Search Method Journal evaluates SEO claims by their evidence and their limits. A clear explanation should let readers identify what is documented, what was observed and what remains uncertain.
Research and source hierarchy
Use primary platform documentation for claims about stated platform behavior. Use provider documentation for proprietary metric definitions. Direct measurements require a described collection method, time period and population. Third-party studies and practitioner observations can add context, but their methods and limitations must remain visible.
Official documentation is evidence of the platform’s stated behavior, not a complete disclosure of every implementation detail. A practitioner observation does not override a documented rule without careful evidence, and a vendor estimate must not be presented as a first-party measurement.
Claims, examples and uncertainty
Label hypotheses and interpretations. Distinguish correlation from causation. Examples using invented scenarios or arithmetic must be identified as illustrative. Do not fabricate experiments, case studies, statistics, quotations, clients or personal experience. No article may promise guaranteed rankings.
For a reported experiment, preserve the question, treatment, controls, sample, dates, exclusions and competing explanations. A proposed method must not be written as a completed test. The research methods hub describes the standard in more detail.
Corrections and updates
When an error is identified, check the underlying source and correct the affected statement. Material corrections should carry a dated note explaining what changed and whether the conclusion changed. Minor typographical repairs do not need to imply a new research finding.
Review platform-dependent guidance against current documentation. Do not change dates merely to imply freshness. Preserve a useful distinction between the original publication date and a substantive update.
AI-assisted workflows
AI tools may assist drafting, organization and illustration. The initial resource collection was prepared with AI assistance. Tool output is not a source of authority: platform claims require source checks, examples require honest labeling and generated diagrams require review for wording and conceptual accuracy.
Illustrations are explanatory aids, not screenshots of actual tools or evidence of completed experiments unless explicitly identified as such. A generated visual must not introduce a result or guarantee absent from the article.
Commercial relationships
If sponsorship is introduced, identify the sponsor and the affected material prominently. If affiliate links are introduced, disclose the relationship near the relevant recommendation or link. Payment must not be disguised as independent testing, and provider terminology must not be confused with search-engine metrics.
Read About Search Method Journal for the publication’s scope and Terms of Use for the informational nature of the material.