• &num=100

The Day Google Broke SEO Tracking: Why &num=100 Was Removed to Block AI Crawling

  • Felix Rose-Collins
  • 4 min read

Intro

In early 2025, Google quietly removed the &num=100 parameter from its search URLs — a tiny line of code that allowed SEO tools and developers to fetch up to 100 search results at once.

For most internet users, this went unnoticed. But for the SEO and AI industries, it was seismic.

That one change didn’t just disrupt rank-tracking platforms — it effectively cut off AI systems like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude from crawling Google’s full result set.

This wasn’t an accident. It was a strategic move to limit how much of Google’s search engine AI models could access, learn from, and replicate.

And in the process, it broke the backbone of SEO visibility as we knew it.

What Was the &num=100 Parameter?

The &num=100 parameter was a small but powerful feature in Google’s URL syntax. When added to a query — for example:

https://www.google.com/search?q=best+seo+tools&num=100

— it told Google to show up to 100 results on a single page, instead of the default 10.

For developers, marketers, and SEO platforms, this wasn’t a minor convenience. It was how the industry collected and analyzed search data at scale.

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It allowed:

  • Rank trackers to see the full top 100 results efficiently.

  • AI systems to map SERPs and learn result patterns.

  • Researchers to understand ranking diversity, content depth, and visibility distribution.

In short, &num=100 was a window into the entire ecosystem of organic search.

Then Google closed it.

Why Google Really Removed &num=100

Officially, Google has said nothing. But insiders and search data experts agree: This was about AI control.

Here’s why the timing matters. The removal came just as AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and SearchGPT-style engines began integrating live browsing and SERP analysis. These models were capable of crawling results, comparing domains, and even summarizing Google’s answers in real-time.

By removing &num=100, Google didn’t just limit SEO tools — it cut off the data supply that made AI search replication possible.

Let’s break it down:

  1. AI models were learning from Google’s structure. With &num=100, they could map how Google ranked sites, clustered entities, and prioritized E-E-A-T content.

  2. SERP data is proprietary value. Google’s ranking data is its intellectual property. Losing control of that to AI competitors would weaken its search monopoly.

  3. AI engines were starting to compete. Tools like Perplexity and You.com began showing “AI search” interfaces powered by scraped SERP data. Google had to respond.

  4. The solution? Cut access. By disabling &num=100, Google instantly made full SERP crawling 10× harder, 10× slower, and 10× more expensive.

This wasn’t about SEO costs. It was about protecting Google’s search data from AI training models.

The Collateral Damage: SEO Tools Caught in the Crossfire

While Google’s move targeted large-scale AI scrapers, it also broke legitimate rank-tracking tools that relied on the same mechanism.

The impact was immediate:

  • Platforms lost access to full Top 100 data overnight.

  • API costs multiplied, forcing smaller tools to scale back.

  • Some services began limiting reports to page 1–3.

  • Data accuracy declined, especially for long-tail keywords and emerging competitors.

For SEOs, agencies, and digital marketers, this created a new problem — partial visibility.

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Suddenly, you could only see a fraction of the search landscape you once analyzed daily.

The Shrinking Web: How Google Made Search Smaller

In a single update, Google made the visible web narrower.

Most users now see just the top 10 results — and even professional SEO tools have been forced to stop at 30. That’s like watching the internet through a keyhole.

And that has real consequences:

  • Fewer discoverable competitors.

  • Hidden opportunities for content ranking in the lower SERPs.

  • Less reliable performance tracking for clients and campaigns.

  • Biased SEO analysis dominated by top brands already on page one.

The irony? As Google limited visibility, AI engines kept expanding their reach elsewhere — learning from web archives, Reddit, Wikipedia, and open datasets.

The result: Google shrank its window just as AI started opening new ones.

Ranktracker’s Response: Rebuilding Full Visibility

At Ranktracker, we saw what was happening — and we refused to accept it.

While other platforms scaled back or shut down, we rebuilt our infrastructure from the ground up to restore full Top 100 tracking without relying on Google’s deprecated parameter.

That meant:

  • Re-engineering how we collect SERP data from distributed global nodes.

  • Building smarter, cost-optimized querying that could efficiently retrieve all 10 pages.

  • Ensuring full daily updates across every keyword, location, and device — without raising prices.

After months of development, we succeeded. Ranktracker became the first platform in the world to bring back full Top 100 Google tracking — even after Google tried to make it impossible.

Why This Matters More Than Ever

Top 100 tracking isn’t just a vanity metric — it’s critical for modern SEO and AI-era marketing.

Here’s why visibility beyond page 3 matters:

  • AI discovery: LLMs don’t just use top results — they learn from depth. The content ranking between positions 40–100 is often what models cite and summarize later.

  • Competitor awareness: Most rising brands start in the lower SERPs before breaking into the top 10.

  • Long-tail advantage: 70% of organic traffic still comes from keywords that rank beyond the first few pages.

  • Strategic clarity: Agencies can spot ranking trends before they appear in Google Search Console.

Without Top 100 tracking, marketers are navigating blind. With Ranktracker, the full landscape is visible again.

The Bigger Story: Search vs. AI

This isn’t just a technical story — it’s the start of a new battle for the web.

Google wants to protect its data from being absorbed into generative AI models. AI engines want to use that data to power better answers and recommendations. And SEOs are caught in the middle, struggling to maintain visibility in both worlds.

Ranktracker’s position is clear: transparency must win.

That’s why we rebuilt the ability to see everything — from rank 1 to rank 100 — no matter what limitations are imposed.

Meet Ranktracker

The All-in-One Platform for Effective SEO

Behind every successful business is a strong SEO campaign. But with countless optimization tools and techniques out there to choose from, it can be hard to know where to start. Well, fear no more, cause I've got just the thing to help. Presenting the Ranktracker all-in-one platform for effective SEO

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Because the future of SEO depends on one thing: knowing what’s really happening across the full search ecosystem.

Conclusion: Google Closed the Door — Ranktracker Opened It Again

When Google removed &num=100, it wasn’t just about efficiency. It was about control — over data, visibility, and what AI could learn.

But the internet was never meant to be a walled garden.

Ranktracker restored what Google took away: full visibility of the web’s search reality. 100 results. 10 pages. Every keyword. Every day.

While others stop at page 3, Ranktracker goes all the way.

Felix Rose-Collins

Felix Rose-Collins

Ranktracker's CEO/CMO & Co-founder

Felix Rose-Collins is the Co-founder and CEO/CMO of Ranktracker. With over 15 years of SEO experience, he has single-handedly scaled the Ranktracker site to over 500,000 monthly visits, with 390,000 of these stemming from organic searches each month.

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