Since marketing budgets are closer than ever and more and more channels that compete for our attention, we have to constantly evaluate where our efforts achieve the best returns. And although SEO is a staple for digital marketing for decades, this is not immune to the exam.
In a world that is dominated by AI and short form content, many marketers wonder whether SEO remains a worthwhile investment. If the search behavior changes and the traffic decreases, should we still pour resources into the optimization for search engines?
Why do marketers question the effectiveness of SEO?
The B2B Marketing Engel landscape has changed dramatically in recent years, so that many are wondering whether the traditional SEO tactics still delivers results. From technological breakthroughs to fundamental changes in the consumption of information, several developments have brought legitimate concerns about the future of SEO.
The rise of the AI
It is impossible to ignore the massive effects of AI in recent years. AI overviews in Google and other search engines have fundamentally changed the way people interact with search results.
Before the AI search revolutionized the search, algorithm changes would mix the ranking, but they rarely changed the basic search behavior. With AI-generated summaries that are displayed directly in the search results, users often receive their answers without clicking on websites. This shift is a significant challenge for companies that have traditionally rely on organic search traffic.
Changes in content consumption habits
B2B marketing usually follows B2C trends, and we now see the same changes in content consumption habits that consumer marketing changed a few years ago.
Brief form video has become the dominant content format in the consumer sector and revolutionized how people discover brands and get in touch with them. Fast lead to 2025, and B2B buyers are increasingly deciding to consume short-form video content via longer-written pieces. This preference shift means that conventional blog content may not include buyers as effectively as before.
Linkedins Mobile Video -Feed
Diversification of the search
Today’s buyers not only use Google to get answers. They contact AI tools such as Chatgpt and Claude to get answers to advise Peer Communities for product recommendations and use social platforms for research.
Buyers are increasingly skeptical about provider websites and marketing materials and prefer to contact trustworthy sources to obtain information. Instead of just relying on what you can find in search results, look for recommendations from colleagues, industry communities and authentic social content if you make buying decisions.
This shift reflects a growing desire for impartial perspectives of people who have experience with products and services.
Hubspots Blog traffic loss from Hubspot
Perhaps nothing more about SEO’s viability than the revelation that Hubspot, one of the content marketing power plants from B2B, recorded a decline in blog traffic by 80% over a period of 12 months.
This dramatic decline seemed to confirm the worst fears of many marketers from SEOS decreasing returns. But digging deeper shows a more nuanced story. A large part of the loss of Verkehrshubspot came from broad, generic content, which were not closely associated with their actual offers. In the meantime, their brand search queries reached an all-time high, as did their share price.
Hubspot’s strategy, as it was explained by their CMO Kipp Bodnar and SVP for Marketing, Kieran Flanagan, has developed to concentrate on the creation of future -oriented, highly specific content instead of competing to compete.
Does SEO still work?
Despite all these changes, the answer is a clear one Yes, SEO still works in 2025.
But it works differently than five years ago.
The data also show that qualified buyers find companies effectively by searching and conversion. For many B2B companies, the organic search remains a significant driver of high-quality leads that convert into pipeline and income.
The main difference is that success in SEO now requires a strategy, commercially focused approach instead of simply pursuing the traffic volume.
The decline in information traffic
Many companies recorded a decline in traffic on information content such as blog post and column sites. This trend is not universal, some companies continue to see growth in this area, but it is common to attract attention.
Several factors contribute to this decline:
- AI summarizes answers directly in the search results and eliminates the need to have to click through
- Buyers increasingly prefer different content formats for educational purposes
- Search engines are better contributed to distinguishing really valuable content from SEO spam
Despite this shift, the creation of information content remains.
- It builds the authority of your website on topics that are relevant to your company
- It creates internal links to increase your commercial sides
- It shows specialist knowledge and builds trust with potential buyers
- It serves as the basis of your SEO pyramid and supports the ranking of your money pages
The key is to be intended to be the information content that you create. Instead of producing generic content that vaguely refer to your industry, focus on topics that are directly related to your promise of values and your offers.
The commercial traffic supports or grows
While information content may record variable results, commercial queries continue to increase valuable data traffic. It is even more important that this traffic is converted with a much higher price because it comes from buyers who are actively looking for solutions.
This resilience makes sense if you take into account the purchase process for significant B2B purchases. If organizations evaluate software, services or solutions that could cost tens of thousands or thousands of pounds, they probably do not trust a AI summary or a social contribution to their final decision.
Instead, buyers want to carry out their own research, compare functions and pricing directly and develop trust in potential providers. Of course, this process leads you to search for certain solutions and visit several websites to evaluate options.
Should you invest in SEO?
For companies that have never invested seriously in SEO, the question becomes even more urgent: Is it too late given all of these changes to start?
The answer is that you should still see SEO as part of your marketing mix.
Until data shows that SEO delivers decreasing returns in the industries, it remains a worthwhile investment.
This applies in particular to companies that have historically neglected the SEO. If you currently do not generate any significant traffic of questions without brands, you have an enormous chance in front of you.
However, if you are starting your SEO trip, it can be a challenge to deal with established brands that have been investing in SEO for a decade or longer. Instead, consider these approaches.
Niche for more commercial value
Instead of aiming on broad commercial keywords with intensive competition, focus on more specific terms related to:
- Industry -specific applications of your product
- Certain functions or advantages that distinguish your offer
- Special application cases or integrations
- Geographical or sector -specific variations
This targeted approach enables you to build authority in your specific market corner without requiring the massive content production and connection efforts that are necessary to compete wider terms.
First concentrate on commercial content
While the SEO pyramid usually has information content on the basis and the commercial sides at the top, companies that are only starting with SEO benefit from the reversal of this approach.
Start optimizing your core service or product pages for relevant commercial keywords. These pages have the highest conversion potential and often require less content to effectively evaluate targeted terms.
As soon as you have set up these core pages, you gradually expand your content strategy to support blog posts and resources that return to your money pages.
Content diversification will be of crucial importance in the future
While SEO still deserves a place in its marketing strategy, it should no longer be the cornerstone of her entire approach. Diversification is not only recommended, it is essential.
SEO should act as a component in a balanced marketing mix and not as a basis on which everything else builds. Both technology trends and buyer behavior continue to develop in such a way that the effectiveness of the Search can continue to challenge:
- AI tools pull users away from conventional search results
- Buyers are increasingly trusting peer recommendations about search results
- Short form video and social content attract more attention
Consider: To adapt to these shifts, you should:
Investments in alternative content formats
Discover short form video content for platforms such as LinkedIn, YouTube shorts and possibly TikTok (depending on your audience). Audio content such as podcasts is also growing more and more popular with B2B audience.
Building the presence of the community
Identify where your potential customers gather online and find an authentic presence there. Concentrate on delivering value instead of promoting your offers.
Development of thoughts
The rise of social content means that companies need faces and personalities, not just brands. Identify people in your organization who can effectively communicate your message and perspective, even if you are not in traditional leadership roles.
This shift of written content on more personal formats can be a challenge, especially for companies that have rely on SEO to “hide” team members who do not naturally make themselves sociable. However, it is becoming increasingly important to find the right voices to represent your brand in these new channels.
SEO is not dead, but it continues to develop
SEO continues to deliver worth it in 2025, but its role is changing. The data show that it still promotes quality traffic that is converted into sales, but the success requires adjustment.
The best approach combines targeted SEO with diversification in aspiring channels. By developing your strategy instead of fully giving up SEO, you will continue to grasp valuable search traffic while you meet buyers where you are increasingly spending your time.
While marketing is developing, a comprehensive strategy, which includes other tactics of the SEO demand regeneration, is of crucial importance for sustainable growth.
