Why Search Engines Results Are So Fluid

I've actually had a customer call from California and say that she just got her Search Engine Ranking report from me, but that she was NOT seeing the same results. The report and her search were just about an hour apart.

While on the phone with her, we typed the same exact search phrase into the same exact search engine and got different results! How in the world could this be? Isn't Number One on Google in Colorado the same as Number One in California?

The answer is no, and here's some reasons why:
1) Google does not update once a month, they are constantly updating their data.
2) Google has many data centers, all updating at different times.
3) Not all of the data centers are exact clones of one another. They can differ in what underlying data they contain as well as how they sort results.

The physical location you're searching from can also influence the results you see, as can the IP address of your machine (the designated residence of said machine on the Internet) and is biased by Google's guess about your location based on your, or your customer's IP address.

Cookies on the machine you're using to conduct the search, as well as things and specific terms you've searched for in the past will also influence the results you see.

While these items are not the only factors that can affect search results these issues are often among the more commonly identified issues that come up when speaking with clients.

And yes, it will be an interesting concept to pass along, to say the least. If you don't have excellent credibility with the client, you're not going to make much headway explaining this, so do some research and find articles and forums where "The Experts" reititerate your position.