There may have been another unconfirmed Google search ranking update that occurred between October 15th and October 18th. The bulk of the volatility seemed to be around Thursday, the 16th.
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today...
This week, surprise - surprise, we covered more Google Search ranking volatility. OpenAI launched its web browser, ChatGPT Atlas - it uses Google. Google Search Console performance reports are stuck...
We covered Google testing using AI to generate snippet summaries and snippet descriptions, but all of those had a Gemini logo next to them, as to label them AI-generated. Now, Google was caught not showing the AI-label on these AI-generated descriptions in the search results.
I believe generally when you search Bing and get a Copilot answer at the top, Bing will just immediately show you the answer. Now, Microsoft is testing an animated response where Bing writes out the answer like a chatbot.
Google is testing showing a "Get Google QR" code button when you search for your business in Google Search. This button is with the Edit Profile, reviews, photos, posts, performance, and other buttons you see to manage your Google Business Profile.