In recent years, many marketers have asked, “Is SEO still worth the investment?” After all, we hear about declining clicks from Google and surging use of AI tools (like ChatGPT) for research. Social media is also increasingly used for product discovery. These trends raise concerns: if search traffic is falling, why invest in SEO at all? The reality is more encouraging. Data shows search is still dominant – for example, 90% of B2B buyers who go online use search specifically to research business purchases. In short, most prospects still turn to search engines, even as AI grows. Our job is to adapt SEO for this new world. In this post, we share the outlook on SEO’s future for B2B and how we’re preparing our clients for success.

The Future of SEO (As Illustrated By New Data)

Recent research proves that traditional search is still growing despite the AI hype. Rand Fishkin’s data shows Google search volumes jumped about 21.6% year-over-year in 2024. In other words, Google still dominates (handling over 90% of searches), and search use is not declining.

At the same time, studies confirm that AI-powered answer boxes do change behavior: for example, when Google shows an AI Overview snippet, organic click-through rates on search results can drop by roughly 70%. This may sound alarming – if fewer people click on our links, is SEO worthwhile? The answer is yes, but our strategy must evolve.

What matters now is visibility and authority in search and AI results, not just clicks. Being featured as a trusted source (for example, cited in an AI-generated answer) can be even more valuable than a click-through. Users tend to trust unbiased summaries from Google’s AI, especially if they see your brand recommended.

This data raises the initial question again, but with a modification:

“If people aren’t clicking on my website in the search results, is SEO worth it?”

To answer this question, consider another:

“Is it valuable for your brand to appear as the recommended brand in the AI overview?”

For example, if you’re an influencer marketing platform, appearing in this AI overview is quite valuable:

In fact, appearing here in the AI overview is arguably even more impactful than earning clicks to your website because users will likely trust recommendations from an unbiased, third-party source (Google) over a brand’s own promotional content.

To help you prepare for the future of SEO, we’ll discuss specific strategies to ensure your website not only shows up in the traditional search results, but also dominates the AI overviews and receives visibility in LLMs.

In short, we need to optimize not just for traditional SEO, but also to appear in AI “answer engine” results. As one industry expert notes, LLM-driven search is increasingly driven by “brand mentions” and “entity authority” from credible, well-referenced sources. That means building our brand’s authority in the industry is key to future SEO success.

How Companies Must Adapt For The Future of SEO

The old SEO playbook (“find a keyword, write one article, build links to it”) still has merit, but it’s not enough. Content volume has exploded (thanks to AI-writing tools and widespread content marketing), so search engines now favor content from strong, authoritative “entities.” An entity is essentially a brand or company recognized as an expert in its niche – one that is widely referenced, linked, and frequently discussed. Google and other AI tools tend to trust larger, well-known brands more because they provide comprehensive and credible information.

In practice, this means: Instead of targeting isolated keywords, think about building your brand as the go-to resource for your industry. Focus on becoming the ultimate authority on your topic. For example, instead of one blog post on “API integrations,” publish a hub of detailed content covering all aspects (guides, best practices, case studies, etc.). Over time, that broad coverage signals to search engines that your site is the definitive source.

This approach compounds ROI too: as your authority grows, you earn natural partnerships, mentions, and backlinks across the industry (which in turn boost your visibility in both search and AI results). In short, the SEO mindset shifts from “target one keyword” to “build a respected entity with deep, comprehensive content and industry recognition.”

How To Build Entity Strength

There are three components to building a strong SEO entity for a B2B brand: Core, Secondary, and External. We’ll break down each with actionable steps.

1. Core (Website)

The fundamentals of your website are more important than ever. Google and AI-driven search tools want to serve users only the best experience, so any technical issues can hurt you. Make sure your site is fast, secure (HTTPS), mobile-friendly, and well-structured. Use schema/structured data correctly and ensure all important pages are indexed. In practice, this means:

• Fast load speed and good performance metrics

• Safe and secure (HTTPS) connections

• Proper use of schema markup (e.g. for articles, products, FAQs)

• Complete and correct indexing (no orphan pages)

• Clean, logical URL structures

See our authority architecture framework.

Crawlers and users alike should be able to navigate your site easily. That means a clear site architecture with content organized into logical sections. If Google (or any crawler) can’t find your content, it won’t rank it. Likewise, if visitors can’t find information, they won’t complete a buying journey. For example, we often use a hub-and-spoke model: create a comprehensive “hub” page on a broad topic (e.g. “Cloud Project Management”), and link out from it to several more focused “spoke” articles (e.g. “Security best practices for cloud projects,” “Cloud project management tools”, etc.). By covering a topic thoroughly through this cluster of pages, you signal authority on that topic.

Of course, content must also be high-quality and credible. Search engines increasingly reward content written by experts. Google’s guidelines now emphasize that first-hand experience is critical to expertise and credibility. In practice, we build credibility by involving subject-matter experts in content creation – interviewing internal teams or industry specialists for every piece. This ensures your content is authoritative and meets Google’s E-E-A-T criteria (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness).

2. Secondary (Multimedia)

A truly authoritative brand does not rely on blog posts alone. Think beyond text: publish case studies, white papers, videos, podcasts, free tools or calculators, and maintain active social channels. For example, HubSpot dominates marketing-related search not just because of its blog, but because of its vast resource library – e-books, research reports, tools, and an active YouTube channel and academy. Likewise, Zoom or Salesforce invest heavily in webinars, videos, and documentation beyond their core product pages. Omnichannel content is the key. Meet prospects wherever they are and in formats they prefer. If a potential buyer learns best from video, make a video tutorial. If they want an in-depth guide, publish an e-book. Each piece of content you create on different channels reinforces your brand’s authority and touches on buyer needs at various stages.

The main takeaway: expand your content assets to fit every stage of the buyer’s journey. Don’t stop at blog posts. Build tools or templates for awareness, detailed whitepapers for evaluation, customer testimonials and demos for decision stage, and maintain engaging communities or social media presence. A diversified content strategy not only captures more search and social traffic, but also strengthens your brand as a comprehensive resource.

3. External (Recognition)

The strongest proof of credibility is what others say about you. If respected industry voices frequently link to or mention your brand, search engines view that as a trust signal. For example, linking to Rand Fishkin’s SEO study in this post helps because Rand is a recognized thought leader – many marketers cite his work. Those external mentions and backlinks tell Google your site is trusted by experts. In AI-driven search, this is even more pronounced. As noted above, LLMs give weight to “brand mentions” and “entity authority” when deciding which sources to trust. In other words, digital PR and industry recognition are now critical SEO tactics.

Some ways to build this external credibility include:

• Create original research or data. Publish your own industry studies, surveys, or benchmarks. If it’s valuable, other sites and journalists will link to it.

• Partner with complementary brands. Co-host webinars, develop integrations, or collaborate on content with other vendors. These partnerships can earn you links on other sites and tap into new audiences.

• Traditional PR. Get featured in trade press, press releases, podcasts, or guest articles. Earn awards or mentions in authoritative publications.

• Community and thought leadership. Speak at conferences, participate in forums (e.g. GitHub, StackOverflow, LinkedIn Groups), or start your own community. Active participation in industry conversations grows your profile.

By systematically earning these third-party endorsements, you solidify your brand as an industry authority.

Measuring SEO Success

In the past, SEO success was often measured by simply tracking traffic to your site. But raw traffic volume is a poor indicator of true impact – especially now when AI answers may reduce clicks without reducing awareness. Instead, we focus on metrics tied to revenue and authority. We use an “Entity Authority” dashboard that tracks:

1. Technical Authority Metrics: These ensure your technical SEO is strong. For example, we monitor API documentation usage, developer portal engagement, integration adoption rates, and overall technical content performance. Healthy developer engagement signals that your product is being adopted.

2. Commercial Impact Metrics: These tie SEO directly to the business. We look at organic traffic segmented by user intent, conversion rates by content type, pipeline influence of SEO-generated leads, and revenue attribution from organic search. These metrics show how SEO content moves prospects through the funnel and into sales.

3. Stakeholder Engagement: Enterprise software often has multiple decision-makers. We track how each persona engages with content. This includes content engagement broken down by buyer role, multi-touch attribution analysis, decision-maker involvement metrics, and adoption by implementation or technical teams. In short, we measure which content influences each stakeholder in the buying committee.

Since 80% of B2B sales interactions will be digital by 2025, according to Gartner, it’s crucial that SEO efforts tie back to revenue. These three measurement categories help ensure our SEO strategy is driving real business impact, not just vanity metrics.

The Future of Search Engines and Next Steps

In summary, the data show that traditional search is not dead – Google still commands the vast majority of queries and grew by double digits in 2024. At the same time, AI-driven search is rising from a small base. Right now, AI tools account for well under 1% of total search queries, while Google’s share remains above 90%. As Rand Fishkin’s analysis concludes, Google’s growth and market dominance remain strong. Moreover, Google’s business depends on search usage, so it will continue to evolve (for example with AI Overviews) to keep people searching.

So yes – investing in SEO is still worth it for B2B, because buyers are still searching for solutions. The key is how you approach it. The modern SEO strategy is about building your brand’s authority (entity) rather than just chasing keywords. Focus on creating a top-notch website, comprehensive expert content, and broad industry recognition. This way your brand will appear not only in traditional search results, but also in AI-generated overviews and answer engines.

If you’d like guidance on future-proofing your B2B SEO strategy, feel free to reach out to our team – we can help analyze your situation and create a tailored roadmap.

What you should do now: Whenever you’re ready, here are four ways we can help grow your B2B marketing:

1. Claim your Free SEO Growth Plan. Get a no-obligation strategy session to diagnose your current SEO, uncover quick wins, and build a 3-step plan to hit your pipeline targets.

2. Explore our B2B SEO Blog and Resources. Dive into more guides, templates, and case studies we’ve published (including free ebooks and worksheets) to learn proven demand-generation strategies.

3. Join Our Team or Network. Check out our careers page to meet the experts who make our agency great, or inquire about partnering with us if you’re a consultant or vendor in the B2B space.

4. Share this article. If you found these insights valuable, send them to a colleague or post the link on LinkedIn/Twitter – good ideas grow when shared.

Each of these steps will help ensure your SEO efforts deliver real, long-term growth as search and AI continue to evolve.