind on basic signals

Our ongoing audit data shows most UK business websites still lack basic AI search signals. Schema markup adoption remains patchy. Bing Webmaster Tools submission rates are low. Most sites have no Speakable schema, no FAQ markup on service pages, and inconsistent entity data across their web presence. The opportunity cost is real. Businesses that implement these basics now gain a structural advantage as AI search traffic grows.

What to watch next week

• Google's post-update volatility should begin stabilising - we will report on settled positions
• Several AI search agencies are expected to publish Q1 results and case studies
• We are tracking rumours of a new Bing integration with ChatGPT's search features

This roundup runs every Tuesday. For daily updates, follow our blog. For the data behind these observations, explore our 2026 statistics hub.