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Google just made a subtle but massive change
Last month, Google quietly removed the num=100 search parameter.
This means you can no longer view 100 results at once. The default max is now 10.
Why does this matter?
- Most LLMs (OpenAI, Perplexity, etc.) rely (directly or indirectly) on Google’s indexed results, alongside their own crawlers.
- Overnight, their access to the “long tail” of the internet was cut by 90%.
The fallout:
-According to Search Engine Land, 88% of sites saw a drop in impressions.
- Reddit, which often ranks in positions 11–100, saw its LLM citations plummet. Its stock dropped 15%, wiping out ~$5B in market cap.
For startups, this is brutal. Visibility just got harder.
It’s no longer enough to build a great product you need to crack distribution first. Because if people can’t discover you, they’ll never get to evaluate you.
In today’s AI-driven ecosystem: Distribution > Product
AuthenCIORaghav AroraSamiran Phukon
Google just made a subtle but massive change
Last month, Google quietly removed the num=100 search parameter.
This means you can no longer view 100 results at once. The default max is now 10.
Why does this matter?
- Most LLMs (OpenAI, Perplexity, etc.) rely (directly or indirectly) on Google’s indexed results, alongside their own crawlers.
- Overnight, their access to the “long tail” of the internet was cut by 90%.
The fallout:
-According to Search Engine Land, 88% of sites saw a drop in impressions.
- Reddit, which often ranks in positions 11–100, saw its LLM citations plummet. Its stock dropped 15%, wiping out ~$5B in market cap.
For startups, this is brutal. Visibility just got harder.
It’s no longer enough to build a great product you need to crack distribution first. Because if people can’t discover you, they’ll never get to evaluate you.
In today’s AI-driven ecosystem: Distribution > Product
AuthenCIORaghav AroraSamiran Phukon
This is super interesting and indicative of both the competitiveness of the current AI wars AND the future of digital products. More isn’t more anymore — it’s all about curation, and getting users to the most concise answer or the best option for them as quickly as possible. Endless optionality and scrolling is quickly going to become a thing of the past…
Google just made a subtle but massive change
Last month, Google quietly removed the num=100 search parameter.
This means you can no longer view 100 results at once. The default max is now 10.
Why does this matter?
- Most LLMs (OpenAI, Perplexity, etc.) rely (directly or indirectly) on Google’s indexed results, alongside their own crawlers.
- Overnight, their access to the “long tail” of the internet was cut by 90%.
The fallout:
-According to Search Engine Land, 88% of sites saw a drop in impressions.
- Reddit, which often ranks in positions 11–100, saw its LLM citations plummet. Its stock dropped 15%, wiping out ~$5B in market cap.
For startups, this is brutal. Visibility just got harder.
It’s no longer enough to build a great product you need to crack distribution first. Because if people can’t discover you, they’ll never get to evaluate you.
In today’s AI-driven ecosystem: Distribution > Product
AuthenCIORaghav AroraSamiran Phukon
Very interesting theory - it could explain the recent drop in Reddit citations within ChatGPT results. Many were quick to assume the change came from OpenAI’s side, but this might point to an upstream cause: a 90% cut in long-tail visibility from Google’s index. If so, the shift isn’t about ChatGPT “preferring” other sources - it’s about what data it can access in the first place.
Google just made a subtle but massive change
Last month, Google quietly removed the num=100 search parameter.
This means you can no longer view 100 results at once. The default max is now 10.
Why does this matter?
- Most LLMs (OpenAI, Perplexity, etc.) rely (directly or indirectly) on Google’s indexed results, alongside their own crawlers.
- Overnight, their access to the “long tail” of the internet was cut by 90%.
The fallout:
-According to Search Engine Land, 88% of sites saw a drop in impressions.
- Reddit, which often ranks in positions 11–100, saw its LLM citations plummet. Its stock dropped 15%, wiping out ~$5B in market cap.
For startups, this is brutal. Visibility just got harder.
It’s no longer enough to build a great product you need to crack distribution first. Because if people can’t discover you, they’ll never get to evaluate you.
In today’s AI-driven ecosystem: Distribution > Product
AuthenCIORaghav AroraSamiran Phukon
This change exposes a bigger truth: in a distribution-first economy, data access is the new moat. Whoever controls visibility controls value creation. For businesses, the question is no longer just ‘how do I rank’ but ‘how do I diversify discovery channels?'
Google just made a subtle but massive change
Last month, Google quietly removed the num=100 search parameter.
This means you can no longer view 100 results at once. The default max is now 10.
Why does this matter?
- Most LLMs (OpenAI, Perplexity, etc.) rely (directly or indirectly) on Google’s indexed results, alongside their own crawlers.
- Overnight, their access to the “long tail” of the internet was cut by 90%.
The fallout:
-According to Search Engine Land, 88% of sites saw a drop in impressions.
- Reddit, which often ranks in positions 11–100, saw its LLM citations plummet. Its stock dropped 15%, wiping out ~$5B in market cap.
For startups, this is brutal. Visibility just got harder.
It’s no longer enough to build a great product you need to crack distribution first. Because if people can’t discover you, they’ll never get to evaluate you.
In today’s AI-driven ecosystem: Distribution > Product
AuthenCIORaghav AroraSamiran Phukon
When discovery depends on a single gatekeeper, you’re always vulnerable. And in Google’s case, there are very few real alternatives.
The long-term play is to make sure people can still find and trust you, no matter what Google (or anyone else) changes.
• Own attention: direct channels (email, community, brand) that no algorithm can take away.
• Spread risk: show up across LLMs, social, feeds, and partnerships, not just search.
• Earn trust: create value people seek out and share, regardless of the platform.
Because if #Google closes a door, you can’t afford for it to be the only one you had.
#digitalmarketing#growthmarketing
Google just made a subtle but massive change
Last month, Google quietly removed the num=100 search parameter.
This means you can no longer view 100 results at once. The default max is now 10.
Why does this matter?
- Most LLMs (OpenAI, Perplexity, etc.) rely (directly or indirectly) on Google’s indexed results, alongside their own crawlers.
- Overnight, their access to the “long tail” of the internet was cut by 90%.
The fallout:
-According to Search Engine Land, 88% of sites saw a drop in impressions.
- Reddit, which often ranks in positions 11–100, saw its LLM citations plummet. Its stock dropped 15%, wiping out ~$5B in market cap.
For startups, this is brutal. Visibility just got harder.
It’s no longer enough to build a great product you need to crack distribution first. Because if people can’t discover you, they’ll never get to evaluate you.
In today’s AI-driven ecosystem: Distribution > Product
AuthenCIORaghav AroraSamiran Phukon
Director of Technology in Fintech & WealthTech | Delivering Scalable Solutions for Trading, Investments & Consumer Finance | Scaling Teams & Platforms Across MENA | ex-valU ex-OLX
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗟𝗠 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝘀: 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗔𝗜 “𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆” 𝗠𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗚𝗼𝘁 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿
P.S. I created this post to simplify some concepts from the original post.
Google’s quiet removal of the num=100 search parameter is a tectonic shift—not just for search, but for every company and user relying on online visibility.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 “𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹”?
It’s the massive number of niche sites, products, and ideas that aren’t in the top 10 search results. Previously, users (and Large Language Models like OpenAI’s or Perplexity’s) could dig deeper into Google’s index—seeing 100 results at once and surfacing unique voices and innovation hidden beyond page one. Now, most of this “long tail” is essentially invisible.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 “𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆” 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵?
Discoverability is how easily your product, service, or content can be found by your audience—whether through Google searches, app stores, or LLM citations. In today’s ecosystem, even a superior product will struggle if it can’t be easily found.
𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀?
- 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀: Gaining organic visibility and new customers just became far tougher—especially for startups and niche players who thrived in the long tail. The bar for being discovered is dramatically higher, making discoverability just as critical as having a great product.
- 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗟𝗠𝘀: Your ability to access diverse, quality information is reduced. Answers from search and AI models will come from an even smaller pool of the most visible websites, risking less variety and nuance.
In the new era of AI-powered discovery, 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁—𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲. Is your product visible enough?
𝘗.𝘚. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘈𝘐, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 ?!
Google just made a subtle but massive change
Last month, Google quietly removed the num=100 search parameter.
This means you can no longer view 100 results at once. The default max is now 10.
Why does this matter?
- Most LLMs (OpenAI, Perplexity, etc.) rely (directly or indirectly) on Google’s indexed results, alongside their own crawlers.
- Overnight, their access to the “long tail” of the internet was cut by 90%.
The fallout:
-According to Search Engine Land, 88% of sites saw a drop in impressions.
- Reddit, which often ranks in positions 11–100, saw its LLM citations plummet. Its stock dropped 15%, wiping out ~$5B in market cap.
For startups, this is brutal. Visibility just got harder.
It’s no longer enough to build a great product you need to crack distribution first. Because if people can’t discover you, they’ll never get to evaluate you.
In today’s AI-driven ecosystem: Distribution > Product
AuthenCIORaghav AroraSamiran Phukon
Is this real? Does Reddit depend so much on visibility from other distribution channels? I always thought they had their own community that would live and die by Reddit.
This does lead to an interesting question about product quality vs visibility. We are getting in an era now where you can vibe code a stellar product in existence pretty quickly, but unless it is seen by a large number of people, it is pretty much useless.
So how do you build your distribution and visibility strategy for your product? Especially if Google gate-checks you at your own your party.
Google just made a subtle but massive change
Last month, Google quietly removed the num=100 search parameter.
This means you can no longer view 100 results at once. The default max is now 10.
Why does this matter?
- Most LLMs (OpenAI, Perplexity, etc.) rely (directly or indirectly) on Google’s indexed results, alongside their own crawlers.
- Overnight, their access to the “long tail” of the internet was cut by 90%.
The fallout:
-According to Search Engine Land, 88% of sites saw a drop in impressions.
- Reddit, which often ranks in positions 11–100, saw its LLM citations plummet. Its stock dropped 15%, wiping out ~$5B in market cap.
For startups, this is brutal. Visibility just got harder.
It’s no longer enough to build a great product you need to crack distribution first. Because if people can’t discover you, they’ll never get to evaluate you.
In today’s AI-driven ecosystem: Distribution > Product
AuthenCIORaghav AroraSamiran Phukon
Google has quietly deprecated the &num=100 parameter, a small change with big GEO implications.
Earlier, AI scrapers could fetch 100 results in one go; with Google deprecating this parameter, the game has changed, and now, fetching 100 results requires 10 separate paginated queries!
In our Digital Marketing class with Raghuram Ramadoss, we recently discussed the nuances between GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and SEO. This update is a timely reminder of two key trends:
#1: SEO will continue to evolve, but a strong SEO strategy ensures your content is discoverable.
#2: Paid search is only becoming more critical. Google is clearly defending its advertising moat. After all, ads made up ~77% of its total revenue in 2024.
Smart marketers will invest in both organic and paid strategies to stay visible in the evolving search landscape.
Great OG post by Adarsh Appaiah.
Google just made a subtle but massive change
Last month, Google quietly removed the num=100 search parameter.
This means you can no longer view 100 results at once. The default max is now 10.
Why does this matter?
- Most LLMs (OpenAI, Perplexity, etc.) rely (directly or indirectly) on Google’s indexed results, alongside their own crawlers.
- Overnight, their access to the “long tail” of the internet was cut by 90%.
The fallout:
-According to Search Engine Land, 88% of sites saw a drop in impressions.
- Reddit, which often ranks in positions 11–100, saw its LLM citations plummet. Its stock dropped 15%, wiping out ~$5B in market cap.
For startups, this is brutal. Visibility just got harder.
It’s no longer enough to build a great product you need to crack distribution first. Because if people can’t discover you, they’ll never get to evaluate you.
In today’s AI-driven ecosystem: Distribution > Product
AuthenCIORaghav AroraSamiran Phukon
Almost invisible change for Google, big change for #seo world and businesses and the future of their products discovery.
This is more than a visibility problem for startups; it's a discovery problem for users. #seo#search#google
Google just made a subtle but massive change
Last month, Google quietly removed the num=100 search parameter.
This means you can no longer view 100 results at once. The default max is now 10.
Why does this matter?
- Most LLMs (OpenAI, Perplexity, etc.) rely (directly or indirectly) on Google’s indexed results, alongside their own crawlers.
- Overnight, their access to the “long tail” of the internet was cut by 90%.
The fallout:
-According to Search Engine Land, 88% of sites saw a drop in impressions.
- Reddit, which often ranks in positions 11–100, saw its LLM citations plummet. Its stock dropped 15%, wiping out ~$5B in market cap.
For startups, this is brutal. Visibility just got harder.
It’s no longer enough to build a great product you need to crack distribution first. Because if people can’t discover you, they’ll never get to evaluate you.
In today’s AI-driven ecosystem: Distribution > Product
AuthenCIORaghav AroraSamiran Phukon
