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March 11, 2025
by Kamaljeet Kalsi /
We called it back in July 2024 — AI chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Perplexity wouldn’t just assist with search anymore; they would replace it. They would have their own browsers, challenging Google and striking a searchscape seismic shift nobody was ready for.
Fast forward, and aftershocks are everywhere. AI has disrupted the search landscape in ways that are surprising, overwhelming, and anything but boring. Marketing leaders are now scrambling to adapt, trying to strategize and reallocate budgets for SEO. Questions loom large:
And the biggest one of all — how do we justify the budget amidst traffic drops and fluctuations?
To decode these questions, and the industry’s future, we’ve united with the best minds in SEO. Eleven themes emerged, topped with a heavy drizzle of unique G2 data insights. Dive in for unbiased opinions, expert advice, and exclusive predictions from our pundits.
Disrupted is an understatement. With AI overviews (AIOs), generative search optimization (GSO), and other emerging trends reshaping the industry, SEO is evolving faster than ever. As conversations flood LinkedIn and beyond, one thing is clear — we’re all working to make sense of this shift. From new challenges to the changing role of SEO data and technology, there’s a lot to unpack.
Let’s get into it.
Keyword strategies aren’t cutting it anymore. The rise of AI-powered answers is shifting the focus from lexical (keyword-based) to semantic (context-aware prompts), with brand mentions now acting as a key factor in visibility.
“Traditional keyword strategies are becoming outdated as users embrace more conversational and detailed queries. This shift is leading to a decline in the dominance of broad keywords, as longer, more specific phrases drive richer, more relevant insights.” — Ross Briggs, VP of buyer experience at G2
“The game has shifted from link-building to voice-building, from keyword optimization to contextual relevance. It’s pushing us towards authentic, valuable content that genuinely serves user needs.”
Publishers may have been the most vocal about traffic loss, but the reality is that it’s happening across the board.
“Search has become increasingly devalued. The web is at the beginning of a period of constriction. As people rely more on AI for answers, the value of traffic and content creation itself decreases.”
If zero-click search was a challenge back in 2020, AI overviews and AI chatbot responses have magnified the measurement problem in the industry.
“This means less organic traffic to websites and higher competition (and cost per click) in paid ads.”
People aren’t leaving the query box and clicking out as much as they did. AI search curates and streamlines results, offering more direct answers.
“The switch from lists to deep answers is in full force, as Google shows a big LLM answer at the top of the search results. That shift shakes up the traditional value ecosystem in Search, where sites provide their content to search engines in return for traffic and search engines show ads at the top.” — Kevin Indig, growth advisor
AI chatbots delivering specific answers have basically made thin, inauthentic content invisible. LLMs have achieved something Google has tried to achieve for years through its search engine algorithm updates. If it’s not useful, it’s not visible.
“Brands need to rethink their approach to what traffic they try to bring (top-of-the-funnel content might lose its importance if it can be answered by AI) with putting more focus on bottom-of-the-funnel content that answers specific questions and goes in-depth.” — Anastasia Kotsiubynska, SEO team lead at SE Ranking
“While these tools allow mass content production, they often sacrifice quality. Ironically, in a world where everyone can produce thin content at scale, quality and curation become even more critical.” — Shaun Hinklein, head of SEO at Apollo.io
Communities, forums, and sites are winning in SERPs. And why wouldn’t they? After all, user-generated content (UGC) outweighs mass-produced content.
Not disregarding the fact that Reddit and Google do have a strategic partnership that plays into Reddit’s enhanced visibility, it has filled a market gap and cannibalized traffic.
These sites are rich with authentic human responses from vetted sources that can get as granular in topic as the user wants.
According to Kevin Indig, Reddit grew significantly due to Google’s Hidden Gem algorithm update, which boosted Reddit’s rankings.
“They are filling a crucial gap that AI systems can’t replicate: real-world human experiences and unique, unfiltered perspectives. AI/LLMs surface the most average, generic, sanitized responses, so where do people turn to get real-world insights?” — Britney Muller, AI consultant and SEO expert
“Instead of trying to mature the ecosystem so that the content users really want can be created, Google went to the immediate fix. It pulled in “firsthand knowledge” via the Reddit firehose. — Mordy Oberstein, founder of Unify Brand Marketing
SEO has always been a numbers game — rankings, traffic, backlinks, and conversions. But AI-driven search is challenging traditional measurement and forcing us to evolve our perspective of success.
New benchmarks focus on brand visibility, sentiment, and engagement beyond Google. There’s a consensus to consider intent signals, content engagement, revenue attribution, and the broader digital ecosystem’s intent-matching capabilities.
Traffic is no longer a North Star metric for SEO and businesses, and the reasons are layered, complex, and timely for an AI-driven search era. Here’s what our experts are saying about the shift from sheer volume to high-intent, high-value traffic:
“Traffic is a terrible metric! We need to shift our focus to qualitative traffic metrics. Are you attracting the right visitors who are actually likely to convert, download your guide, or engage meaningfully with your content?” — Britney Muller, AI consultant and SEO expert
“Traffic will likely get a better signal/noise ratio because when users click out from LLMs, they have strong intent.”
“You should paint a broader picture beyond traffic to understand where the brand is and where it can go.” — Mordy Oberstein, founder of Unify Brand Marketing
Conversion and high-quality lead generation will connect SEO success in the business context.
G2 Icons, who are our most prolific contributors and power users of the G2 platform, mentioned that tools like GA4 and advanced SEO platforms help them connect SEO efforts to actual revenue impact, further justifying investment in organic search strategies.
However, nuanced metrics like customer feedback, user intent match, assisted conversations, and content engagement time are going to be actively used while SEO tools evolve to track AI search events.
Measurement is broken” is the default, raving opinion of marketers, but SEO tools have for long been reliable enough to track performance, visibility, events, and conversions — until now.
The integration of large language models (LLMs) has redefined user queries, moving away from static, keyword-focused strategies to more conversational and context-rich interactions. As a result, many existing SEO tools are struggling to provide the granular insights needed to navigate this new landscape effectively.
“The problem is that AI chatbots don’t give us analytics data that can be a substitute for or an equivalent to search volume.” — Kevin Indig, growth advisor
“Existing tools like Ahrefs and Semrush weren’t built for AI-driven search dynamics. While new tools are emerging, there’s still a gap in effectively quantifying AI search visibility.” — Shaun Hinklein, head of SEO at Apollo.io
According to SE Ranking’s SEO team lead, Anastasia Kotsiubynska, these are some metrics that are becoming important:
AI search is still budding and has loose nomenclature for the new optimization practices (AIO, GAIO, GEO, and LLMO!) This means we simply can’t measure what we don’t know — yet.
“The real challenge isn’t the tools themselves — it’s establishing the right benchmarks and data models to measure AI search impact accurately.”
According to Semrush’s Marcus Tober, SEO is already adapting to the changing landscape and is starting to measure brand visibility in LLMs.
“While AI search is nascent and there is no standard metric, understanding brand visibility and potential to get referral traffic from LLMs will become the new reality for SEO professionals.” — Marcus Tober, SVP of enterprise solutions at Semrush
While investors typically look at traditional parameters like revenue growth, cash flow, and price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio during the evaluation process, recent valuations of companies like OpenAI and Hubspot have brought attention to how tech investors also consider search data as a signal for potential market demand — though with a pinch of salt.
“Demand metrics have been important signals for investors for a long time. We know that Semrush is used by many investors for exactly these reasons.”
According to G2 Icon and Dreamcast’s digital marketing specialist, Kishan Soni, “Tools like Google Trends and enterprise SEO platforms are becoming part of the due diligence toolkit for tech investors.”
“I’ve observed investors increasingly using search volume data, keyword trends, and brand mention analysis to gauge market sentiment and product demand.”
Shaun Hinklein, head of SEO at Apollo.io, explained that investors are analyzing AI search visibility, social media presence, and sentiment to gauge brand value.
Ross Briggs, G2’s VP of buyer experience, warns that search volume alone can be misleading. He adds, “It’s important to use search volume alongside other signals to confirm that the searcher interest is materializing into value for the company. For instance, users refer to G2 data for siphoning “shoppers only” from these searchers.”
These indicators show SEO’s maturity as an integral business function that looks at the big picture.
As AI reshapes SEO, tools and strategies face challenges and opportunities, warranting a closer look at how they adapt.
Our community of internal and external experts is polarized about how SEO tools fare in the search playing field. Here’s a look at the mixed views.
According to G2 Icons, who extensively use and review SEO tools, modern SEO tools are helping professionals understand user journey patterns, identify high-value keyword opportunities, and measure ROI more accurately.
“Google Analytics (GA4) uses AI to draw up quick insights at the click of a button.”
Meanwhile, AI search visibility tracking also has some green shoots in tracking brand mentions.
“SEO tools are already evolving to measure AI visibility through mentions and citations (links). Tools like Profound or Scrunch can measure citations and mentions, allowing you to spot content and optimization gaps on your site.” — Kevin Indig, growth advisor
The Google-centric nature of SEO tools has been challenged, especially on the technical front. Performance metrics have fallen through the cracks on AI responses. But what do SEO tool developers need to ensure this crack doesn’t grow into a crater?
“Recent shifts in Google’s requirements, like the need to render JavaScript for full SERP tracking, and especially AIOs, have significantly raised the bar for keyword tracking tools. This change not only complicates the technical landscape but also reflects a broader strategic move by Google to protect its AI-driven insights from other LLMs.” — Ross Briggs, VP of buyer experience at G2
Ross further highlights a broader trend of technological evolution that will intensify the competition as AI continues to grow and become more sophisticated.
Britney Muller, an AI consultant and SEO expert, remarked on the obsession with “showing up in ChatGPT” and noted how current SEO tools fall short.
“Even clickstream partnerships that capture LLM prompts can’t capture AI outputs, which is where brands and websites are actually being mentioned. It’s essentially having the questions, but not the answers.”
Britney emphasizes that SEO tools must advance beyond traditional metrics to identify content gaps specific to various niches and determine the most significant platforms where target audiences engage. She highlights, “Currently, SparkToro is notably effective in acknowledging that discovery happens everywhere, not just on Google.”
“I think the age of the straight-up SEO tool is dead (outside of technical SEO). The traditional rank tracker just doesn’t align with this era”. — Mordy Oberstein, founder of Unify Brand Marketing
Mordy’s bold critique of traditional rank-tracking tools becoming obsolete stresses the need for a broader alignment with contemporary digital strategies. He further commented, “While some tools might be ahead of the game due to their wider marketing metric data, they still need to find ways to show a more complete picture of the digital landscape.”
Ross and Apollo.io’s Shaun Hinklein point out specific changes in the diversity of user behaviors and the lack of established industry metrics that point out data deficiency.
“We’re seeing a split in user behavior: practical tasks like shopping and everyday information remain with search engines, while more complex, academic, or technical queries are shifting to LLMs.”
Ross recommends SEO tools to broaden scope to help businesses stay connected with their audiences across various platforms.
“The next generation of SEO tools will remain in development until we as an industry don’t standardize data models and benchmark metrics” — Shaun Hinklein, head of SEO at Apollo.io
Amid these varied perspectives, G2’s review data clarifies key trends and sentiments shaping SEO technology adoption.
Our sentiment analysis of 500 reviews for SEO Tools shows that 83% of users had positive things to say about this category, while only 19.4% of dislikes were truly negative. This suggests that while improvements are needed, overall satisfaction is strong.
Source: Exclusive G2 Data
On one hand, users enjoy the ease of use, competitor analysis, and automation features. On the other, they critiqued current SEO tools for having complex user interfaces (UI), pricing, data accuracy, and lack of speed during heavy data processing.
“This drift between user likes and dislikes might increase as AI chatbots and LLMs become increasingly dominant in search.”
Let’s examine the specific findings from G2’s data.
Businesses are now seeing returns ~34% faster than they did in 2023, as the overall time to ROI for SEO tools dropped from 11.4 months to 7.6 months. This suggests higher efficiency, better tool adoption, and faster impact realization across industries.
Comparing 2023 and 2024’s data, small businesses’ time to ROI improved from 10.3 months in 2023 to 7.5 months in 2024, a 27% improvement. Meanwhile, enterprises’ time to ROI shrunk from 18.9 months in 2023 to 7.4 months in 2024.
Source: Exclusive G2 Data
The 61% improvement in enterprises’ time to ROI window indicates that these businesses are investing more in SEO to integrate it into broader digital strategies.
“Despite the typically longer decision cycles, this sharp improvement suggests that enterprises are seeing immediate, tangible benefits from SEO investments.”
As AI continues to reshape the search landscape, G2’s review data reveals four major trends shaping the future of SEO tools and their adoption:
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Given the launch of new AI-powered browsers, it is safe to expect AI agents that will specialize in carrying out SEO tasks and tracking. The next curveball will be ensuring ethical tracking and data usage for such agentic AI usage.
“First-hand observations of the G2 SEO tools category show that several SEO tools have been integrating advanced AI features to help businesses adapt and thrive in the evolving landscape of AI-driven search.” — Yukta Rustagi, market research analyst at G2
Leading SEO platforms are developing solutions to cater to intent-based search and tracking AI visibility, mentions, and citations in an attempt to bridge the gap between traditional search metrics and the evolving needs of AI-optimized SEO strategies.
“Ahrefs and GA4 are evolving to help search marketers adapt to AI-driven search by offering deeper insights into intent-based search, SERP feature tracking, and predictive analytics.”
“They now focus on measuring content effectiveness, monitoring zero-click trends, and attributing organic search to business outcomes”, Callum adds.
Noting that SearchGPT is now accessible to users without requiring a login, Marcus highlights that SEO tools are expected to embrace this emerging trend.
“Currently, we are implementing lots of new data points to our traditional products to help users keep up with changes in search through dedicated AIO analysis.”
Marcus further adds that, “Additionally, we have developed multiple products and features for brands to measure their visibility and conduct competitive analysis in all important LLMs.”
With AI driving change, the future is full of bold shifts. Here’s a look at our prediction of trends, tools, and tactics that will redefine success in digital marketing.
SEO success will focus on conversions and leads more than just traffic volume to gauge value-driven outcomes.
“Future SEO strategies will be guided by sentiment analysis, social signals, and reputation management.” — Shaun Hinklein, head of SEO at Apollo.io
“AI will take over the mundane parts of SEO — reporting, data analysis — freeing SEO teams to focus on strategy and creativity.” — Britney Muller, AI consultant and SEO expert
Companies will prioritize targeted traffic, leading to high-quality leads and deeper conversions for greater business impact.
Curated content that is specific and drawn from actual human experiences will have greater value and searchability.
“The future belongs to authentic voices. Companies and marketers who are willing to step outside their comfort zone, take stands, and show their true personality will win the hearts and minds of their audiences.”
Building genuine brand relationships will drive revenue through deeper engagements rather than just maximizing traffic.
Businesses must leverage Bing’s growing influence, driven by AI adoption, to expand reach and visibility across websites.
Elevating brand authority in AI contexts will prioritize recognition over traditional keyword dominance. SEO will have a strong scope to be included in brand strategies.
Similar to UX being considered a key arm of SEO strategies, it will continue to be essential for getting indexed by AI search chatbots. After all, search is moving toward how users feel about the site, content, value, and its reputation signals — all of which intersect with user experience.
“The focus is now on user experience and value rather than just rankings.”
The need to render JavaScript for SERPs will raise costs as SEO tools innovate for new benchmarks.
As brand, reputation management, community platforms, and supplementary metrics rise to the fore, stand-alone SEO tools might become history.
“We’ll see a fusion of SEO and CRO tools, enhanced by AI and LLM insights.”
Mordy Oberstein too foresees this, “I would like to see social listening tools and performance-based platforms sync up to produce a more holistic analysis.”
Honing in on your customer’s journey to understand them better will be key to creating content that meets them at the right place at the right time.
Think of long tail keywords but experiment with adding a spin of specific intent-driven prompts that will help satisfy search queries.
“Personalized content and brand authority will have to be intentional.”
Engaging in relevant discussions will help enhance your brand’s industry influence. The chances are high that this is where their purchasing decisions will be informed and reinstated.
“The more your brand appears in meaningful discussions, the more likely you are to be referenced when someone asks an AI about your industry.” — Britney Muller, AI consultant and SEO expert
Success will rely on integrating new modalities like voice search with structured data and robust technical foundations.
Embracing automation, targeting high-intent audiences, and fostering brand authenticity will be game-changing strategies that will set the industry leaders apart.
The shift toward AI-driven insights and advanced SEO tools also underscores the need for business leaders to integrate SEO into wider brand, product, and marketing strategies.
Play the long game, but stay agile and observant. If your products and strategies aren’t being revisited every 3 months, you might fall behind in the AI race. Now, this is not an understatement.
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Edited by Supanna Das
Kamaljeet Kalsi is Sr. Editorial Content Specialist at G2. She brings 9 years of content creation, publishing, and marketing expertise to G2’s TechSignals and Industry Insights columns. She loves a good conversation around digital marketing, leadership, strategy, analytics, humanity, and animals. As an avid tea drinker, she believes ‘Chai-tea-latte’ is not an actual beverage and advocates for the same. When she is not busy creating content, you will find her contemplating life and listening to John Mayer.
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March 11, 2025
We called it back in July 2024 — AI chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Perplexity wouldn’t just assist with search anymore; they would replace it. They would have their own browsers, challenging Google and striking a searchscape seismic shift nobody was ready for.
Fast forward, and aftershocks are everywhere. AI has disrupted the search landscape in ways that are surprising, overwhelming, and anything but boring. Marketing leaders are now scrambling to adapt, trying to strategize and reallocate budgets for SEO. Questions loom large:
And the biggest one of all — how do we justify the budget amidst traffic drops and fluctuations?
To decode these questions, and the industry’s future, we’ve united with the best minds in SEO. Eleven themes emerged, topped with a heavy drizzle of unique G2 data insights. Dive in for unbiased opinions, expert advice, and exclusive predictions from our pundits.
Disrupted is an understatement. With AI overviews (AIOs), generative search optimization (GSO), and other emerging trends reshaping the industry, SEO is evolving faster than ever. As conversations flood LinkedIn and beyond, one thing is clear — we’re all working to make sense of this shift. From new challenges to the changing role of SEO data and technology, there’s a lot to unpack.
Let’s get into it.
Keyword strategies aren’t cutting it anymore. The rise of AI-powered answers is shifting the focus from lexical (keyword-based) to semantic (context-aware prompts), with brand mentions now acting as a key factor in visibility.
“Traditional keyword strategies are becoming outdated as users embrace more conversational and detailed queries. This shift is leading to a decline in the dominance of broad keywords, as longer, more specific phrases drive richer, more relevant insights.” — Ross Briggs, VP of buyer experience at G2
“The game has shifted from link-building to voice-building, from keyword optimization to contextual relevance. It’s pushing us towards authentic, valuable content that genuinely serves user needs.”
Publishers may have been the most vocal about traffic loss, but the reality is that it’s happening across the board.
“Search has become increasingly devalued. The web is at the beginning of a period of constriction. As people rely more on AI for answers, the value of traffic and content creation itself decreases.”
If zero-click search was a challenge back in 2020, AI overviews and AI chatbot responses have magnified the measurement problem in the industry.
“This means less organic traffic to websites and higher competition (and cost per click) in paid ads.”
People aren’t leaving the query box and clicking out as much as they did. AI search curates and streamlines results, offering more direct answers.
“The switch from lists to deep answers is in full force, as Google shows a big LLM answer at the top of the search results. That shift shakes up the traditional value ecosystem in Search, where sites provide their content to search engines in return for traffic and search engines show ads at the top.” — Kevin Indig, growth advisor
AI chatbots delivering specific answers have basically made thin, inauthentic content invisible. LLMs have achieved something Google has tried to achieve for years through its search engine algorithm updates. If it’s not useful, it’s not visible.
“Brands need to rethink their approach to what traffic they try to bring (top-of-the-funnel content might lose its importance if it can be answered by AI) with putting more focus on bottom-of-the-funnel content that answers specific questions and goes in-depth.” — Anastasia Kotsiubynska, SEO team lead at SE Ranking
“While these tools allow mass content production, they often sacrifice quality. Ironically, in a world where everyone can produce thin content at scale, quality and curation become even more critical.” — Shaun Hinklein, head of SEO at Apollo.io
Communities, forums, and sites are winning in SERPs. And why wouldn’t they? After all, user-generated content (UGC) outweighs mass-produced content.
Not disregarding the fact that Reddit and Google do have a strategic partnership that plays into Reddit’s enhanced visibility, it has filled a market gap and cannibalized traffic.
These sites are rich with authentic human responses from vetted sources that can get as granular in topic as the user wants.
According to Kevin Indig, Reddit grew significantly due to Google’s Hidden Gem algorithm update, which boosted Reddit’s rankings.
“They are filling a crucial gap that AI systems can’t replicate: real-world human experiences and unique, unfiltered perspectives. AI/LLMs surface the most average, generic, sanitized responses, so where do people turn to get real-world insights?” — Britney Muller, AI consultant and SEO expert
“Instead of trying to mature the ecosystem so that the content users really want can be created, Google went to the immediate fix. It pulled in “firsthand knowledge” via the Reddit firehose. — Mordy Oberstein, founder of Unify Brand Marketing
SEO has always been a numbers game — rankings, traffic, backlinks, and conversions. But AI-driven search is challenging traditional measurement and forcing us to evolve our perspective of success.
New benchmarks focus on brand visibility, sentiment, and engagement beyond Google. There’s a consensus to consider intent signals, content engagement, revenue attribution, and the broader digital ecosystem’s intent-matching capabilities.
Traffic is no longer a North Star metric for SEO and businesses, and the reasons are layered, complex, and timely for an AI-driven search era. Here’s what our experts are saying about the shift from sheer volume to high-intent, high-value traffic:
“Traffic is a terrible metric! We need to shift our focus to qualitative traffic metrics. Are you attracting the right visitors who are actually likely to convert, download your guide, or engage meaningfully with your content?” — Britney Muller, AI consultant and SEO expert
“Traffic will likely get a better signal/noise ratio because when users click out from LLMs, they have strong intent.”
“You should paint a broader picture beyond traffic to understand where the brand is and where it can go.” — Mordy Oberstein, founder of Unify Brand Marketing
Conversion and high-quality lead generation will connect SEO success in the business context.
G2 Icons, who are our most prolific contributors and power users of the G2 platform, mentioned that tools like GA4 and advanced SEO platforms help them connect SEO efforts to actual revenue impact, further justifying investment in organic search strategies.
However, nuanced metrics like customer feedback, user intent match, assisted conversations, and content engagement time are going to be actively used while SEO tools evolve to track AI search events.
Measurement is broken” is the default, raving opinion of marketers, but SEO tools have for long been reliable enough to track performance, visibility, events, and conversions — until now.
The integration of large language models (LLMs) has redefined user queries, moving away from static, keyword-focused strategies to more conversational and context-rich interactions. As a result, many existing SEO tools are struggling to provide the granular insights needed to navigate this new landscape effectively.
“The problem is that AI chatbots don’t give us analytics data that can be a substitute for or an equivalent to search volume.” — Kevin Indig, growth advisor
“Existing tools like Ahrefs and Semrush weren’t built for AI-driven search dynamics. While new tools are emerging, there’s still a gap in effectively quantifying AI search visibility.” — Shaun Hinklein, head of SEO at Apollo.io
According to SE Ranking’s SEO team lead, Anastasia Kotsiubynska, these are some metrics that are becoming important:
AI search is still budding and has loose nomenclature for the new optimization practices (AIO, GAIO, GEO, and LLMO!) This means we simply can’t measure what we don’t know — yet.
“The real challenge isn’t the tools themselves — it’s establishing the right benchmarks and data models to measure AI search impact accurately.”
According to Semrush’s Marcus Tober, SEO is already adapting to the changing landscape and is starting to measure brand visibility in LLMs.
“While AI search is nascent and there is no standard metric, understanding brand visibility and potential to get referral traffic from LLMs will become the new reality for SEO professionals.” — Marcus Tober, SVP of enterprise solutions at Semrush
While investors typically look at traditional parameters like revenue growth, cash flow, and price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio during the evaluation process, recent valuations of companies like OpenAI and Hubspot have brought attention to how tech investors also consider search data as a signal for potential market demand — though with a pinch of salt.
“Demand metrics have been important signals for investors for a long time. We know that Semrush is used by many investors for exactly these reasons.”
According to G2 Icon and Dreamcast’s digital marketing specialist, Kishan Soni, “Tools like Google Trends and enterprise SEO platforms are becoming part of the due diligence toolkit for tech investors.”
“I’ve observed investors increasingly using search volume data, keyword trends, and brand mention analysis to gauge market sentiment and product demand.”
Shaun Hinklein, head of SEO at Apollo.io, explained that investors are analyzing AI search visibility, social media presence, and sentiment to gauge brand value.
Ross Briggs, G2’s VP of buyer experience, warns that search volume alone can be misleading. He adds, “It’s important to use search volume alongside other signals to confirm that the searcher interest is materializing into value for the company. For instance, users refer to G2 data for siphoning “shoppers only” from these searchers.”
These indicators show SEO’s maturity as an integral business function that looks at the big picture.
As AI reshapes SEO, tools and strategies face challenges and opportunities, warranting a closer look at how they adapt.
Our community of internal and external experts is polarized about how SEO tools fare in the search playing field. Here’s a look at the mixed views.
According to G2 Icons, who extensively use and review SEO tools, modern SEO tools are helping professionals understand user journey patterns, identify high-value keyword opportunities, and measure ROI more accurately.
“Google Analytics (GA4) uses AI to draw up quick insights at the click of a button.”
Meanwhile, AI search visibility tracking also has some green shoots in tracking brand mentions.
“SEO tools are already evolving to measure AI visibility through mentions and citations (links). Tools like Profound or Scrunch can measure citations and mentions, allowing you to spot content and optimization gaps on your site.” — Kevin Indig, growth advisor
The Google-centric nature of SEO tools has been challenged, especially on the technical front. Performance metrics have fallen through the cracks on AI responses. But what do SEO tool developers need to ensure this crack doesn’t grow into a crater?
“Recent shifts in Google’s requirements, like the need to render JavaScript for full SERP tracking, and especially AIOs, have significantly raised the bar for keyword tracking tools. This change not only complicates the technical landscape but also reflects a broader strategic move by Google to protect its AI-driven insights from other LLMs.” — Ross Briggs, VP of buyer experience at G2
Ross further highlights a broader trend of technological evolution that will intensify the competition as AI continues to grow and become more sophisticated.
Britney Muller, an AI consultant and SEO expert, remarked on the obsession with “showing up in ChatGPT” and noted how current SEO tools fall short.
“Even clickstream partnerships that capture LLM prompts can’t capture AI outputs, which is where brands and websites are actually being mentioned. It’s essentially having the questions, but not the answers.”
Britney emphasizes that SEO tools must advance beyond traditional metrics to identify content gaps specific to various niches and determine the most significant platforms where target audiences engage. She highlights, “Currently, SparkToro is notably effective in acknowledging that discovery happens everywhere, not just on Google.”
“I think the age of the straight-up SEO tool is dead (outside of technical SEO). The traditional rank tracker just doesn’t align with this era”. — Mordy Oberstein, founder of Unify Brand Marketing
Mordy’s bold critique of traditional rank-tracking tools becoming obsolete stresses the need for a broader alignment with contemporary digital strategies. He further commented, “While some tools might be ahead of the game due to their wider marketing metric data, they still need to find ways to show a more complete picture of the digital landscape.”
Ross and Apollo.io’s Shaun Hinklein point out specific changes in the diversity of user behaviors and the lack of established industry metrics that point out data deficiency.
“We’re seeing a split in user behavior: practical tasks like shopping and everyday information remain with search engines, while more complex, academic, or technical queries are shifting to LLMs.”
Ross recommends SEO tools to broaden scope to help businesses stay connected with their audiences across various platforms.
“The next generation of SEO tools will remain in development until we as an industry don’t standardize data models and benchmark metrics” — Shaun Hinklein, head of SEO at Apollo.io
Amid these varied perspectives, G2’s review data clarifies key trends and sentiments shaping SEO technology adoption.
Our sentiment analysis of 500 reviews for SEO Tools shows that 83% of users had positive things to say about this category, while only 19.4% of dislikes were truly negative. This suggests that while improvements are needed, overall satisfaction is strong.
Source: Exclusive G2 Data
On one hand, users enjoy the ease of use, competitor analysis, and automation features. On the other, they critiqued current SEO tools for having complex user interfaces (UI), pricing, data accuracy, and lack of speed during heavy data processing.
“This drift between user likes and dislikes might increase as AI chatbots and LLMs become increasingly dominant in search.”
Let’s examine the specific findings from G2’s data.
Businesses are now seeing returns ~34% faster than they did in 2023, as the overall time to ROI for SEO tools dropped from 11.4 months to 7.6 months. This suggests higher efficiency, better tool adoption, and faster impact realization across industries.
Comparing 2023 and 2024’s data, small businesses’ time to ROI improved from 10.3 months in 2023 to 7.5 months in 2024, a 27% improvement. Meanwhile, enterprises’ time to ROI shrunk from 18.9 months in 2023 to 7.4 months in 2024.
Source: Exclusive G2 Data
The 61% improvement in enterprises’ time to ROI window indicates that these businesses are investing more in SEO to integrate it into broader digital strategies.
“Despite the typically longer decision cycles, this sharp improvement suggests that enterprises are seeing immediate, tangible benefits from SEO investments.”
As AI continues to reshape the search landscape, G2’s review data reveals four major trends shaping the future of SEO tools and their adoption:
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Given the launch of new AI-powered browsers, it is safe to expect AI agents that will specialize in carrying out SEO tasks and tracking. The next curveball will be ensuring ethical tracking and data usage for such agentic AI usage.
“First-hand observations of the G2 SEO tools category show that several SEO tools have been integrating advanced AI features to help businesses adapt and thrive in the evolving landscape of AI-driven search.” — Yukta Rustagi, market research analyst at G2
Leading SEO platforms are developing solutions to cater to intent-based search and tracking AI visibility, mentions, and citations in an attempt to bridge the gap between traditional search metrics and the evolving needs of AI-optimized SEO strategies.
“Ahrefs and GA4 are evolving to help search marketers adapt to AI-driven search by offering deeper insights into intent-based search, SERP feature tracking, and predictive analytics.”
“They now focus on measuring content effectiveness, monitoring zero-click trends, and attributing organic search to business outcomes”, Callum adds.
Noting that SearchGPT is now accessible to users without requiring a login, Marcus highlights that SEO tools are expected to embrace this emerging trend.
“Currently, we are implementing lots of new data points to our traditional products to help users keep up with changes in search through dedicated AIO analysis.”
Marcus further adds that, “Additionally, we have developed multiple products and features for brands to measure their visibility and conduct competitive analysis in all important LLMs.”
With AI driving change, the future is full of bold shifts. Here’s a look at our prediction of trends, tools, and tactics that will redefine success in digital marketing.
SEO success will focus on conversions and leads more than just traffic volume to gauge value-driven outcomes.
“Future SEO strategies will be guided by sentiment analysis, social signals, and reputation management.” — Shaun Hinklein, head of SEO at Apollo.io
“AI will take over the mundane parts of SEO — reporting, data analysis — freeing SEO teams to focus on strategy and creativity.” — Britney Muller, AI consultant and SEO expert
Companies will prioritize targeted traffic, leading to high-quality leads and deeper conversions for greater business impact.
Curated content that is specific and drawn from actual human experiences will have greater value and searchability.
“The future belongs to authentic voices. Companies and marketers who are willing to step outside their comfort zone, take stands, and show their true personality will win the hearts and minds of their audiences.”
Building genuine brand relationships will drive revenue through deeper engagements rather than just maximizing traffic.
Businesses must leverage Bing’s growing influence, driven by AI adoption, to expand reach and visibility across websites.
Elevating brand authority in AI contexts will prioritize recognition over traditional keyword dominance. SEO will have a strong scope to be included in brand strategies.
Similar to UX being considered a key arm of SEO strategies, it will continue to be essential for getting indexed by AI search chatbots. After all, search is moving toward how users feel about the site, content, value, and its reputation signals — all of which intersect with user experience.
“The focus is now on user experience and value rather than just rankings.”
The need to render JavaScript for SERPs will raise costs as SEO tools innovate for new benchmarks.
As brand, reputation management, community platforms, and supplementary metrics rise to the fore, stand-alone SEO tools might become history.
“We’ll see a fusion of SEO and CRO tools, enhanced by AI and LLM insights.”
Mordy Oberstein too foresees this, “I would like to see social listening tools and performance-based platforms sync up to produce a more holistic analysis.”
Honing in on your customer’s journey to understand them better will be key to creating content that meets them at the right place at the right time.
Think of long tail keywords but experiment with adding a spin of specific intent-driven prompts that will help satisfy search queries.
“Personalized content and brand authority will have to be intentional.”
Engaging in relevant discussions will help enhance your brand’s industry influence. The chances are high that this is where their purchasing decisions will be informed and reinstated.
“The more your brand appears in meaningful discussions, the more likely you are to be referenced when someone asks an AI about your industry.” — Britney Muller, AI consultant and SEO expert
Success will rely on integrating new modalities like voice search with structured data and robust technical foundations.
Embracing automation, targeting high-intent audiences, and fostering brand authenticity will be game-changing strategies that will set the industry leaders apart.
The shift toward AI-driven insights and advanced SEO tools also underscores the need for business leaders to integrate SEO into wider brand, product, and marketing strategies.
Play the long game, but stay agile and observant. If your products and strategies aren’t being revisited every 3 months, you might fall behind in the AI race. Now, this is not an understatement.
Enjoyed this deep-dive analysis? Subscribe to the G2 Tea newsletter today for the hottest takes in your inbox.
Edited by Supanna Das
Kamaljeet Kalsi is Sr. Editorial Content Specialist at G2. She brings 9 years of content creation, publishing, and marketing expertise to G2’s TechSignals and Industry Insights columns. She loves a good conversation around digital marketing, leadership, strategy, analytics, humanity, and animals. As an avid tea drinker, she believes ‘Chai-tea-latte’ is not an actual beverage and advocates for the same. When she is not busy creating content, you will find her contemplating life and listening to John Mayer.
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How To Leverage Pinterest SEO To Grow Your Following (2024) – Shopify
/in website SEO, Website Traffic/by Team ZYTStart selling with Shopify today
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Pinterest can be a great source of web traffic and brand awareness if you know how to use it right and Pinterest SEO can help you find your audience.
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When you think of search engine optimization, your mind may well turn to the leading internet search engines like Google and Bing. And while Google SEO is undoubtedly vital for bringing organic traffic to your website, it’s not the only form of optimizing for user search. If you sell home décor, kitchenware, or clothing, you may want to build a Pinterest SEO strategy to ensure your target audience sees your brand when browsing for inspiration.
Table of contents
Pinterest SEO is the practice of optimizing pins, boards, and profiles on Pinterest to improve their visibility and ranking in Pinterest search results. Pinterest search optimization involves using relevant keywords, engaging visuals, descriptive titles, and hashtags to align with what users are searching for. In this sense, a Pinterest SEO strategy is quite similar to the strategy you’d use to win eyeballs on your content in any other search engine.
Pinterest SEO is important because optimizing content increases the chances of reaching a larger audience, driving more organic traffic to your website, and increasing brand visibility and engagement with your target audience. Since users often use Pinterest to find products, ranking well can significantly drive traffic to your ecommerce store, and this can lead to conversions.
Like any search engine, Pinterest attempts to connect its users to relevant content that aligns with their search intent. Let’s say that someone typed “vegan chocolate cake recipe” into the Pinterest search bar. Pinterest’s search engine would then get to work presenting Pinterest content that—based on images, titles, and descriptions—seemed to show those exact types of recipes. With this in mind, here are some Pinterest SEO tips to help you win as much Pinterest traffic as possible:
Use Pinterest’s search bar to find relevant Pinterest keywords. You can discover long-tail keywords by typing a few words into the Pinterest search engine and seeing what related keywords appear as predicted text in the search bar.
For instance, you could type “Christmas” and the phrase “Christmas in Hawaii” might appear in the search bar. The search engine has just revealed specific keywords users search for.
Pinterest search results grant importance to pin titles and descriptions. Craft descriptive, keyword-rich titles and descriptions for each pin to help Pinterest’s algorithm understand the content and match it with relevant search terms.
Keep in mind that pin titles can have a maximum of 100 characters and descriptions can have a maximum of 500 characters.
Pinterest favors vertical images with a 2:3 aspect ratio, so use high-quality, engaging visuals that attract users and keep them on your pins longer. High-quality images also convey a degree of professionalism so use high-resolution photography when capturing product imagery.
Ensure your Pinterest profile URL contains relevant keywords, as this helps the Pinterest algorithm categorize your content, increasing domain quality in search results. Your profile URL is the same as your username and can be a maximum of 30 characters long. To change your username:
1. Log in to your Pinterest account.
2. Click the down arrow icon in the top-right corner of your screen and select Settings.
3. Select Edit profile on the left of the screen.
4. Navigate to Username and enter your new username, then click Save.
A Pinterest business account grants you access to Pinterest Analytics and Pinterest ads, which are essential for understanding your target audience, tracking performance, and optimizing Pinterest content. By leveraging these free tools, you’ll be better equipped to create boards and pins that boost your search visibility.
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Rich pins are pins that display metadata, such as ingredients for recipe rich pins and prices for product rich pins. Rich pins are automatically generated when a Pinterest user pins a product, article, or recipe from your site, so long as your site includes rich meta tags.
Adding these tags and ensuring they contain as much relevant detail as possible is well worth your time. Pinterest uses metadata to recommend rich pins, allowing you to add important keywords that will help users find your pins.
Video pins have three times the click-through rate compared to static pins. Use these short videos to capture attention quickly and increase your Pinterest traffic and shareability across social media platforms.
Pinterest Trends is a great resource for brainstorming keyword ideas. Like Google Trends, Pinterest Trends allows you to compare different keywords and see how search volume has changed over time. Pinterest Trends also shows predictions for future search volume, related keywords, searcher demographics, and popular pins based on each keyword.
Consistent activity signals that your Pinterest account is active. The Pinterest algorithm is trained to prioritize active accounts, so creating pins on a regular basis may help your Pinterest search visibility.
Create boards with specific themes and use relevant keywords in board titles and descriptions to help Pinterest understand your content better and show it to the right audience. If your boards are focused and structured with high-quality pins, the algorithm will be more likely to showcase them in search results.
Regularly review Pinterest Analytics to track which keywords, pins, and boards are performing best, adjusting your strategy based on data to refine your SEO efforts. Pinterest Analytics is free to anyone with a Pinterest business account (which itself is free).
Yes, Pinterest has its own form of SEO, allowing users to optimize pins, boards, and profiles with keywords and other strategies to improve visibility and rank higher in Pinterest’s search results.
Yes, Pinterest SEO works by using relevant keywords, high-quality images, optimized titles, descriptions, and metadata to align content with what users search for, while the Pinterest algorithm prioritizes fresh, engaging pins that match trending topics and high-interest categories.
To build up your follower base on Pinterest, start by leveraging the free tools found in a Pinterest business account (which exceed the tools you’d find in a personal account). Promote your Pinterest page on your social media accounts and link to it. Last, but certainly not least, pay attention to trending keywords and seasonal themes to win a share of the most popular Pinterest searches.
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How Тo Use Long-Tail SEO for Your Business in 2025 – DesignRush
/in website SEO, Website Traffic/by Team ZYTHow Тo Use Long-Tail SEO for Your Business in 2025 DesignRush
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Why 2025 Will Be the Year AI Redefines Content Creation and Search Strategies – Entrepreneur
/in website SEO, Website Traffic/by Team ZYTCopyright © 2025 Entrepreneur Media, LLC All rights reserved. Entrepreneur® and its related marks are registered trademarks of Entrepreneur Media LLC
By Boris Dzhingarov Edited by Micah Zimmerman
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
A profound transformation has left the SEO landscape completely and irrevocably touched by AI. This technology has an influential hand in changing the strategies of search engine performance, forcing marketers to rethink traditional practices in a bid to stay relevant.
With 2025 just starting and the AI trends still going strong, predictions for 2025 highly involve AI-powered tools such as ChatGPT, which will drive engagement, revolutionize the content creation industry and reshape keyword strategies.
Related: How to Avoid the Pitfalls of AI-Powered Content Generation
Keywords have always been a core pillar of SEO, but with the implementation of AI, keywords have taken a life of their own. Instead of relying on manual keyword research, AI tools are able to provide better context regarding search queries.
This means that instead of simply picking up on trending keywords, marketers will be able to understand the intent behind each search phrase. Were they searching for more information due to an intent of buying, understanding, or simply curiosity? Understanding intent will help marketers develop better strategies that are optimized for concepts. Instead of creating a bunch of content geared towards a generic keyword, marketers would be able to create content that is specific to the audiences that are using those keywords.
For example, the term “bagel” is generic and does not convey any specific intent. Understanding that audiences searching for “bagels” are often interested in the nutritional value of a bagel provides valuable insight. This information can help marketers create relevant and meaningful content.
Related: How AI Is Transforming Keyword Research
Content is king, but in 2025, AI will be the driving force behind creating high-quality, relevant content at scale, with tools like ChatGPT dominating the content industry. Many people assume that AI-powered tools are only good for generating content, but that’s not true.
Marketers are using the tool in innovative ways, providing real-time insights, fact-checking, suggesting improvements, and even offering suggestions. Social media influencers have shared their trade secrets on various platforms about how they utilize the AI tool to generate posting schedules and ideas that align with their brand and vision. This goes to show that the tools in the right hands can generate new and exciting solutions.
In the hands of SEO professionals, ChatGPT has become an analytical tool to predict preferences, which allows marketers to create highly personalized content. Going forward into the future, one thing is for sure: content that is not personalized will become obsolete and lost to the overwhelming amount of content available. In fact, this is already happening today.
It is a fact that tailoring content for individuals will enhance engagement, which, in turn, improves rankings. AI in content marketing can be a cost-effective tool that saves both time and resources.
However, the overuse of AI can backfire. ChatGPT may be able to produce content much faster than a human, but it will lack the human touch that most people look for. As AI content floods social media and the World Wide Web, audiences will be able to better distinguish between AI-generated and human-created content. They may also deviate from their preferences, and marketers will need to work around their preferences.
Related: How Much Is Too Much Automation in the Workplace? How AI Could Be Hurting Your Employees
SEO is always evolving, just like technology. Algorithms are always looking for ways to improve their ability to rank websites more effectively and dependably. Over time, user engagement has become one of the defining ranking factors, as it is based on organic data. Knowing how trends ebb and flow can help marketers better understand user behavioral patterns and anticipate what kinds of content will perform better in the current landscape.
There are a few factors that they can use to judge this: click-through rates, bounce rates and session duration. Taking all these into account, AI tools are able to provide suggestions on actionable insights for marketers to then develop and implement, maximizing engagement.
According to a study by Research Gate, marketers that use AI to analyze user behavior and then proceed to adjust content according to the provided data will see a marked increase in engagement. This is an essential user-centered approach that should be adopted widely in 2025 — as mentioned above, personalized content is the content of the future.
As with all new trends, new skills, practices and techniques will be invented along the way. SEO experts will invariably have to change the way that they optimize for search engines as well as develop new tech skills in order to optimize AI-led SEO fully.
In the past, soft skills provided individuals with a competitive advantage as employers increasingly valued these qualities. Today, companies prefer candidates who are punctual and possess strong social skills over those who may struggle with time management or social interactions. Looking ahead, proficiency in using AI tools and effectively implementing them will be crucial for job candidates in the SEO marketing sector.
Related: How Artificial Intelligence Is Reshaping Humanity’s Future
AI is the future of many industries, and it is undeniably intertwined with SEO. Not only is it a logical next step, but tools like ChatGPT are challenging traditional marketing methods by offering new and innovative ways of analyzing data, predicting trends and generating effective ideas. Being able to integrate AI tools into everyday strategies successfully will give businesses a competitive advantage.
One of the biggest companies in the world uses generative AI not just for content and user engagement but also to prevent and detect fraud – Mastercard. While it is unclear whether the company uses AI for search marketing, it would not be a surprise to learn that they do, as they are embracing what the technology offers. Implementing AI at this juncture is also a smart move as it is training the machine learning algorithms to become more receptive to human input.
The sooner AI is implemented in a company, the quicker it will learn. Mastercard’s AI chatbots are being designed to “learn what normal behavior looks like for each customer. ” This will enhance threat detection and make the chatbots more sensitive to human behavior, which will only enhance their capacity for optimum keyword research.
A profound transformation has left the SEO landscape completely and irrevocably touched by AI. This technology has an influential hand in changing the strategies of search engine performance, forcing marketers to rethink traditional practices in a bid to stay relevant.
With 2025 just starting and the AI trends still going strong, predictions for 2025 highly involve AI-powered tools such as ChatGPT, which will drive engagement, revolutionize the content creation industry and reshape keyword strategies.
Related: How to Avoid the Pitfalls of AI-Powered Content Generation
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News SEO In 2025: What You Need To Know – Search Engine Journal
/in website SEO, Website Traffic/by Team ZYTDownload your cheat sheet and checklist to start building content that works harder.
Large AI Overviews on SERPs are affecting visibility and causing a dramatic decrease in traffic.
Join us for a data-backed session where we break down how to detect, diagnose, and eliminate unnecessary branded ad spend.
Large AI Overviews on SERPs are affecting visibility and causing a dramatic decrease in traffic.
This template is your no-nonsense roadmap to a flexible, agile social media strategy.
Large AI Overviews on SERPs are affecting visibility and causing a dramatic decrease in traffic.
A survey from NewzDash reveals 2025 news SEO trends, highlighting AI disruptions, Google Discover’s impact, and top industry challenges.
NewzDash’s latest survey of 100 news publishers and SEO professionals offers a snapshot of where news SEO is headed.
The findings highlight emerging trends, challenges, and strategies to stay competitive.
From Google Discover’s growing role to tackling AI-driven search disruptions, here’s what industry pros need to know.
Google Discover is a key traffic driver for publishers, but results are mixed:
AI-driven features are shaking up the search results pages (SERPs):
Content scraping by AI platforms is also a growing concern:
Publishers are trying different strategies to protect their content from being scraped, including paywalls, structured data, and legal policies.
The biggest hurdles for SEO teams include:
Budget constraints are particularly notable:
Watch also: SEO in 2025: Your Top Key Trends, Priorities, and Challenges
Most SEO teams are lean, often handling multiple brands or websites:
Team Sizes:
Workload:
Organizational Placement:
Watch also: AI & Automation for SEO: Scale Efforts and Drive Revenue
Bridging the gap between SEO and editorial teams remains critical:
Training:
Buy-In:
Involvement:
Publishers with tightly aligned SEO and editorial teams are more likely to see success in implementing SEO recommendations, especially during high-stakes events like breaking news.
Watch also: How To Use AI To Enhance Your SEO & Create Better Content
Looking ahead, News SEO professionals are focusing on:
Webinar: AI-Organized SERPs & Overviews: How To Win Visibility In The New Landscape Of SEO
Participants came from diverse backgrounds, with varying levels of experience and roles:
Experience:
Roles:
Regions:
Team Types:
The 2025 News SEO Survey highlights the need for agility and adaptation to challenges like AI and platform changes.
For news publishers, success in 2025 will come down to having a solid strategy, working together, and being innovative.
Featured Image: Accogliente Design/Shutterstock
Matt G. Southern, Senior News Writer, has been with Search Engine Journal since 2013. With a bachelor’s degree in communications, …
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14 Best SEO Tools for Agencies to Boost Client Results in 2025 – SitePoint
/in website SEO, Website Traffic/by Team ZYTShare this article
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Today’s SEO agencies face difficult times. Algorithm updates and emerging competitors pose new challenges.
On the other hand, scaling up may not be as easy as it seems. Deadlines to meet, complicated and time-consuming reporting, and ever-increasing prices for tools that are slowly becoming too expensive.
It turns out that the solutions that helped win those first few customers rarely scale when the customer list doubles or triples. What starts as cheap and easy-to-manage SEO workflows gradually turns into a maze of disconnected processes that become increasingly difficult to manage. This causes pressure to scale operations and maintain quality simultaneously.
While some try to solve this problem by adding more specialists to the team, the most forward-thinking agencies take a different approach. They change their entire SEO technology stack.
The right software for SEO agencies not only automates tedious tasks but also radically changes how agencies approach their clients’ SEO. In a market where clients increasingly expect both a personalized strategy and measurable results, having integrated tools that provide meaningful insights while eliminating redundant work is not only convenient—it is becoming the dividing line between agencies that thrive and those that merely survive.
If you are wondering which SEO tools for SEO agencies are the best for people who want to improve their client’s website performance, this article can help. We will present 14 key solutions on the market that will allow you to maintain the highest quality and efficiency of your team’s work.
We know that choosing the right SEO software for an agency can be overwhelming. Every vendor swears they’ve built the perfect platform, but when managing dozens of clients with different needs, most of these “comprehensive solutions” fall apart fast.
Our tip? When evaluating tools for SEO agencies, look for these crucial features:
Remember, the perfect tool for SEO agency isn’t just about fancy features. It’s about making your team’s life easier while delivering results clients can understand.
If you’re looking for the best SEO software for agencies that combines functionality and affordable prices, SE Ranking deserves your attention. This platform offers everything you need: white-label reporting, accurate rank tracking across all major search engines, competitor analysis that shows exactly what’s working for your clients’ rivals, technical audit, local SEO tools, etc. Moreover, its solid base of the best tools for SEO agencies will satisfy your current customers and attract new ones.
The platform is constantly evolving and quickly adding new features to keep up with the changing market (have you heard of AI Overview? SE Ranking has had the tool to monitor this for a long time!), so you will always be one step ahead of the competition.
Here are the most essential features that make SE Ranking stand out as one of the best SEO software solutions for agencies:
Individual SEO professionals can start at $65/month with the Essential Plan and $119/month with the Pro Plan, while agencies should consider the Business plan, available at $259, $409, or $599/month. This pricing tier includes unlimited reporting, projects, API access, and 5 manager seats (additional users cost $20/month per seat).
The Agency Pack costs an additional $50/month.
SE Ranking offers a 14-day free trial and a 20% discount for annual billing users.
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We recommend SE Ranking for agencies seeking solid SEO tools without breaking the bank. Its powerful features, intuitive interface, and competitive pricing make it well-suited for mid-sized agencies managing multiple clients.
If you’ve spent even a little time around SEO, you’ve probably come across Semrush. And it’s no coincidence—it consistently earns a top spot on nearly every “best SEO tools” roundup.
For larger agencies with enterprise clients, Semrush Enterprise elevates the platform’s capabilities with AI-powered automation, advanced collaboration tools, and access to the world’s largest keyword database (25B+ keywords and 43T backlinks).
As one of the most comprehensive SEO tools for agencies and other SEO professionals, Semrush offers almost all SEO options available on the market. The most important ones include:
Semrush starts at $139.95/month, but agencies should consider either the Guru plan ($249.95/month with 15 projects) or the Business plan ($499.95/month with 40 projects). Each plan includes just one user, with additional users costing $45-100/month each. The Agency Growth Kit add-on starts at $69/month.
All plans include a 7-day free trial. Users can save up to 17% with annual billing.
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Semrush is a powerhouse for agencies tackling serious search marketing. It’s not cheap, but the ridiculous depth of keyword data and technical auditing more than pays for itself when you’re managing complex SEO projects across different industries. It’s not the right fit for tiny shops, but it’s worth every penny for growing agencies managing both SEO and PPC.
Ahrefs has carved out a reputation as the heavyweight champion of backlink data. While competitors often claim to do everything, Ahrefs has built its empire on doing a few critical things better than anyone else.
This one of the best SEO software for agencies is backed by AhrefsBot, the web’s second most active crawler after Google, processing an impressive 5 million pages every minute. With a content index of 16.6 billion pages, keyword coverage across 217 locations, and 28.7 billion filtered keywords, Ahrefs simply outmuscles other platforms regarding data depth and crawling power.
Ahrefs provides a comprehensive toolkit that combines industry-leading data with practical features designed for agency workflows:
Ahrefs offers five subscription tiers starting at $29/month for the Starter plan. Agencies will likely need the Advanced for $449/month (50 projects, 1 included user) or Enterprise for $1,499/month (personalized limits, from 3 users) plans.
Like other best SEO tools for agencies, Ahrefs offers paid add-ons such as Report Builder, Project Boosts, and Content Kit.
The platform offers a 17% discount for annual billing. While there’s no free trial, Ahrefs does provide a free Webmaster Tools package with limited functionality for site owners.
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Ahrefs is the gold standard for agencies prioritizing backlink analysis and technical SEO. Its unmatched data depth makes it essential for competitive niches and authority-building campaigns. Despite limited agency features and a steep price point that might deter smaller shops, the quality of intelligence it provides often justifies the investment for serious link-building and competitor research.
Moz Pro feels like the friendly neighborhood SEO tool in a world where most platforms seem designed by SEO experts for other experts. While Semrush and Ahrefs duke it out with ever-expanding feature lists and massive data sets, Moz has carved out its niche by making SEO approachable.
Founded by Rand Fishkin (the guy with the mustache from all those Whiteboard Friday videos), Moz has stuck to its educational roots. It’s the rare SEO tool that doesn’t make you feel stupid for not knowing what a canonical tag is or why your site needs one.
Here are the most essential SEO tools for agencies that the Moz Pro platform offers:
Moz Pro offers four subscription levels. The cheapest, Starter, costs $49/month. For agencies, the Large plan ($299/month) is recommended. It includes 3 users, 25 tracked sites, and unlimited reports (including branded reports).
Regardless of the plan, an additional user costs $49/month.
All plans come with a 30-day free trial. You can save 20% with annual billing.
Access to the API and the local SEO tools for agencies are sold as separate products.
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If your agency is just starting to offer SEO services or you have a limited budget, Moz hits the sweet spot. It won’t blow anyone away with cutting-edge features or the biggest data sets, but it delivers what most businesses actually need without the overwhelming complexity.
WebCEO has built its reputation as the agency-first SEO platform, focusing on the practical challenges of managing multiple client campaigns simultaneously. What sets it apart is its comprehensive approach to agency operations—not just providing SEO data but streamlining entire workflows from lead generation to client reporting.
With a platform designed specifically for team collaboration, client management, and scale, WebCEO addresses the unique challenges that marketing agencies face when handling dozens or even hundreds of client websites.
WebCEO delivers a comprehensive agency toolkit with 24 specialized tools built specifically for managing client SEO at scale. Here’s the overview of the significant SEO tools from the agency’s perspective:
WebCEO offers four subscription tiers: Solo Plan ($36/month with 3-month minimum), Startup ($119/month), Agency Unlimited ($99/month base plus add-ons), and Corporate ($299/month).
The most interesting plan for agencies is, of course, the Agency Unlimited plan, which includes unlimited data analysis and flexible pricing, with the base subscription starting at $99/month. Additional costs apply for white-label tools ($40/month), extra rank queries, and additional scans.
Annual billing saves 16%, and a 14-day free trial is available.
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If your priority is efficient workflow and impressive client deliverables rather than having the biggest keyword database and every SEO feature imaginable, WebCEO deserves a serious look. While it may not boast the most cutting-edge AI features, it compensates with practical agency tools that save time and satisfy clients.
For agencies managing client websites, Google Search Console (GSC) provides an invaluable direct line to how Google actually sees and interprets your clients’ sites. Unlike third-party SEO software for agencies that estimate data, GSC delivers the unfiltered truth straight from the source.
This free tool has evolved from its humble beginnings as Google Webmaster Tools into an essential platform that reveals exactly what’s working (and what isn’t) in your SEO strategy.
Kef features of GSC include:
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Google Search Console is entirely free for all users. There are no paid tiers, subscription costs, or usage limits.
As an SEO tool for SEO agencies, Google Search Console is the non-negotiable foundation of any practical toolkit. While it shouldn’t be your only SEO solution, the insights it provides cannot be replicated by any third-party platform, making it an essential companion to more comprehensive tools.
Google Analytics serves as the fundamental traffic analysis platform for agencies managing client websites. While not typically categorized among traditional SEO software for agencies, it provides the critical performance data that validates your SEO efforts. The platform has evolved significantly with the transition to GA4, offering more sophisticated tracking capabilities and machine-learning insights that help agencies demonstrate real ROI from their optimization work.
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Google Analytics (GA4) is free for most users. For enterprise-level needs, Google Analytics 360 offers expanded paid features through authorized Google resellers.
For agencies, Google Analytics goes beyond just another tool in your arsenal. It’s the essential proof point that validates your SEO work. While specialized tools for SEO agency help you identify opportunities and track rankings, only Analytics connects those efforts to business outcomes your clients care about: conversions, revenue, and engagement.
Screaming Frog is a powerful desktop crawler that has become indispensable for agencies needing to accurately and effectively diagnose website problems. Although many other SEO software for agency accuse it of having an outdated and unclear interface, it makes up for it with the depth of its analysis, allowing users to uncover critical technical issues that significantly affect the website’s performance.
Screaming Frog helps users improve their website’s performance by providing these features:
Screaming Frog offers a free version limited to 500 URLs and a paid version at $259/year per user. Volume discounts are available for multiple licenses, with prices dropping to $225 per license when purchasing 20 or more.
Pros:
For agencies serious about technical SEO, the value of Screaming Frog is non-negotiable. While it lacks the collaborative features found in dedicated software for SEO agency, its technical prowess more than compensates.
Among other best SEO tools for agency, BrightLocal stands out as the specialist focused exclusively on local search. While general SEO platforms might offer some local features as an afterthought, BrightLocal has built its entire ecosystem around helping businesses appear in local search results.
For agencies managing multiple location-based clients or multi-location brands, this dedicated approach to local visibility delivers results that broader tools simply can’t match.
Here are the key features that make BrightLocal stand out from other SEO software for agencies:
BrightLocal offers three tiers: Track ($39/month), Manage ($49/month), and Grow ($59/month), and their pricing increases based on the number of locations managed.
Annual billing provides a 25% discount.
Users can try BrightLocal free for 14 days with no credit card required.
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For agencies specializing in local businesses, BrightLocal is the standout choice. Its dedicated focus on local search delivers insights that general SEO platforms simply can’t match. This tool for agencies particularly excels for companies juggling multiple local clients across different industries. Be aware, though—costs can climb quickly when managing numerous locations, and you’ll still need additional tools for comprehensive SEO coverage beyond local search.
If you’re serious about figuring out the web’s complicated link ecosystem, Majestic is the clear leader. Founded in 2004, this seasoned SEO tool has earned its reputation by offering unmatched depth in backlink data. While other SEO tools for agency treat backlink analysis as just another feature, Majestic has built its entire platform around mastering link insights.
Majestic’s power comes from its proprietary metrics that measure different aspects of link quality and quantity:
These metrics are complemented by a robust suite of tools, including Fresh & Historic Index databases, the exclusive Author Explorer for content creator analysis, multi-domain comparison features, and specialized tools like Clique Hunter to identify untapped link opportunities.
Majestic offers three main pricing tiers:
All plans include a 7-day money-back guarantee for new customers, and annual billing offers significant savings.
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If you’re serious about backlinks (and you should be), Majestic is the tool you need. It digs deeper into link data than anything else on the market, uncovering insights that broader platforms miss. For agencies whose clients require serious link-building or technical SEO work, it’s worth every penny. No, it won’t handle your keyword research or content optimization—that’s not what it’s built for. But when you need to truly understand link ecosystems, nothing else does it better.
Unlike the cloud-based tools dominating today’s SEO software for agency market, SEO PowerSuite takes a different approach with its desktop-based platform. This veteran player has been in the game for 17 years, with its backlink analysis capabilities standing out as particularly impressive.
Through SEO SpyGlass and LinkAssistant, it offers some of the most comprehensive link research and management available, without the frustrating credit limits or usage caps found in most subscription tools.
SEO PowerSuite provides a comprehensive toolkit across its four distinct applications:
Additional features include an integrated SEO Content Editor, TF-IDF analysis, comprehensive white-label reporting, unlimited tracking capabilities in paid plans, and more.
SEO PowerSuite offers three pricing tiers:
Each application can be purchased separately, and multi-year discounts of up to 34% are available.
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SEO PowerSuite is perfect for agencies and professionals who hate hitting data limits and usage caps. If you’re tired of cloud tools that charge more as you scale or restrict the number of keywords you can track, this desktop workhorse delivers exceptional value.
Surfer SEO has emerged as a specialized powerhouse in the content optimization space. Unlike broader platforms that try to do everything, Surfer focuses exclusively on helping you create and optimize content that ranks. With over 500 on-page factors analyzed and AI capabilities integrated throughout this Polish-born tool has earned a solid reputation among content marketers and SEO professionals looking to fine-tune their content strategy.
Surfer SEO delivers specialized tools focused on content optimization:
Surfer SEO offers three pricing tiers:
All plans include a 7-day money-back guarantee and a 20% discount for annual billing.
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Surfer SEO excels in content optimization but comes with premium pricing. It’s perfect for agencies who prioritize organic rankings but less ideal as your only SEO tool. The powerful AI features deliver impressive results for those creating content regularly, though agencies needing white-labeling will face the hurdle of scheduling appointments for custom plans.
For SEO agencies looking for advanced client reporting, AgencyAnalytics offers a specialized solution that can save countless hours of manual work. This platform focuses on the critical client communication aspect.
By consolidating data from over 80 marketing integrations into customizable dashboards and automated reports, AgencyAnalytics helps agencies demonstrate their value while reducing the time spent on administrative tasks.
AgencyAnalytics offers specialized tools for agency reporting and management:
AgencyAnalytics offers three pricing tiers:
All plans include a 14-day free trial with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
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AgencyAnalytics stands as one of the best tools for SEO agency focused on client communication and reporting efficiency. While it doesn’t replace dedicated SEO platforms, it excels at showcasing your agency’s work through professional presentations of complex data.
DashThis offers a specialized solution for agencies tired of juggling multiple platforms to create client reports. This intuitive tool sits at the intersection of SEO tools for digital agencies and comprehensive reporting software, allowing you to consolidate data from various marketing channels into beautifully designed, automated dashboards.
DashThis offers these essential features to streamline your agency’s reporting process:
DashThis offers simple, dashboard-based pricing:
All plans include unlimited data sources, unlimited users, and all available integrations. A 15-day free trial is available with no credit card required.
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DashThis won’t replace your dedicated SEO tools, but it will save your sanity when it comes to client reporting. It shines by taking all that complex SEO data and transforming it into something clients actually understand without you spending half your week cobbling together reports.
For agencies drowning in spreadsheets and screenshots from various platforms, DashThis offers a lifeline that grows with your client roster without sacrificing quality or professionalism.
There’s no universal “best SEO software for agency.” The right choice depends entirely on your specific case and company specifics. Before making a decision, think about what you actually need.
Start by examining your agency’s workflow. Are you handling mostly local businesses, enterprise clients, or e-commerce? Each specialization demands different capabilities.
After that, map out your current processes and identify the bottlenecks—not just minor annoyances but issues that are actually costing you time and clients.
Money also matters. While some tools may offer attractive initial prices, add-ons such as additional users or other paid features for agencies can often be extremely costly. It is also worth analyzing what limits you get with a specific account.
On the other hand, sometimes the tools don’t have a flexible pricing model, and you have to pay for something you won’t use. Analyze it well and calculate before committing to a subscription for a year or more, tempted by promotional prices for an annual subscription.
Don’t forget about how everything fits together. That amazing website performance audit tool won’t help much if it can’t talk to your reporting dashboard. Look for tools with solid APIs and native integrations with your existing tech stack. This ensures your website performance metrics flow seamlessly into client reports alongside other SEO data, giving a complete picture of results.
And think ahead—will this solution still work when you have twice as many clients? Tools that seem affordable with a small roster can become prohibitively expensive or technically limiting as you scale.
Finally, never commit without testing. Most reputable SEO software for agencies offers free trials or money-back guarantees. Use these periods ruthlessly—set up real client accounts, run actual reports, and get your team’s honest feedback. The sleekest demo in the world means nothing if your team hates using the software day-to-day.
As you can see, there’s no one-size-fits-all “best SEO tool for agencies.” The ideal choice depends on your client base, team size, and specific goals.
For specialized needs, BrightLocal excels in local SEO, Majestic provides in-depth link analysis, and Surfer SEO and SE Ranking ensure your content ranks effectively.
If budget and simplicity are priorities, Moz Pro and SE Ranking are great options for small or growing agencies—they won’t overwhelm your team or your finances. Agencies handling enterprise clients and complex SEO challenges should consider platforms designed for high-performance needs.
Take advantage of free trials seriously. Set up actual client projects and let your team thoroughly test the tools in real-world scenarios before making a commitment.
At the end of the day, even the most impressive feature list won’t matter if your team dislikes using the tool or your clients can’t understand the reports. Prioritize user experience and clear reporting to ensure your SEO tool for agencies truly adds value.
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