How marketing leaders are adjusting Google, AI search strategies

A majority of marketing leaders are diversifying and adjusting their strategies due to AI search, the fragmentation of search, and a potential Google breakup, according to a new survey from enterprise SEO platform Botify.

Why we care. SEO continuing to change. Quickly. ChatGPT and other generative/answer engines have the potential to reshape the search paradigm. Meanwhile, more people believe Google’s search quality is in declining (in part due to AI Overviews taking over the most valuable space in search results and brutal algorithm updates). And many sites are seeing the erosion of organic traffic from Google.

The big picture. 62% of marketing leaders said they are diversifying and adjusting their strategies. Meanwhile, 31% intend to diversify but haven’t made any adjustments. The remaining marketing leaders are either maintaining strategy or not making any adjustments.

Non-Google search platforms. These are the non-Google Search platforms that marketing leaders are considering:

• YouTube (66%)
• ChatGPT (56%)
• Amazon (45%)
• TikTok (40%)

Measuring search. The rise of generative search and generative AI assistants has shifted how marketing leaders measured search performance over the last year significantly (55%) or slightly (36%). The remaining 9% said they haven’t changed how they measure performance. Here’s how some are now measuring success, according to the survey:

• 52% have shifted from rankings to presence in search snippets and appearing in answers (Google AI Overviews/ChatGPT/Perplexity).
• 27% have shifted from click-through rate to conversions.
• 7% shifted from rankings to visits.

About the data. Botify partnered with Centiment for this survey of 300 marketing department leaders (directors, VPs, or higher in the retail, ecommerce, tourism, and hospitality industries). It was conducted in December.

The survey. Marketing Leaders Want to Meet AI Search Head-On: New Survey Results