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Mrk 1018 is a nearby changing-look AGN that has oscillated between spectralType 1.9 and Type 1 over a period of 40 years. Recently, a recoilingsupermassive black hole (rSMBH) scenario has been proposed to explain thespectral and flux variability observed in this AGN. Detections of rSMBHs areimportant for understanding the processes by which SMBH binaries merge and howrSMBHs influence their galactic environment through feedback mechanisms.However, conclusive identification of any rSMBHs has remained elusive to date.In this paper, we present an analysis of 6.5 years of multi-frequency Very LongBaseline Array (VLBA) monitoring of Mrk 1018. We find that the radio emissionis compact down to 2.4 pc, and displays flux density and spectral variabilityover the length of our campaign, typical of a flat spectrum radio core. Weobserve proper motion in RA of the radio core at -36.4 $\pm$ 8.6 $\mu$asyr$^{-1}$ (4.2$\sigma$), or $0.10c \pm 0.02c$ at the redshift of Mrk 1018. Nosignificant proper motion is found in DEC (31.3 $\pm$ 25.1 $\mu$as yr$^{-1}$).We discuss possible physical mechanisms driving the proper motion, including arSMBH. We conclude that the apparent velocity we observe of the VLBI radio coreis too high to reconcile with theoretical predictions of rSMBH velocities andthat the proper motion is most likely dominated by an unresolved, outflowingjet component. Future observations may yet reveal the true nature of Mrk 1018.However, our observations are not able to confirm it as a true rSMBH.

A VLBI Proper Motion Analysis of the Recoiling Supermassive Black Hole Candidate Mrk 1018