Google has updated the Understanding page experience in Google Search results help document to clarify how page experience and core web vitals are used or not used as signals for search rankings. In short, core web vitals are used in a limited way, while other page experience signals are not directly used as ranking signals.

Google updated the ranking section of the document. It now reads:

It used to read:

So yes, core web vitals are used for ranking but Google did say in the new documentation, “trying to get a perfect score just for SEO reasons may not be the best use of your time.”

This in addition to what John Mueller of Google posted on LinkedIn about Core Web Vitals “it’s not going to make your site’s rankings jump up” – here is the full message:

There has been a lot of flipping back and forth on this messaging from Google. Google said in February We don’t confirm any of the things [page experience or core web vitals] as a direct ranking factor – now they confirm core web vitals as a ranking factor. This goes back to the confusion (which is still there despite Google not wanting to believe it) around how the changes to get helpful content guidance and page experience documentation from a year or so ago. Google shortly after that confusion told us page experience is a ranking signal but not a ranking system. Danny Sullivan, Google’s Search Liaison, said back then, “It just meant these weren’t ranking *systems* but instead signals used by other systems.”

Anyway, now Google added more clarification around these signals or systems or not systems.

Hat tip to Glenn Gabe for spotting this:

Google also updated the Pagination, incremental page loading, and their impact on Google Search help document related to this. Google removed “page experience is a Google Search ranking signal.”

Now:

Before:

Forum discussion at X.