TL;DR
- Google confirmed the December 2025 Core Update began December 11, 2025 and finished December 29, 2025 (about 18 days).
- Google described it as “a regular update designed to better surface relevant, satisfying content for searchers from all types of sites.”
- Tracking tools and industry coverage reported heavy volatility during the rollout.
- A third-party analysis cited (based on SE Ranking SERP research) reported that about 15% of URLs that were Top 10 before the update fell outside the Top 100 afterward.
- For home services (HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, handyman, remodelers), the best response is fundamentals: service pages with real proof, clear trust signals, fast mobile performance, and consistent reviews.
What We Know (Official)
Google launched the December 2025 Core Update on December 11, 2025 and completed the rollout on December 29, 2025.
Core updates are broad re-evaluations of how Google ranks content.
“This is a regular update designed to better surface relevant, satisfying content for searchers from all types of sites.”
What Was Reported (Volatility and SERP Movement)
Core updates reshuffle results because Google is re-scoring what it believes is the best answer for a query.
During this rollout, multiple trackers and reports noted substantial movement. One analysis cited (from SE Ranking SERP research) suggested that nearly 15% of pages that were in the Top 10 before the update were no longer in the Top 100 afterward. That points to a meaningful re-sort, not minor day-to-day wobble.
Did This Core Update Affect Your Home Services Business?
Before making changes, confirm whether you saw a real business impact.
- Compare calls, form fills, booked estimates, and closed jobs in late December 2025 plus January 2026 vs. November 2025 and the same period a year prior.
- Check Google Business Profile insights (calls, messages, direction requests, website visits) for the same windows.
- Review Google Search Console for clicks and impressions. Filter by page to find which URLs moved.
Simple rule: If leads held steady, avoid sweeping changes. If your top converting service pages lost clicks and GBP actions (calls or website visits) dropped in the same window, treat it as a visibility issue and investigate page-level changes.
Do not ignore seasonality. Home services demand shifts with weather, storms, holidays, and local competition.
What Home Services Should Take Away From This Update
Google did not say “we changed local SEO” or “we changed Google Business Profile ranking.” Still, the patterns that usually win after core updates are the same patterns that win in home services week to week.
1) Demonstrated experience beats generic service pages
Core updates tend to reward content that looks like it was produced by people who do the work.
For home services, strong service pages include:
- Specific process details (what you check first, what typically fails, what a visit includes)
- Real-world constraints (permits, code considerations, access issues, safety boundaries)
- Original proof (job photos, before and after, team images, trucks, shop)
- Clear expectations (time windows, what is included, what is not included, warranty language)
If a competitor’s page feels thin but keyword-heavy, it is usually more fragile during core updates.
2) Trust signals and transparency matter
Home services is trust-based. Make it easy for a homeowner to say yes.
- License numbers (where appropriate), insurance, bonding
- Manufacturer certifications
- Warranties and guarantees
- Financing options (if offered)
- Clear contact details and service-area coverage
3) Technical performance can amplify wins or losses
Several third-party writeups around this update highlighted that weak mobile UX and poor Core Web Vitals often correlate with worse outcomes during volatility.
For home services, speed also affects conversion. If pages load slowly, you lose calls.
4) Reviews should stay recent, consistent, and specific
Regardless of any single update, businesses that keep reviews flowing are usually more resilient locally.
Focus on:
- Steady review requests after every completed job
- Recency (a few each week beats a big burst once a year)
- Specificity (service, neighborhood or city, and technician name)
- Responses to reviews, especially negatives
Home Services Playbook: Start, Stop, Do More, Keep Doing
Start Doing
- Upgrade your top 5 service pages first. Start where leads come from.
- Add proof blocks to service pages:
- 6 to 12 original job photos
- “What’s included” and “What’s not included”
- A short “How we diagnose this” section
- Technician or team credibility (years in trade, certifications)
- Add local specificity that cannot be templated: common housing stock, weather-driven issues, typical failure points, local permit or code considerations (where relevant).
- Run a mobile speed check and fix obvious issues (oversized images, heavy sliders, bloated scripts).
- Make review requests part of the job-close process (SMS, email, or printed card plus a consistent script).
Stop Doing (or Minimize)
- Stop near-duplicate location pages that only swap city names. If you need location pages, publish fewer and make them real.
- Stop stock-photo-only pages. Replace with real team and job photos.
- Stop panic editing sitewide (titles, headings, internal links) because you saw movement for two days.
- Stop publishing generic AI drafts without trade review. AI can help with outlines and structure, but the final page needs real details.
Do More Of
- Content that matches real calls (use as blog posts and service page FAQs):
- HVAC: furnace not turning on, safe checks and when to stop
- HVAC: AC freezing, common causes and what to do now
- Plumbing: water heater leaking, shutoff steps and what we check
- Plumbing: main line clog vs. drain clog, symptoms that matter
- Electrical: breaker keeps tripping, what is safe vs. urgent
- Roofing: storm damage inspection, what to document
- Handyman: drywall repair, timeline and pricing drivers
- Remodelers: kitchen remodel timeline, decision points and common delays
- Internal linking that supports conversion: each FAQ post links back to its service page; service pages link to related FAQs and financing or warranty pages.
Keep Doing
- Keep your Google Business Profile clean and active: accurate categories and services, correct hours, fresh photos, and Q&A monitoring.
- Keep NAP consistent across your site, GBP, and major directories.
- Keep tracking leads (calls and forms) and annotating analytics when you make site changes.
What Recovery Usually Looks Like
If you were negatively impacted, expect a process.
- Stabilization often takes weeks after rollout.
- Improvements can show between updates, but core re-evaluations often become most visible around the next core update.
The best recovery path is page by page. Identify which URLs lost clicks, compare them to what now ranks, then improve usefulness, proof, trust, and performance.
Sources:
Google Search Status Dashboard: https://status.search.google.com/incidents/DsirqJ1gpPRgVQeccPRv
Search Engine Land: https://searchengineland.com/google-december-2025-core-update-rollout-is-now-complete-466362
SOCi Local Memo: https://www.soci.ai/blog/local-memo-google-releases-december-2025-core-update/
Update note: We’ll revise this resource if Google publishes additional guidance or follow-on updates that meaningfully affect local home services visibility.