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The State of SEO An Overview of 2024 and Projections for 2025
- In the ever-evolving digital landscape, search engine optimization (SEO) remains one of the most cost-effective and dependable strategies for enhancing brand visibility, increasing organic website traffic, and fostering overall business growth.
- While the core principles of SEO remain the same, 2024 ushered in the most significant disruption to the search landscape in over a decade: Google’s AIO, the AI-powered search experience formerly known as SGE.
- The new search experience was launched to all users across the world in May 2024, with multiple regions following soon after.
- This disruption and the widespread adoption of generative AI in 2024 presented both challenges and opportunities for digital experts involved in SEO.
- Despite the dynamic nature of SEO, its impact on website performance remains undeniable. On average, organic search produced 33% of overall website traffic across seven key industries in 2024.
- 91% of respondents reported that SEO positively impacted website performance and marketing goals in 2024, according to our 2025 State of SEO Survey.
With all eyes on the future, organic search continues to be a crucial channel for business growth.
To help you stay ahead of the curve and optimize your SEO strategy for success in 2025, we surveyed over 350 digital marketing, SEO, and content marketing experts to uncover actionable insights, emerging trends, and shifting priorities
Data and Methodology
To ensure the accuracy of our data and subsequent conclusions, all survey respondents hold primary job functions related to the management of a brand’s website or digital presence, dedicating a portion of their overall responsibilities to search engine optimization (SEO).
Respondents were selected from both B2B and B2C companies, encompassing a range of sizes from small (1 to 149 employees) to mid-market (150 to 999 employees) and enterprise (1,000 or more employees). Our data reflects the perspectives of various digital stakeholders across all levels of responsibility, including practitioners such as analysts, strategists, and specialists, as well as managers, directors, and executives.
In this report, the concept of SEO maturity has been utilized to segment the data more effectively. Below is a concise overview of the three levels that respondents could select to assess their organization’s SEO maturity:
- Low SEO Maturity: This category encompasses organizations for which SEO holds minimal significance. Currently, these organizations allocate few resources or investments toward SEO initiatives.
- Medium SEO Maturity: This level pertains to organizations that regard SEO as moderately important, with a reasonable allocation of resources and investment dedicated to SEO efforts.
- High SEO Maturity: Organizations classified at this level prioritize SEO as a critical component of their operations. In these organizations, SEO is integrated into the processes of multiple teams, supported by substantial investments.
Key Insights/Top Takeaways
This document presents a concise summary of critical findings from the report concerning the current landscape of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), the influence of Artificial Intelligence Optimization (AIO) within SEO, and the utilization of SEO technologies.
Current State of SEO
In 2024, 91% of organizations indicated that SEO has a positive impact on website performance and marketing objectives. Organizations classified at the lowest level of SEO maturity are significantly more prone to report that SEO has either no effect or a negative effect.
This phenomenon can be attributed to several factors. On average, organizations exhibiting the highest levels of SEO maturity demonstrate the following characteristics:
– A preference for employing highly skilled SEO professionals rather than outsourcing these services to external agencies or freelancers.
– A fourfold increase in the likelihood of utilizing a fully integrated enterprise SEO platform.
– An ability to measure and report on three times the number of SEO metrics compared to those organizations with low SEO maturity.
Furthermore, increasing brand awareness through SEO has been identified as a primary objective for all professional roles in 2024, consistent with trends observed in 2023.
Impact of AIO on Traffic, Visibility, and Rankings
According to the report, 63% of respondents affirmed that AIO has positively influenced organic traffic, visibility, or search rankings since its implementation. Initial data suggests that Google’s AIO does not exhibit the catastrophic effects that certain experts had anticipated.
Organizations with high SEO maturity are over three times more likely to report a positive impact on performance as a result of AIO compared to their low SEO maturity counterparts.
SEO Technology Utilization
The majority of respondents employ a fully integrated enterprise SEO platform to successfully advance their SEO initiatives.
Top SEO Priorities and Challenges in 2024
As mentioned above, increasing brand awareness through SEO remained a top priority for all role levels in 2024.
Top SEO priorities in 2024
Practitioners and managers primarily focus on tactical objectives, such as enhancing collaboration and addressing bandwidth limitations.
- Improving SEO collaboration has been identified as a top priority by web development and analytics functions. This focus may stem from their dependence on collaboration to implement actions, unlike SEO specialists or content marketers.
- Managers are increasingly recognizing this disconnect and are prioritizing enhancements in collaboration accordingly. In contrast, leaders tend to concentrate on current trends and explore ways to leverage these innovations for growth.
When it comes to the most significant challenges, respondents ranked adapting to AI advancements as the top challenge SEOs and digital marketers faced in 2024.
The 3 Most Significant SEO Challenges in 2024
Overall
The evolving role of AI in SEO and Google’s AIO impact
Given the uncertainty that preceded and followed Google’s AIO rollout and the emergence of other AI-powered search experiences, AI is a primary focus within the report.
The impact Of Google AIO on Traffic,Visibility and Rankings in 2024
Overall
Despite the uncertainty, 63% of respondents reported that AIO positively impacted organic traffic, visibility, or rankings since rollout.
SEO Resourcing and Processes
As we enter a new era of search, organizations are prioritizing efforts to improve collaboration and efficiency related to SEO. However, your SEO resourcing strategy greatly impacts the effectiveness of these efforts.
In-House vs. Outsourced SEO Resourcing Strategy
Overall
In comparison to the findings of our previous State of SEO survey, there has been a 9% year-over-year increase in the number of organizations reporting the adoption of an in-house SEO strategy. This trend can be attributed to the advantages associated with such an approach, which allows companies to actively engage in the formulation and implementation of SEO strategies.
Furthermore, an in-house SEO framework can facilitate a more rapid response to potential disruptions related to artificial intelligence in the search landscape.
Strategies for Maintaining Competitive Advantage in 2025
Strategies for Maintaining Competitive Advantage in 2025
Organic search as we know it is changing with Google’s rollout of AIO. The landscape of organic search is evolving due to Google’s implementation of AIO in 2024; however, the outlook remains optimistic. To distinguish themselves, organizations must prioritize cross-functional collaboration among all digital teams, implement comprehensive reporting mechanisms, make essential technology investments, and exhibit agile adaptability. These strategic considerations in search engine optimization (SEO) will determine which entities thrive in the evolving digital environment.
