Insights from SEMRush’s Spotlight 2025

SEMRush’s Highlight 2025 occasion introduced collectively main web optimization specialists and digital entrepreneurs for a day of studying and workshops discussing the important thing developments in Search Advertising. Jim Beckham, Lead web optimization Strategist at Huble, discusses his highlights and strategic insights he gained from this occasion.

In October, I used to be lucky sufficient to attend the Highlight 2025 convention hosted by SEMRush in Amsterdam. Unsurprisingly, “AI” was the disruptive time period on everybody’s agenda that day. It was the theme of virtually each discuss masking subjects as vast as:

• the impression of AI Search on web optimization efficiency
• how companies can use AI to do work extra effectively or achieve new insights
• how one can match AI into your web optimization technique
• the evolution of purchaser’s behaviour because the creation of this new channel
• what KPIs we have to add into our web optimization reporting
• and the brand new options SEMRush is launching to deal with this new actuality

The prominence of AI at this occasion is not stunning. AI’s impression on Search Engine Optimisation has prompted me conflicting feelings this previous yr. There’s the nervousness of falling site visitors and metrics that we have relied on for years not working as a superb judgement of efficiency. There’s the sensation of FOMO that we’re not doing all we could possibly be doing to deal with AI Search. There’s the fear that what we’re doing will not be right, as a result of do we all know sufficient but on how AI Engines and LLM’s assume? However all of that is blended with the thrill on the alternative this new frontier represents, and the way it’s bought stakeholders asking “what are we doing about our firm’s look in AI Engines?”.

At Highlight 2025, SEMRush’s CMO, Andrew Warden, summed up the sensation within the room finest when he known as the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, “essentially the most disruptive occasion within the web optimization business because the creation of Google in 1998“. Disruption could cause chaos, however it’s also a chance. Warden argued that web optimization groups ought to seize this chance to information and measure the efficiency of an organization’s total Digital Model Visibility, and that is one thing I am fully on board with. It is an concept that completely aligns with Huble’s new Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) Service and I come again from this journey energised and excited to be rolling it  out for our purchasers.

Listed here are another highlights and classes realized from Highlight 2025.

Which is it? AEO, GEO, AI web optimization? One thing else?

Andrew Warden additionally mentioned: We have changed, “let me Google that for you” with “let me ask AI for you”.

However there’s nonetheless no consensus on what optimising for this new channel must be known as. Reply Engine Optimisation (AEO), Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), AI Search Engine Optimisation (AI web optimization), AI Visibility Optimisation (AIVO) and Giant Language Mannequin Optimisation (LLMO) have been all choices talked about on the day. There are slight variations within the specifics for every, however they’re seemingly getting used interchangeably.

Personally, I believe GEO has an excessive amount of crossover with Geography and Geology associated subjects. So for those who have been planning on doing key phrase analysis for matter cluster content material round GEO, you are going to see the search volumes will probably be inflated and embody plenty of irrelevant variants.

At Huble, we have chosen to make use of “AEO” to explain our AI Optimisation Companies in order that it aligns with the terminology and instruments throughout the HubSpot platform. We’re HubSpot’s Global Partner of the Year, so it is sensible for Huble to talk the identical approach HubSpot does.

Nevertheless, I additionally preferred the purpose made by Leigh McKenzie from SEMRush about why they’re utilizing the time period AI web optimization. Though there are definitely variations between concentrating on a search engine outcomes web page and an AI reply, the core fundamentals stay the identical – nice content material that’s comprehensible, related, reliable and solves the person’s drawback. And calling this discipline AI web optimization makes it clear to organisations that an web optimization group’s data and expertise must be driving these AI methods ahead.

I do hope that the business settles on a time period finally, however I believe the actual fact it hasn’t but additionally reveals simply how early alongside this journey all of us truly are.

We have to change how the impression of web optimization is measured

James McCormick from IDC shared analysis that since March 2025, companies have seen a 25% drop in natural site visitors throughout the board. This decline is due to the fully new buyer expertise: customers are having data introduced on to them as a substitute, both in Google’s AI Overviews, or by utilizing ChatGPT, Gemini or different Reply Engines.

One other speaker described this as “a get up name to companies in regards to the true worth of their natural site visitors”. As a result of, traditionally many entrepreneurs have been glad to see {that a} weblog submit was producing a superb quantity of natural site visitors and calling it successful primarily based solely on that metric. One research confirmed that 78% of companies nonetheless use clicks/site visitors as their major KPI for assessing the worth of content material.

I’ve spent the previous decade working virtually solely with firms which can be using HubSpot to track leads, sales & revenue and feeding these insights again to advertising.  So this statistic was a stark reminder to me that not each firm has the software program in place to successfully observe conversions and align their advertising to the contacts knowledge of their CRM.

Relying solely on “Visitors” as an indicator of content material, advertising, and web optimization effectiveness is not legitimate, particularly if evaluating efficiency to the pre-AI period. So it’s now extra necessary than ever to have a system in place like HubSpot to trace the contacts generated by your content material that will help you perceive how your content material engages and influences customers all through their purchaser’s journey.

We additionally want a method to perceive the efficiency of a web site in AI Search, which implies….

Funding is required in new AEO instruments and expertise

When Huble engages new purchasers with SEO services, if they don’t have already got a web optimization reporting software in place, we be certain that that is constructed into the plan. It is a elementary requirement for any web optimization challenge that we are able to observe KPI’s like key phrase rankings, clicks from natural search engines like google and yahoo, the journey customers take as soon as they attain the web site after which their journey by the CRM as soon as they convert all the way in which to a sale. The last word aim is to have the ability to put a financial worth on the enterprise that has been generated by the content material we have optimised or created.

However even this superior setup will not be all the time offering the total image. Tighter cookie monitoring insurance policies and person privateness preferences imply we don’t all the time know the way a conversion first got here to the web site. All of that is making the usual year-on-year comparisons much less related, as a result of we’re not in the identical panorama we have been 12 months in the past.

With this new frontier of AEO, there’s the extra requirement of how one can measure the way in which customers work together with an organization’s model, earlier than they’ve even reached the web site in any respect.

That is the place AEO Instruments are available in:

• At Highlight 2025, SEMRush One was introduced, an all-in-one toolset enabling firms to mix their web optimization and AEO reporting and analysis capabilities.
• Alongside this, HubSpot’s AEO Grader tool offers us a basic overview of a model’s efficiency in a specific area for a selected product, matter or business. Additional AEO Strategy tools have been additionally introduced as one of many many HubSpot product updates at Inbound 2025.
• SEMRush’s AI Toolkit offers us extra insights utilizing its database of billions of key phrases to generate related prompts that customers search, and might observe visibility and sentiment in your model on these subjects.
• After which there are specialist expertise distributors like ELELEM, who leverage their years of data of how AI Engines assume, to generate methods on the place your organization can enhance its AEO efficiency, and what can attributes content material wants with a view to be simply digested and cited by AI Engines.

If you wish to be taught extra, we’re operating a webinar on November twentieth with representatives from SEMRush, HubSpot and ELELEM to debate the future of AI Visibility.

AEO instruments and insights profit your total enterprise 

With extra software program comes extra prices that must be added to your advertising funds. AI monitoring software program is dearer than fundamental key phrase monitoring, as a result of the API necessities are extra advanced and the outputs are extra detailed. SEMRush’s Enterprise SEO suite of instruments goals to offer massive firms not simply insights on their model, however permits them to arrange monitoring and campaigns at a product stage – serving to uncover particular client ache factors or optimistic sentiment.

The extra overheads of all this new software program could also be off-putting, particularly in at present’s present financial local weather. However companies want to have a look at these instruments otherwise. They are not only for the web optimization group to generate reviews, they’re an important supply of buyer insights. An AEO visibility and sentiment report capabilities very like a steady buyer survey in your model. It offers instantaneous, actionable insights into how your organization is being mentioned on-line, throughout any matter and at any time. This allows you to obtain precious suggestions in close to actual time, giving a complete view of your model notion.

With AEO instruments, key insights will be surfaced to learn all areas of your corporation. For instance, gathering visibility and sentiment on considered one of your merchandise may help determine FAQs on the product’s specs, or ache factors and troubleshooting points. These will be fed instantly again to the product improvement and buyer assist groups to reinforce their work. SEMRush’s Andrew Warden described this new focus as “Digital Model Visibility” and it being one thing that web optimization can lead, however that every one areas of a enterprise can contribute to.

For that cause, the brand new AEO software program funds must be thought of as a part of the funds for the general firm, not simply the web optimization group. And the insights gained from it must be frequently distributed to the components of your organization that can discover it most related, in order that your corporation can evolve to satisfy the calls for of its prospects.

Content material and AEO are intrinsically tied

A degree made by Marcus Tober in his discuss was that AI Engines worth freshness at a a lot increased stage than a conventional search engine. That is the reply web optimization and content material groups want to offer to their stakeholders who’ve seen site visitors numbers falling and are possibly questioning the worth of content material manufacturing within the age of AI. Content material continues to be wanted to feed AI its data. And for those who’re not controlling the narrative about your organization, you may be leaving it to others to inform it in their very own phrases. Or, worse, your organization will not be talked about in any respect.

Google AI Mode is much better at hunting down Spam than ChatGPT

Research confirmed that ChatGPT is citing spammy websites because the supply of data fairly than authoritative ones extra usually than Google’s AI Mode. Recency bias and a much less complete approach of measuring authority have been two components right here. This is not stunning: a typical Google search leverages many years of expertise understanding essentially the most reliable and correct sources of details about a model or matter. This research probably highlights how way more work ChatGPT nonetheless must do to be a totally trusted supply of data.

In a separate discuss, Tilman Harmeling from Usercentrics additionally confirmed a knowledge evaluation highlighting that customers are comfy to undertake AI, however they don’t totally belief it but, neither within the solutions supplied, nor the way in which private data is being dealt with. The primary lesson right here is that in case your analytics instruments are exhibiting poorer visibility on Gemini than ChatGPT, you will have extra work to do on constructing your model’s belief, credibility and authority. And on account of every AI platform’s machine studying working otherwise, you may in all probability discover every is citing completely different sources of data for its solutions. While it may be irritating to see spammy sources used for citations as a substitute of your well-written and researched one, I’d anticipate that as every engine evolves, the higher and extra reliable content material will rise to the highest.

The place to start out with AEO requires a barely completely different method to conventional web optimization

When kicking off a brand new AEO technique, the very first query to ask must be “what’s AI saying about our enterprise and the place is that information coming from?”.

That is the place instruments talked about above are available in, and so they will provide you with the mandatory context for you realize what your precedence actions are:

In case your model consciousness and visibility in Reply Engines is poor:

• Then your preliminary focus must be on growing model visibility and defining your area of interest.
• Subsequent Steps: Model Technique, Content material Creation, Native web optimization, digital advertising, social media, backlink technique, hyperlink constructing

If the reviews present a poor sentiment and/or inaccurate details about your model:

• Then your focus must be on correcting that.
• Subsequent Steps: Model Advertising, PR, updates to your web site messaging, Schema Markup, product advertising, customer support, neighborhood administration

If AI’s are referencing your model positively, precisely and visibility is nice

• Then your focus is on amplifying your message,
• Subsequent Steps: Paid media promoting, social promotion on Reddit, LinkedIn and YouTube and so forth.

Taking this method is a good way to ascertain a proactive workflow, to deal with and enhance your AI visibility and sentiment. No web optimization group has infinite capability, so it is necessary to determine the actions which can be going to ship one of the best outcomes on the proper time. And on that be aware, it is necessary to recollect…

We’re all nonetheless discovering our approach

The subject of Synthetic Intelligence as an entire is fast-developing and evolving:  it appears like each few days a brand new research, perception or technological improvement is introduced. From the questions requested of the audio system, and the discussions I had with different attendees, it was clear that almost all of promoting and web optimization professionals are feeling to some extent overwhelmed with uncertainty, and need assistance navigating what one of the best methods are for his or her firms or purchasers.

We stand on the precipice of a brand new period of Search and Advertising. And it’s reassuring to know that everybody else, to a fantastic extent, continues to be making an attempt to p issues out. That is the message I will be giving to the companies I seek the advice of with on AEO and web optimization: no-one has all of the solutions but, however we are able to look to our data of the previous 2 many years of web optimization expertise to assist information our general path.

In abstract:

• AEO and web optimization instruments are being launched and up to date frequently – we have to use these to deepen our consciousness of the general efficiency of the model and develop new methods from this data.
• The foundations like technical web optimization, metadata, sitemaps, key phrase analysis and content material optimisation are nonetheless necessary, however new issues must be made to make sure AI crawlers perceive your content material simply in addition to Search Engines do.
• Content material Technique continues to be key, however broader/high of funnel content material goes to be much less precious now that the site visitors it brings in is diminished. As an alternative we have to focus in on fixing the ache factors that your prospects and your prospects face, to make their purchaser’s journey a smoother course of, and be certain that your present prospects all the time have a optimistic expertise too
• Reporting KPI’s want a rethink – for those who’re solely judging efficiency on natural site visitors, you are lacking out on the larger image
• To maintain up with the competitors, you have to to speculate extra funds into web optimization and AEO methods or danger being left behind. However the insights gained can profit your wider enterprise, and so budgets must be drawn from a wider pool of sources.
• The panorama has been disrupted and is evolving quick. Investing in AEO now helps your quick targets to show declining site visitors round, however it additionally encourages long-term progress in your model visibility and buyer engagement.

The Highlight occasion as an entire helped reassure me that the approach to AEO we’ve been developing here at Huble this previous yr, aligns with the pondering of the business at massive. When you’re focused on approaching this journey with us, get in contact.