Client-side data fetching erased their reviews from Google

Client-side data fetching erased their reviews from Google

A SaaS comparison site rendered the shell server-side but fetched review content with React Query on the client. Pages indexed — empty. -34% on '[product] reviews' queries.

The investigation rendered the page in Google's eyes via URL Inspection. The HTML Google stored: headers, a skeleton loader, and a spinner. The 4,000 words of reviews lived behind a client fetch that resolved 800ms after first paint. Google's renderer captured the snapshot before the data arrived — and didn't re-snapshot.

Turns out 'SSR shell + client data' is the most seductive trap in JS SEO. It looks server-rendered. The chrome is. The content — the thing that ranks — isn't.

The fix wasn't ripping out React Query. They moved the initial review payload into the server response and hydrated React Query from that cache, so the first render already held the words.

Indexed content went from 'spinner' to full text in nine days. Review queries recovered to +19% in eight weeks. Hydrate from server data, don't fetch after mount — Google reads the first frame.