February 2026 Discover Core Update — just completed

Google Rewrote the
Discover Rules.

New geographic filtering. Stricter clickbait penalties. Expertise scoring. Thousands of publishers lost traffic overnight.

Check your articles against the new rules in one click — before or after you publish.

Free Scan Soon See Example Report

Chrome Extension · AI-Powered · No article content stored · Advisory tool

◆ 30+ Discover signals per scan ◆ Updated for Feb 2026 Core Update ◆ Zero article content stored ◆ Built by publishing & SEO professionals

What happened

The biggest Discover shakeup in years

On February 5, 2026, Google launched a Discover Core Update that took three weeks to roll out. The update fundamentally changed what content gets surfaced — and Discover now drives up to two-thirds of all Google referral traffic to news publishers.

Geographic filtering

Discover now prioritizes local publishers. International traffic can vanish overnight.

Clickbait crackdown

Sensational headlines are penalized harder than ever. Even borderline titles lose visibility.

Expertise scoring

Google evaluates topic-specific expertise. Generic coverage gets buried.

AI Summaries replace clicks

51% of Discover feeds now show AI summaries instead of links to your articles.

Google provided minimal details on how these signals are evaluated. Publishers are left guessing what to fix.

The solution

Stop guessing. Start scanning.

Discover Sentinel parses your article, sends it through AI analysis with the latest Discover rules, and calculates a readiness score using a multi-factor algorithm — all in one click.

1 click

Open any article. Click scan. Get a full analysis in seconds.

30+

Signals checked per article — headlines, expertise, geo-relevance, content depth, and more.

Zero

We never store your article content. Only the analysis report is saved — your text never hits our database.

The difference

Publishing blind vs. publishing smart

Without Discover Sentinel

✗ Publish and hope Discover picks it up
✗ Traffic drops with no explanation
✗ Manually compare against vague Google guidelines
✗ Find out an article failed — days later

With Discover Sentinel

✓ Scan before you publish — know exactly what to fix
✓ AI checks against 30+ signals automatically
✓ Category-by-category recommendations with a clear score
✓ Fix, rescan, and track improvements over time

See it in action

One click. Full analysis.

Watch how Discover Sentinel scans an article and returns a detailed readiness report in seconds.

Deep analysis

What Discover Sentinel checks

Every scan evaluates your article against the signals that matter for Discover eligibility. AI analysis goes beyond surface checks — it reads your content like Google does.

◎

Headline & Title Analysis

Checks clarity, engagement, and Discover-friendliness — without crossing into clickbait.

◎

Discover Readiness Score

Calculated score based on multiple signals, with separate assessment for global vs. local content.

◎

Content Expertise Evaluation

AI evaluates how deeply your content covers the topic and whether it demonstrates real expertise.

◎

Geographic Relevance Check

Detects local relevance signals and assesses content against new geo-targeting requirements.

◎

Clickbait Detection

Flags sensational language, misleading framing, and bait patterns that trigger Discover penalties.

◎

Actionable Recommendations

Category-by-category breakdown with specific steps to fix every issue found.

Who it's for

Built for everyone who depends on Discover traffic

☷

News Publishers

Discover drives the majority of your referral traffic. One algorithm change can cost you thousands of visits per day.

✎

Content & SEO Teams

Need a scalable way to audit articles against Discover rules. Share reports with clients or stakeholders.

⚙

Editorial Managers

Add a Discover checkpoint to your editorial workflow. Every article scanned before it goes live.

✍

Bloggers & Independent Writers

Want to break into Discover but don't know what Google looks for. Get clear, actionable feedback on every post.

Traditional SEO tools analyze search rankings. Discover Sentinel analyzes Discover eligibility — a completely different algorithm with its own rules, signals, and penalties.

Built for newsrooms

A Discover checkpoint for every article.

Discover Sentinel fits into your editorial workflow. Every editor scans articles before publication, exports or shares the analysis report, and fixes issues before they cost you traffic.

No more publishing blind. No more post-mortem guessing why an article didn't get picked up. Make Discover analysis a standard step — like spell check, but for traffic.

⟳

Scan History

Track all scans in one place. Monitor improvements and compare article versions over time.

↓

PDF Export

Export detailed reports as PDF. Attach to editorial workflows or share with stakeholders.

⤴

Shareable Reports

Generate a public link to any report. Perfect for team reviews and editorial sign-offs.

✓

One-Click Workflow

Every editor analyzes articles before publication in one click. No training required.

Live example

See a real scan report

This is an actual Discover readiness report — scores, insights, and recommendations generated by the extension.

Open full report

Simple workflow

How it works

Install the extension

Add Discover Sentinel to Chrome in one click. No account required to run your first scan.

Open any article

Works on drafts in your CMS or published pages. Open the article and click the extension icon.

Get your score & analysis

AI scans your content against the latest Discover rules and returns a detailed score with recommendations.

Fix, rescan, publish

Apply the recommendations, rescan to see improvements, and publish with confidence.

Rules updated daily

Always aligned with Google's latest rules

We monitor official Google channels, Discover documentation, and algorithm update announcements every day. When Google changes the rules, we update our analysis — so your scans always reflect the current reality.

Privacy first

Your content stays yours.

Discover Sentinel never stores the content of your articles. Our system parses the page in your browser, sends it for AI analysis, and saves only the resulting report — scores, recommendations, and insights. The article itself is never persisted on our servers.

✓

No article content stored

Only the analysis result is saved

✓

Client-side parsing

Content is parsed in your browser before analysis

✓

Shareable by your choice

Reports are private until you decide to share them

From the maker

I'm a Team Lead and software engineer with over 5 years of experience leading large development teams and building web products. When Google rolled out the February 2026 Discover Core Update, I watched publishers — many of whom I work with — lose significant traffic overnight with no clear way to diagnose why.

Google's guidelines are vague by design. Publishers shouldn't have to guess what went wrong. I built Discover Sentinel to give every editor and publisher a concrete, AI-powered analysis of their content — so they can fix problems before they cost traffic, not after.

This tool is actively maintained and updated daily as Google evolves its rules. If you have questions or feedback, I'm always reachable directly.

palylabs@gmail.com

Plans

Simple, transparent pricing

Start free. Upgrade when you need more.

Free

€0

No credit card required

✓15 scans per month
✓Basic AI model
✓Basic Discover score
–No priority processing
–Limited history (last 10 scans)

Get Free Scan

Starter

€15 /month

VAT included · Cancel anytime

✓10 scans per day
✓Advanced AI model
✓Advanced scoring & recommendations
✓Standard processing
✓Full scan history

Get Starter

Common questions

What is Google Discover and why does it matter? +

Google Discover is a personalized content feed that surfaces articles without a search query. It now drives up to two-thirds of all Google referral traffic to news publishers — making it a critical channel for any content-driven website.

What changed in the February 2026 update? +

Google rolled out a major Discover Core Update (February 5–27, 2026) that introduced geographic content filtering, stricter clickbait detection, and topic-specific expertise evaluation. Many publishers experienced significant traffic shifts overnight.

Can you guarantee my article will appear in Discover? +

No. Google Discover is entirely controlled by Google's algorithms, and no tool can guarantee placement. Discover Sentinel helps you identify and fix issues that may prevent your content from being surfaced — but the final decision is always Google's. This tool is advisory in nature.

Do you store my article content? +

No. We never store the content of your articles. Our system parses the page, sends it for AI analysis, and only saves the resulting report — scores, recommendations, and insights. Your content remains entirely yours.

How do you keep up with Google's changes? +

We monitor official Google channels, documentation updates, and algorithm change announcements daily. Our analysis rules and prompts are updated to reflect the latest known requirements so your scans are always current.

Is this useful for editorial teams? +

Absolutely. Every editor can scan articles before publication in one click. Reports can be exported to PDF or shared via link — making it easy to include Discover analysis as a standard step in your editorial workflow.

Why can't I just follow Google's Discover guidelines manually? +

Google's guidelines are intentionally vague — they don't reveal how signals are weighted or how "expertise" is measured. Manual checking is subjective, time-consuming, and impossible to keep consistent across a team. Discover Sentinel uses AI to analyze nuances in your content that are easy to miss, checks 30+ signals simultaneously, and updates daily as Google changes its rules.

What happens after the trial ends? +

The 5-day free trial gives you full Pro access (35 scans/day). After 5 days, it automatically converts to a Pro monthly subscription unless you cancel during the trial. The trial can be used once per account.

Can I cancel anytime? +

Yes. Cancel your Pro subscription at any time from your account settings. No questions asked.

Don't lose Discover traffic to rules you didn't know about.

Install the extension, scan your first article for free, and see exactly what Google's new Discover rules mean for your content.

Free Scan — No Credit Card Soon

Disclaimer: Discover Sentinel is an advisory tool. All scores, insights, and recommendations are informational and do not guarantee placement in Google Discover or any specific traffic outcome. Google Discover is fully controlled by Google's algorithms. We are not affiliated with Google. Use this tool as a guideline to improve your content — final editorial and publishing decisions are always yours.

Google Rewrote the Discover Rules.