Headline finding
RBL Bank: 565K to 1K. SBI Card: still standing at 742K.
RBL Bank, which had an ambitious digital credit card strategy, generated 565,000 organic visits in November 2024. By April 2026 that had fallen to under 1,000 — a 99.8% collapse. SBI Card retained 53% of its peak — the best performance of any bank issuer — because its standalone domain accumulated genuine CC content. Bajaj Finserv retained 42%. Amex India retained 57% and is actually growing month-on-month into April 2026.
RBL Bank traffic retained
0.2%
565K peak → 1K Apr 2026 · 99.8% collapse
SBI Card retained
53%
Best bank issuer · standalone CC domain advantage
Amex India retained
57%
Growing in Apr 2026 · global domain resilience
Bajaj Finserv retained
42%
Content depth = traffic resilience. Same story as home loans.
Panel 1 — 24-month organic traffic trend
Monthly organic traffic — April 2024 to April 2026
Shaded bands = Google Core Update rollout periods. All values in millions of visits (M) or thousands (K).
Line chart
Bajaj Finserv (resilient)
SBI Card (best issuer)
HDFC Bank
ICICI Bank
BankBazaar
Amex India (growing)
RBL Bank (collapsed)
Source: Semrush Traffic Analytics, India database, Apr 2024–Apr 2026. Shaded regions = Google Core Update rollout windows. Traffic figures are directional Semrush estimates.
Google Core Update timeline
Seven updates. Same story as home loans.
Aug 2024
August 2024 Core Update
First wave. Prioritised genuinely helpful content. RBL Bank and IndusInd begin declining.
Nov 2024
November 2024 Core Update (24 days)
Targeted SEO-first pages. RBL Bank peaks at 565K in November — then collapses immediately after.
Dec 2024
December 2024 Core + Spam Updates
Back-to-back updates. Jan 2025 = simultaneous 30–40% drop across all brands.
Mar 2025
March 2025 Core Update — Finance most affected
YMYL finance sites hit hardest. Credit card issuers = peak YMYL sensitivity.
Jun 2025
June 2025 Core Update
Zero-click searches surge 56%→69%. AI Overviews answer card comparison queries directly.
Dec 2025
December 2025 Core Update — Most disruptive
E-E-A-T extended. HDFC Bank collapses. IndusInd near-zero. RBL Bank at 1K visits.
Mar 2026
March 2026 Core Update — Most volatile ever
80% of top-3 results shifted. Data ends Apr 2026 — direct aftermath captured.
Traffic retention — peak vs Apr 2026
Who survived and who collapsed
% of peak traffic retained by April 2026. Content strategy = survival.
Calculated as Apr 2026 traffic ÷ peak traffic × 100. Source: Semrush, Apr 2024–Apr 2026.