Recent research suggests Google may be reevaluating how it treats self-promotional “best of” listicles in search results. The findings follow noticeable volatility after the December 2025 core update and significant visibility declines among several SaaS and B2B brands.

Lily Ray, vice president of SEO strategy and research at Amsive, identified a pattern among companies that experienced sharp drops in organic visibility in January. Many relied heavily on review-style content that ranked their own product as the No. 1 “best” in its category. These pages often included the current year in the title to signal recency.

Visibility Declines After December Core Update

According to Barry Schwartz, Google search results showed increased volatility throughout January following the December 2025 core update. Google has not announced or confirmed additional updates in 2026. However, the timing aligns with steep visibility losses among several well-known SaaS and B2B brands.

Ray reported that in multiple cases, organic visibility dropped 30 percent to 50 percent within weeks. The declines were not domain-wide. Instead, they were concentrated in blog, guide, and tutorial subfolders.

Those sections frequently contained dozens or hundreds of self-promotional listicles targeting “best” queries. In most instances, the publisher ranked its own product first. Many articles were lightly refreshed with “2026” in the title, with limited evidence of substantive updates.

Ray also noted that declines in Google organic results could affect visibility across large language models that rely on Google’s search results. This reach extends beyond Google’s own AI products, such as Gemini, AI Mode, and AI Overviews, and likely includes platforms such as ChatGPT.

Review Trust Signals and Content Quality

Self-promotional listicles have served as a strategy to influence rankings and AI-generated answers. If Google is reassessing how it evaluates this type of content, strategies centered on “best” queries may face increased risk.

Ranking one’s own product as the “best” without independent testing, transparent methodology, or third-party validation has long been considered a questionable SEO tactic. Although not explicitly prohibited, the approach conflicts with Google’s stated guidance on reviews and trust.

Google has consistently emphasized that high-quality reviews should demonstrate first-hand experience, originality, and evidence of evaluation. Self-promotional listicles often fall short of these criteria, particularly when they do not disclose bias.

Additional Contributing Factors

Ray acknowledged that self-promotional listicles likely were not the only factor influencing organic visibility. Many of the affected sites also demonstrated rapid content scaling, automation, aggressive year-over-year refreshes, and other tactics associated with algorithmic risk.

However, the consistency of self-ranking “best” content among the hardest-hit sites suggests this signal may now carry greater weight, particularly when implemented at scale.

Ongoing Volatility

It remains to be seen whether self-promotional listicles will continue to earn citations and organic visibility. Google rarely applies changes evenly or immediately.

If recent volatility reflects adjustments to Google’s review system, the shift appears to favor content that prioritizes credible, independent evaluation over content designed primarily to influence rankings.

A bill to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) through 2034 recently cleared a U.S. House committee with bipartisan support, advancing the measure for consideration by the full House and Senate.

Congress enacted TRIA in 2002 following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The law created a federal backstop that shares catastrophic terrorism losses between insurers and the federal government. Lawmakers designed the program to support stability in private insurance markets and other industries in the event of large-scale terrorism losses. Since its inception, Congress has reauthorized TRIA four times. To date, no events have triggered the federal backstop.

TRIA is scheduled to expire at the end of 2027. As a result, many commercial property and casualty insurers have begun preparing for the possibility that the program could lapse. Risk and insurance leaders have called for early legislative action to ensure continuity.

Will Melofchik, CEO of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators, addressed the issue in a statement last year.

“American businesses must be provided with the essential coverage to successfully operate in today’s uncertain global environment,” Melofchik said. “Failure by Congress to extend TRIA would likely result in the inability of insurers to offer coverage for future catastrophes resulting from terrorism, making terrorism risk insurance unavailable and unaffordable.”

Andrew N. Mais, former Connecticut insurance commissioner and past president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, testified on behalf of the NAIC about the program's importance.

“Businesses and consumers that live, work, and shop in communities in every state benefit from a stable insurance sector, which provides commercial terrorism insurance only because TRIA exists as a backstop,” Mais said.

He added that, without TRIA or a comparable solution, private insurance carriers would not make meaningful capacity for affordable commercial terrorism coverage available.

As drafted, the bill would extend the program through 2034. In addition, it would raise the minimum loss threshold from $5 million to $10 million beginning in 2029. The legislation would also introduce a transparency requirement, directing the U.S. Department of the Treasury to publish a notice in the Federal Register no later than 30 days after initiating the terrorism determination process.

Lawmakers may revise the bill as it advances through the legislative process.

The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) announced a leadership update for its Northeast Division. On Feb. 10, 2026, IICF named Sarah Gavlick, EVP of carrier relations and client distribution at Jencap Group, as chair of the IICF Northeast Division Board of Directors.

IICF is a nonprofit organization that supports communities through grants and volunteer service. The Northeast Division is one of its regional operations.

Leadership Background and Industry Experience

Gavlick brings more than 30 years of experience in underwriting, marketing and distribution to her role. She joined Jencap Group, one of the nation’s largest wholesale insurance distributors, after spending 19 years at Markel. During her tenure at Markel, she held multiple senior leadership roles, including regional president for the Northeast wholesale division, chief territory officer for the East and chief retail officer at the national level.

Service and Involvement With IICF

Before her appointment as chair, Gavlick served as a longtime member of the IICF Northeast Board. She also held leadership positions on the Northeast Executive Committee, most recently as vice chair. In addition, she participated on the Membership Committee and the Annual Benefit Dinner Committee.

Beyond her work with IICF, Gavlick is involved in industry leadership and advocacy efforts. She is an advocate for women in insurance and serves on Gamma Iota Sigma's advisory council. In 2022, Insurance Business of America recognized her with its Elite Woman Award.

Looking Ahead for the Northeast Division

In a statement, Gavlick said she is honored to work with the board and highlighted the collective focus on giving back to communities in need. She referenced recent momentum within the division, including the most successful fundraising event in IICF history, the Northeast Benefit held in November. She also noted the board's growth in recent years and expressed enthusiasm for continuing that progress across the Northeast Division and its chapters in Boston and Philadelphia.

Transition From Previous Leadership

Gavlick succeeds John Gambale, chief distribution officer, North America, at Allianz Commercial. Gambale completed a three-year term as chair, during which the Northeast Division Board expanded to more than 50 members. It is now IICF’s largest regional board.

Gambale said the growth of the board supported increased community impact through expanded grant-making and volunteer service throughout the region. He added that he looks forward to continuing to support the Northeast Division and its leadership.

Impact of the IICF Northeast Division

To date, the IICF Northeast Division has awarded nearly $15 million in community grants. These grants support hundreds of nonprofit partners focused on education, social services and environmental initiatives.

For more information about the IICF Northeast Division, visit the IICF Northeast webpage or contact Betsy Myatt, IICF vice president and chief program officer and Northeast executive director, at (917) 544-0895 or emyatt@iicf.org.

About the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation

The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation is a nonprofit organization that unites the insurance industry to support communities through grants and volunteer service. For more than 30 years, IICF has contributed more than $55 million in community grants and logged 400,000 volunteer hours from more than 130,000 insurance professionals. The organization reinvests funds locally and partners with hundreds of charities and nonprofit organizations each year across the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.

IICF is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Additional information is available at www.iicf.org or on LinkedIn and Instagram.