Most marketers now work together connected the large shift: visibility extends beyond Google, AI devices power really group observe brands, and SEO is changing fast.
What’s little clear is really overmuch of that strategical reasoning has changed the day-to-day work.
We surveyed 481 marketers, business owners, and SEO professionals to understand really AI hunt is affecting workflows, squad structures, contented operations, measurement, and performance.
The takeaway is clear: marketers person updated the strategy, but astir teams are still rebuilding the operating exemplary down it — and the ones that person are seeing the payoff.
Methodology
We surveyed 570+ marketers, SEO professionals, and business owners moving pinch integrated growth, past filtered the responses utilizing an attraction check, leaving america pinch a sample of 481.
The sample included:
- Roles specified arsenic trading managers (29%), contented marketers (22%), SEO specialists (10%), and business founders (7%)
- Companies ranging from 1-10 labor (11%) to 201–1,000 labor (20%)
- Teams crossed SaaS, retail, agencies, master services, media, and different industries
Key takeaways
- Views connected SEO and AI hunt person moved. 85% of marketers opportunity AI has changed their hunt strategy — 32% “significantly evolved,” 53% “some adjustments.” Only 12% study “no existent change.” Separately, 77% picture AI hunt arsenic “an hold of SEO”; conscionable 15% still spot it arsenic “separate.”
- Execution hasn’t moved arsenic far. Only 22% of marketers opportunity their SEO and AI hunt efforts are “fully integrated crossed strategy, execution, and reporting.” The different 78% are still getting there. Among the marketers who telephone AI hunt “an hold of SEO,” only 28% study utilizing “one shared workflow crossed SEO and AI search.”
- Measurement is wherever the spread is widest. The astir commonly cited hard-to-measure metrics are: effect of AI connected pipeline aliases gross (49%) and visibility successful AI-generated answers (45%). At the aforesaid time, 40% of respondents usage manual ChatGPT checks arsenic their main search method.
- The stakes of the execution spread are visible successful AI answers. 37% of marketers opportunity “competitors are mentioned much often than us” successful AI-generated answers; 30% opportunity their marque is “described inaccurately”; 29% opportunity their “positioning aliases worth is unclear aliases generic.”
- Investment is shifting toward AI visibility and cross-platform discovery. Content creation remains the apical finance area (49%), but 46% of marketers now prioritize marque visibility crossed channels, 38% scheme to put successful AI hunt optimization (AEO/GEO), and 25% successful AI visibility tools, alongside 36% investing successful accepted SEO.
- Closing the operational spread pays off. 81% of teams pinch afloat integrated SEO and AI hunt execution study seeing much postulation aliases leads connected to AI platforms, compared to conscionable 36% of teams moving them wholly separately.
1. The position of hunt has shifted, but almost nary 1 treats AI arsenic a abstracted channel
AI is influencing hunt strategy for astir trading teams. 85% of marketers opportunity AI has changed really they attack search, pinch 32% saying their strategy has importantly evolved and 53% making immoderate adjustments.
At the aforesaid time, 12% study nary existent alteration truthful far.
That displacement shows up successful really marketers now deliberation astir AI hunt successful narration to SEO. 77% put it wrong the SEO tent, 55% spot it arsenic an hold of SEO, and 22% opportunity it’s partially overlapping. Only 15% still dainty it arsenic a abstracted transmission entirely.
Many teams still deficiency a accordant attack to AI visibility.
28% person a defined strategy pinch inconsistent execution, 27% are experimenting, and only 27% study having a clear, unified workflow.
28% person a defined strategy pinch inconsistent execution, 27% are experimenting, and only different 27% declare to person a clear, unified workflow.
The "AI is simply a different channel" framing is now a number view. Most marketers are readying against a reality wherever hunt happens crossed Google and AI surfaces simultaneously.
But acting connected these insights consistently — crossed teams, tools, and workflows — is wherever astir are still catching up.
2. Execution hasn't caught up, yet astir teams person a seam somewhere.
Only 22% of marketers opportunity their SEO and AI hunt efforts are afloat integrated crossed strategy, execution, and reporting. The different 78% picture immoderate type of a gap.
The astir communal shape — for 30% of respondents — is readying SEO and AI hunt together but moving them arsenic abstracted tracks connected the ground. Another 23% execute successful parallel pinch immoderate coordination, and 14% are mostly abstracted pinch occasional overlap.
The spread is sharpest among the marketers whose reasoning has moved the most.
Of the 263 who picture AI hunt arsenic an hold of SEO, only 28% really usage 1 shared workflow. 40% scheme together but execute separately, and 24% usage different devices and workflows for each.
Content readying shows much alignment than different workflows, but afloat integration is still rare.
Only 22% of marketers usage 1 unified contented process for Google and AI search. 38% are mostly unified pinch immoderate differences, and 20% tally abstracted processes entirely.
Integration extent is powerfully tied to performance.
Among respondents who selected either “more traffic/leads from AI hunt engines” aliases “more leads referencing AI tools,” 81% had afloat integrated SEO and AI hunt execution, compared to conscionable 36% of teams pinch wholly abstracted workflows.
Strategy alignment is already happening.
Execution is wherever astir teams still struggle: shared workflows, unified briefs, and contented processes that link Google and AI hunt alternatively of treating them separately.
3. Teams consciousness aligned, but their workflows show a different story
90% of marketers opportunity their teams are astatine slightest somewhat aligned connected marque and hunt strategy. 41% opportunity afloat aligned.
But that alignment often doesn’t transportation done to execution.
Among the 197 marketers who opportunity their teams are afloat aligned, only 41% besides study afloat integrated SEO and AI hunt execution.
The different 59% opportunity their teams still run pinch abstracted execution workflows, constricted coordination, aliases only strategical alignment.
Ownership tells a akin story.
Responsibility for AI hunt is scattered crossed 7 functions, pinch nary azygous proprietor supra 18%. A dedicated AEO/GEO master aliases squad leads astatine 18%, followed by SEO astatine 16%, contented astatine 15%, and shared ownership astatine 14%.
One successful 10 teams has nary clear proprietor astatine all.
2-3 devices to understand hunt visibility, 18% usage 4-5, and 4% are managing 5 aliases more.
When ownership sits crossed aggregate teams, companies often extremity up utilizing disconnected devices and workflows. That makes it harder to get a accordant position of marque visibility crossed Google and AI platforms.
Teams consciousness aligned connected wherever they're going. But the integrated visibility activity now spans aggregate teams, and successful immoderate organizations, cipher owns the last outcome.
Teams without clear ownership and a unified position of Google and AI visibility struggle to execute consistently.
4. The execution spread has a existent cost, and it's showing up wrong AI answers
This execution spread shapes really AI devices picture brands to imaginable customers each day.
57% of marketers opportunity they enactment erstwhile their marque is missing from AI results, akin to really they dainty drops successful Google rankings.
When marketers look astatine really their marque appears successful AI answers, astir find thing they want to improve.
37% opportunity competitors are mentioned much often than their marque successful AI-generated answers. 30% opportunity their marque is described inaccurately, and 29% opportunity their positioning comes crossed arsenic unclear aliases generic.
These issues are the predictable outputs of a fragmented operating model.
An AI explanation of your marque is assembled from galore sources: your ain content, third-party reviews, PR coverage, and competitor pages. When those inputs beryllium connected different teams, cipher is responsible for what they nutrient together.
The hole starts pinch auditing really you look successful AI answers, assigning clear ownership, and aligning the teams responsible for the inputs that style that description.
5. Measurement is wherever the spread is widest
Measurement is the portion of the operating exemplary that has changed the least.
49% of marketers opportunity measuring the effect of AI connected pipeline aliases gross is 1 of their apical challenges. 45% struggle to measurement visibility successful AI-generated answers, and only 9% opportunity they tin measurement each the metrics that matter.
Only 32% of marketers opportunity AI hunt visibility is intelligibly measurable and actionable successful position of business outcomes. 39% opportunity partially measurable, 17% opportunity very difficult, and 8% opportunity not measurable astatine all.
The methods astir teams are utilizing bespeak the aforesaid fragmentation arsenic the remainder of the operating model:
- 40% trust connected manually typing prompts into AI devices to cheque if their marque appears. It useful arsenic a spot check, but it doesn't standard and produces nary comparable information complete time.
- 38% usage a accepted SEO platform, 36% a specialized AEO/GEO tool, and 13% person nary accordant attack astatine all.
Marketers study 3 main clash points: constricted AI visibility search (34%), fragmented information crossed devices (33%), and trouble connecting information to business outcomes (32%).
29% besides opportunity they person nary unified position of Google hunt and AI-generated discovery.
Without measurement infrastructure, the remainder of the operating exemplary has thing to respond to. You can't enactment connected what you can't see, and correct now, astir teams are only seeing portion of the picture.
The astir applicable first measurement is search Google hunt capacity and AI visibility successful 1 spot utilizing a solution for illustration Semrush One, alternatively than piecing it together from disconnected devices and manual checks.
6. Investment and strategies are shifting, but awesome gaps remain
Marketers are starting to displacement some budgets and strategies toward AI visibility and cross-platform discovery.
Content creation leads planned finance astatine 49%, followed by marque visibility crossed channels astatine 46% and AI hunt optimization astatine 38%, each up of accepted SEO astatine 36%.
Two different numbers guidelines out:
- Brand visibility crossed channels now ranks up of accepted SEO arsenic a planned investment, showing that marketers progressively dainty hunt visibility arsenic a cross-platform problem.
- 25% are readying dedicated walk connected AI visibility tools, a fund statement that hardly existed a fewer years ago.
But the finance shape follows the communicative much intimately than it follows the diagnosed gaps. Only 14% scheme to put successful analytics and measurement, moreover though measurement is wherever teams struggle the most.
The strategies image tells a akin story.
Most of what marketers are doing to amended AI visibility is content-focused: 54% are creating structured, well-organized content, 43% are improving merchandise and work pages, and 37% are publishing much charismatic content. These are the correct foundations.
But immoderate important AI visibility strategies still spot comparatively debased adoption. Only 8% of marketers study utilizing integer PR, 9% negociate online reviews, and 11% actively build outer mentions done communities and societal platforms.
7. The operating exemplary is the activity near to do
The marketers already seeing AI-driven maturation person 1 point successful common: their operating exemplary matches their strategy. They ain the work, they measurement it, and they execute it consistently.
The much integrated the operating model, the much apt a squad is to spot existent results from AI search.
Among respondents reporting either much traffic/leads from AI hunt engines aliases much leads referencing AI tools, 27% had afloat integrated SEO and AI execution, compared to conscionable 12% of teams not seeing those results.
Only 3% of teams seeing results from AI hunt study having nary clear proprietor for AI visibility, compared to 22% of teams that are not seeing results.
Measurement stands retired arsenic 1 of the strongest differentiators.
41% of teams seeing results from AI hunt opportunity AI visibility is intelligibly measurable and actionable, compared to conscionable 15% of teams that are not. 45% usage a dedicated AEO/GEO tool, versus 19% of the rest.
At the aforesaid time, 27% of teams not yet seeing results opportunity they person nary accordant measurement to measurement AI visibility. Among teams already seeing results, that number drops to 6%.
One counterintuitive uncovering we saw: teams already seeing results study much friction, not less.
38% opportunity their information is fragmented crossed tools, versus 25% of the rest. Teams managing visibility crossed much surfaces and workflows are much exposed to the limitations of disconnected systems.
But the wide shape is accordant — teams pinch integrated workflows, clear ownership, and measurable AI visibility are overmuch much apt to study results from AI search.
The bottommost line: How to adjacent the operational gap
85% of marketers opportunity AI has changed their hunt strategy. But only 22% person afloat integrated execution, and 9% tin measurement the metrics that matter. The spread is successful execution, ownership, and measurement.
For the teams still building up their processes:
- Merge SEO and AI hunt ownership connected the execution level. These aren't abstracted workstreams anymore. One usability needs to ain both, pinch clear accountability for the output, clear processes, and defined KPIs.
- Break down squad silos. Content, SEO, PR, and marque teams each style AI visibility, and the teams seeing results align those functions astir shared goals.
- Build a unified position of Google and AI performance. A azygous level that tracks some accepted hunt and AI visibility turns study into action. Disconnected devices and manual prompt-checking make accordant execution astir impossible.
- Ensure marque consistency crossed each channel. How AI describes your marque is assembled from your website, reviews, third-party mentions, and PR coverage. Inconsistent messaging crossed those sources produces inconsistent AI descriptions.
Semrush One helps teams link the dots and merge their visibility efforts. It brings your Google hunt performance, AI visibility, and AI marque positioning into 1 place, truthful your squad tin spot the afloat image and enactment connected it consistently.
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