San Mateo, California, June 27, 2025 (Globe Newswire) – BrightEdge, a global leader in AI-driven organic search, content, and digital marketing automation, today announced new research findings that reveal how 750 search, content, and digital marketers can adapt the rise of AI-Search and the shift towards generation engine optimization (GEO).
Data shows that 68% of organizations are actively changing their strategies, with 57% of marketers describing their outlook as “cautiously optimistic.” In particular, SEO and digital marketing teams are bearing the brunt of AI search adaptation, with 54% of companies relying on to lead their AI search efforts.
“Every company knows there's something to do about AI, and the big brands are helping to navigate SEO marketers within their organization,” says Jim Yu, CEO and Founder of Brightedge. “These findings show that, contrary to popular belief, AI is not going to replace experts. This is more important than ever. At BrightEdge, we were never excited to partner with our client community.
Important findings
- SEO Team AI Search Efforts: Over half (54%) of organizations have their SEO/Digital Marketing teams at the forefront of AI search initiatives combining all other departments. The content/editor team continues at 14%, while PR/Communications, IT/Engineering and leadership teams each account for just 6-8%.
- Cautious optimism wins: The majority of marketers (57%) describe their outlook on AI outlines as “cautiously optimistic.” Only 5% report extreme results, while 20% observe changes, but are not sure about the next step.
- Multi-platform strategies are gaining traction. Of 68% of marketers, nearly 45% are pursuing a multi-platform strategy if they are actively adapting. This includes 27% work on both AI overview and ChatGpt, and an effort to expand by 18% to include additional platforms such as Perplexity and Claude.
This study highlights important organizational challenges. While SEO teams have the expertise needed to navigate changes to AI search, a concentration of responsibility within the specialist department can create bottlenecks that limit the implementation of comprehensive strategies. The report notes that a significant reliance on SEO teams creates both opportunities and risk. These experts have specific expertise, but they need sensual support to implement a truly comprehensive AI strategy.
Strategic meaning for the industry
With 32% of organizations still in observation mode, the risk of lagging is real as competitors adopt increasingly sophisticated multi-platform strategies. Complex, cross-platform rises indicate that single-platform tactics may be insufficient anytime soon.
For marketing leaders, the findings highlight important opportunities. It provides clear strategic direction and encourages strong collaboration across the team. Despite high demand, SEO professionals could benefit from building stronger partnerships with content, PR and leadership teams to build an integrated, overall AI search strategy.
Brighted Edge's unparalleled leadership in search insights
BrightEdge offers unparalleled reliability and data depth, including an industry leadership of over 18 years and a customer base that includes more than half of the Fortune 500. With the largest customer support team in the industry, BrightEdge is committed to innovating with customers with a full stack offering that maximizes impact. Beyond a set of major products for traditional search, BrightEdge's AI Catalyst The platform provides unparalleled visibility into brand performance, both on traditional AI search platforms.
Customers from large companies, middle market companies and digital marketing institutions are winning with BrightEdge in AI and SEO. From BrightEdge's autopilot to brand performance gains to 69% increase, BrightEdge Copilot usually frees up countless hours spent research and manual preparation, allowing marketers to focus on the most impactful actions that promote visibility on traditional and AI engines. With the most thorough and data-driven solutions available, BrightEdge helps marketers stay ahead of the rapidly evolving search situation.
About the survey
BrightEdge conducted a survey in June 2025 to collect responses from over 750 search, content and digital marketing experts from a wide range of industries and organizational sizes. This study explored attitudes, strategies, and organizational approaches to AI search adaptation and generation engine optimization.
Check out the details and download the full report BrightEdge Search Report.
About BrightEdge
BrightEdge, a global leader in enterprise SEO and content performance, enables digital marketers to turn online opportunities into concrete business outcomes. Its all-in-one platform provides organizations with key market insights and intelligent, AI-driven solutions. The BrightEdge platform includes the industry's most unique and extensive datasets connecting major search, social, content and digital media data points. Its deep learning engine, Datamind has powered SEO AI-driven solutions since 2015, allowing marketers to benefit from high fidelity, data-driven insights and automated action. Over 57% of Fortune 100 companies and nine of the top 10 international organizations trust Bright Edge to help deliver the best performance by becoming an integral part of your digital experience.
contact: press@brightedge.com
