Google's John Mueller said that he doesn't think links play a role with how core updates work. He wrote on Bluesky, "I can't think of how these links would play a role with the core updates."
He did qualify his response by saying this is "off-hand." He also said, "It's possible there's some interaction that I'm not aware of, but it seems really unlikely to me." Meaning, that in his almost 18 years working in this role at Google, he doesn't think core updates use link data for its model.
"Also, core updates generally build on longer-term data, so something really recent wouldn't play a role," he added later.
NOTE: John was responding to a specific case here, so he was referring to "these links." So this might not be a general statement.
Here is that post:
He also repeated the message we covered earlier about longer lasting issues, take longer - since Google uses long-term data.Off-hand, I can't think of how these links would play a role with the core updates. It's possible there's some interaction that I'm not aware of, but it seems really unlikely to me. Also, core updates generally build on longer-term data, so something really recent wouldn't play a role.
— John Mueller (@johnmu.com) July 1, 2025 at 11:14 AM
As you know, Google just released the June 2025 core update.
There is some context here, so here is the full thread on Bluesky:
Forum discussion at Bluesky.
