Subject: SEO Report January 2026
Sent: 2026-02-09 · To: Burcu, Dr Cinik, Sera · Cc: Alexis, Olivier, Jeremy
Dashboard: https://dashboard.tomassous.com/dr-cinik/january-2026

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Hello everyone,

I'm sharing our SEO report for January 2026 (available on this link). January delivered an outstanding start to 2026, with SEO leads up +33.8% versus December and a massive Google Discover breakthrough generating over 58,000 clicks (a +1,350% increase). Our site benefited from the December 2025 Core Update, with significant ranking improvements across all markets. We did observe a small dip in some positions at the very end of January, but everything has come back to normal in the first days of February.

**Key Takeaways:**

📋 **Executive Summary**

January 2026 was an outstanding month: 75,998 SEO sessions (+33.6%), 712 leads (+33.8%), and a Google Discover explosion at 58,206 clicks (+1,350%). The December Core Update continues to benefit us while 67% of health sites were negatively impacted. "Hair transplant istanbul" is back at #1 in English, "greffe de cheveux turquie" holds #1 in French, and Italian delivered +81.5% conversion growth. The US market nearly doubled (+88.5% YoY) with 10,722 sessions. LLM traffic converts at 4.70% but ChatGPT brand perception remains impacted by August 2025 coverage. A new February 2026 Discover Core Update just launched and could reshape our Discover traffic.

📰 **Last Google Updates and News**

- **Post-December Core Update: Continued Volatility in January:** Google's December 2025 Core Update (the third and final of 2025) completed its rollout on December 29. Our site benefited from this update, while 67% of health/medical sites reported negative impacts. In January, the SEO industry observed at least three distinct waves of additional ranking volatility (around January 6, mid-January, and late January), none officially confirmed by Google. This is typical: after a major core update, Google often makes smaller "tuning" adjustments. Our site remained stable throughout most of these fluctuations, though we noticed a brief position drop at the very end of January that corrected itself in early February.
- **Google Confirms: SEO for AI = SEO for Search, With a Caveat:** Multiple Google representatives stated in January that SEO for AI-powered features (AI Mode, AI Overviews) follows the same principles as traditional search optimization. However, this only applies to Google's own AI products. Third-party LLMs like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini work differently: they synthesize information from multiple sources including news articles, and brand reputation plays a significant role. In our case, the negative press coverage from the August 2025 incident continues to surface in ChatGPT responses about Dr. Cinik. We would suggest exploring the possibility of working with a lawyer to have these articles removed or updated by the publishers.
- **Google Discover Reshuffles Post-Core Update:** A major side effect of the December Core Update was a dramatic reshuffling of Google Discover traffic across the web. Many major news publishers lost their Discover visibility entirely, while other sites (including ours) saw massive Discover traffic surges. Discover is a personalized news feed on mobile that shows content without the user searching. Our before/after content, treatment pages, and medical articles are clearly resonating with Discover's audience, resulting in a +1,350% traffic increase.
- **February 2026 Discover Core Update (February 5):** Google released its first-ever Discover-specific core update. It is rolling out to English-language US users first and will expand globally. Three key changes: (1) more locally relevant content (prioritizing sites based in the user's own country, a potential negative for us since the site is based in Turkey); (2) less clickbait and sensational content; (3) more in-depth, original content from sites with demonstrated expertise (a potential positive given our medical authority). We'll monitor Discover traffic closely.

📈 **SEO Performance This Month**

📊 **Overall Performance Metrics:**

- **Total SEO Sessions:** 75,998 (+33.6% vs December, -28.3% YoY)
- **Total SEO Conversions (Zoho):** 712 (+33.8% vs December)
- **Search Console Clicks (Search):** 52,134 (+0.4% vs December)
- **Search Console Clicks (Discover):** 58,206 (+1,350% vs December)
- **Search Console Impressions:** 5,031,722 (+13.2% vs December, +48.7% YoY)
- **Average Position:** 10.1 (stable vs December, improved from 14.1 YoY)

**🔥 Google Discover Breakthrough:**

| Metric | January 2026 | December 2025 | Change |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Discover Clicks | 58,206 | 4,014 | +1,350% |
| Discover Impressions | 1,323,651 | 49,212 | +2,590% |
| Discover CTR | 4.40% | 8.16% | -46.1% |

Note: Direct traffic also surged +311.4% (6,852 → 28,187 sessions). This is linked to Discover: clicks from the Google App are attributed as "Direct" in GA rather than Discover, so the true Discover impact is likely even larger. The CTR decrease is expected as impressions scale up massively. Discover is inherently volatile and should be treated as bonus traffic while focusing on core rankings and conversions.

🇬🇧 **English (/)**

- 76,000 SEO sessions (+33.6% vs December)
- **SEO conversions: 387 (+25.6% vs December)** | Conversion rate: 0.51%
- **Semrush Rankings:** 2,679 total keywords (+445), 157 in top 1-3 (+20), 342 in top 4-10 (+16)

| Keyword | Jan 2026 | Dec 2025 | Oct 2025 | Progress |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **hair transplant turkey** | 2 | 4 | 5 | ↑ +2, back in top 2 |
| **hair transplant istanbul** | 1 | 2 | 2 | ↑ +1, #1 Achieved |
| hair transplant clinic istanbul | 1 | 2 | 1 | Back to #1 |
| beard transplant turkey | 1 | 1 | 2 | #1 Maintained |
| dhi hair transplant in turkey | 2 | 2 | 2 | Stable at #2 |
| fue hair transplant istanbul | 2 | 4 | 3 | ↑ +2 |
| hair transplant for women turkey | 3 | 3 | 3 | Stable in top 3 |
| hair transplant cost in turkey | 10 | 13 | | ↑ +3, entering top 10 |

🇫🇷 **French (/fr)**

- 10,900 SEO sessions (-1.7% vs December)
- **SEO conversions: 63 (+8.6% vs December)** | Conversion rate: 0.58%
- **Semrush Rankings:** 3,737 total keywords (+64), 167 in top 1-3 (-1), 344 in top 4-10 (-14)

| French Term | English Translation | Jan 2026 | Dec 2025 | Oct 2025 | Progress |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **greffe de cheveux turquie** | Hair transplant Turkey | 1 | 1 | 2 | #1 Maintained |
| greffe de cheveux dhi turquie | DHI hair transplant Turkey | 1 | 1 | 1 | #1 Maintained |
| greffe de cheveux afro turquie | Afro hair transplant Turkey | 1 | 1 | 2 | #1 Achieved |
| greffe de cheveux fue turquie | FUE hair transplant Turkey | 2 | 1 | 1 | Minor adjustment |
| greffe de cheveux femme turquie | Female hair transplant Turkey | 3 | 2 | 2 | Minor movement |
| greffe de barbe turquie | Beard transplant Turkey | 7 | 7 | | Stable |

🇮🇹 **Italian (/it)**

- 10,300 SEO sessions (+19.9% vs December)
- **SEO conversions: 118 (+81.5% vs December)** exceptional conversion surge | Conversion rate: 1.15%
- **Semrush Rankings:** 3,780 total keywords (+10), 167 in top 1-3 (-2), 336 in top 4-10 (+10)

| Italian Term | English Translation | Jan 2026 | Dec 2025 | Oct 2025 | Progress |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **trapianto capelli turchia** | Hair transplant Turkey | 3 | 2 | 8 | Minor adj., still top 3 |
| trapianto barba turchia | Beard transplant Turkey | 1 | 1 | 1 | #1 Maintained |
| trapianto capelli dhi turchia | DHI hair transplant Turkey | 1 | 1 | 1 | #1 Maintained |
| trapianto di capelli dhi istanbul | DHI hair transplant Istanbul | 1 | 1 | 1 | #1 Maintained |
| trapianto di barba istanbul | Beard transplant Istanbul | 1 | 1 | 1 | #1 Maintained |
| trapianto capelli dhi | DHI hair transplant | 2 | 2 | 2 | Stable at #2 |

🌍 **New Market Performance**

- **🇹🇷 Turkish:** 2,800 sessions (-2.9%), 13 conversions (+8.3%), conv. rate 0.46%. Strong ranking recovery: 63 keywords top 1-3 (+18), 217 in top 10 (+44).
- **🇷🇸 Serbian:** 654 sessions (+16.0%), 7 conversions (+40.0%), conv. rate 1.07%. Avg position improved to 6.4 (+60.7%).
- **🇭🇷 Croatian:** 71 sessions (-78.7%), 0 conversions. Typical newer-market volatility.
- **🇺🇸 United States:** 10,722 sessions (+88.5% YoY), 56 conversions (+5.7%), conv. rate 0.52%. Second-largest market by traffic. First month of GSC tracking (3,315 clicks, 847,002 impressions, avg pos 11.0). 7 keywords tracked via Monitorank across 5 US cities; best positions: "hair transplant istanbul" #5 mobile, "dhi hair transplant turkey" #6 desktop/mobile. Aligns with ROI report recommendation to expand US investment.

🚀 **London Clinic Update**

- **607 SEO sessions** (+48.0% vs December) and **22 conversions** (+120%) | Conversion rate: 3.62% (highest of all markets)
- "prf hair london" jumped to #1 (+3); "prf hair treatment london" #2 (+1); "cheap rhinoplasty london" stable #2.

🤖 **LLM Traffic (AI Referrals)**

| Source | Jan 2026 Sessions | vs Dec | vs Jan 2025 | Conversions | Conv. Rate |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ChatGPT | 380 | +8.3% | +58.3% | 22 | 5.79% |
| Perplexity | 108 | +21.3% | +83.1% | 2 | 1.85% |
| Gemini | 39 | +143.8% | +69.6% | 1 | 2.56% |
| Copilot | 5 | Stable | New | 0 | n/a |
| **TOTAL** | **532** | **+14.4%** | **+65.2%** | **25** | **4.70%** |

**LLM Reputation Challenge:** Visibility on AI platforms remains partially compromised by the August 2025 incident coverage. When users ask ChatGPT about Dr. Cinik specifically, negative articles from that period are sometimes surfaced. We would suggest exploring whether a lawyer could help have these articles removed or updated by the publishers. These visitors convert at ~6x our average SEO rate because they've typically done extensive research before visiting.

✍️ **Content Writing**

All scheduled content for January 2026 has been published across all markets.

🔗 **Link Building**

- Standard link building continued as scheduled across all markets, including Italian placements
- Press release campaign distribution has started; articles should be published shortly. A detailed follow-up report will be shared separately.

Best regards,

Tom