Should You Invest in SEO in 2025?

Organic search is a powerful force in marketing and lead generation. Yes, even in 2025. B2B SEO is unique in that:

• You can gain coverage across the entire customer journey. (Something advertising cannot do cost-effectively nor sustainably.)
• SEO delivers a far lower traffic and customer acquisition cost (CAC) than advertising.
• When you capture rankings, you’re pushing competitors down the page. It’s a double win – it increases your exposure while it negatively impacts your competitors.
• Results compound over time when SEO is done right. No other form of marketing can achieve this type of compounding effect.
• When you’re simply visible everywhere they turn, brand perception strengthens and they see you as a strong industry player. If you want to be included on a buyer’s short list of solution providers, your best bet is to have a powerful brand presence.

Even with Google’s AI Overviews, SEO still powers significant business results. For one Stratabeat SaaS client, organic traffic increased 153.3% YoY comparing Jan-May 2025 to the same period in 2024. Monthly SQLs keep hitting new record levels.

For another client, organic traffic increased by 151.3% from October 2024 through May 2025 (traffic from the AI answer engines grew by 478.3% during that time, but the Google search volume increase in absolute numbers was far higher).

Stratabeat ourselves have achieved a record number of organic SQLs in the first five months of 2025 compared to all prior years for the same period.

SEO still works when you focus on delivering overwhelming value to your ideal customer profile (ICP). Don’t create content for content’s sake. Instead, be sure that your ICP will highly value each piece of content that you deliver.

When comparing the value of Google SEO to GEO, or generative engine optimization (sometimes called AEO [answer engine optimization] and sometimes called LLMO [large language model optimization]), consider the following data:

• The volume of Google search is 373X higher than that of ChatGPT. (Source: SparkToro)
• Google search volume grew by 22% in 2024. (Source: SparkToro)
• In other words, Google’s growth ALONE was the equivalent of multiple ChatGPTs last year.
• AI search usage is growing at a faster rate than Google. So, the long-term trend is strong. But the overall volume is a drop in the bucket compared to Google.
• Look at your own web analytics. Organic search is typically the largest (or one of the largest) sources of traffic and conversions for many B2B websites. Often, organic search is responsible for 50% or 60% or more of a site’s traffic. In comparison, traffic from the AI answer engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, etc.) is typically only 1% to 3% of overall traffic.

So, when we’re asked, “Isn’t everyone just using ChatGPT now?,” the answer is clearly “no”. At least not yet. Is usage growing? Absolutely. But let’s keep our heads and truly understand the search landscape instead of just chasing new, shiny objects.

Google search still offers you a far greater market opportunity in 2025. If you need to show your CEO tangible business results this year (leads, sales meetings, pipeline, closed deals, etc.), Google search is the bigger opportunity for your marketing team.

AI search is increasingly becoming a better opportunity. Usage will continue to grow. I can only imagine how popular the AI answer engines will be in the coming years (plus, they will be embedded in many other applications as well). But prioritizing GEO at this time instead of traditional SEO would be the equivalent of the tail wagging the dog.

What you should really do is treat Google SEO as your top priority while at the same time striving to achieve high performance in the LLMs – DO BOTH.

Stratabeat analyzed 300 B2B websites this year and found that the top SEO performers actually triggered 12.3% more AI Overviews than the broader set of websites.

Even so, the top performers have been able to double, triple, and quadruple their organic traffic year-over-year. On average, comparing the top SEO performers to the broader group of 300 websites, the top 10% of performers achieved 6.9X greater organic traffic growth year-over-year.

AI Overviews tend to appear mainly for top-of-the-funnel (TOFU) searches. And for many B2B websites, the majority of ranking SEO keywords do not trigger an AIO (in our study of 300 websites, only 17.1% of keywords ranking on Google page one triggered an AIO). In a study of 100 fintech websites, the percentage triggering an AIO was merely 0.58%. In looking at a B2B website I was just reviewing last week, the number was 34.8%. It’s all over the map right now.

The impact is going to be company-specific. You need to understand what’s happening with AIO for your specific total search addressable market (SAM) for your brand. Anything else is likely not going to give you a clear picture of how AIO is impacting your Google SERP click-through results. (Ignore studies that mix B2B and B2C results, as the data is too noisy to be meaningful or actionable).

Even if the percentage of your keywords triggering AIO is high for your particular website, it’s still likely that the majority of your keywords are not triggering an AIO. And there are still going to be many important SEO keywords without an AIO. What you’ll likely need to do is shift your SEO emphasis to solution-aware, product-aware, and longer-tail queries to achieve success in Google over time.

There’s still plenty of room to target topics and keywords where you will not be competing against AIO.

Too often, when marketers ask us if SEO is worth the investment in 2025, they frame the question as either focusing on SEO or instead focusing on ChatGPT, Perplexity, and the other AI answer engines.

But the question itself is misguided.

Instead of looking at it as an “either/or” situation, you should be investing in BOTH traditional SEO as well as GEO. They are both great opportunities for your business. And the overlap in approach to SEO and GEO is significant.

With both SEO and GEO, you want to write clear content that addresses the specific topics that your target audience is searching for online.

With both, structured data is important.

With both, third-party mentions and backlinks are influential.

So, you can see, it makes perfect business sense to prioritize both SEO and GEO. It would be extremely shortsighted to focus exclusively on the AI engines and to give up on Google.

As you can see, investing in SEO in 2025 makes solid business sense and offers a very strong ROI.

But if you want to maximize business results, it makes sense to aim for visibility more broadly. Be found where your ICP spends time online wherever that may be. Consider business opportunities beyond Google, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, etc. Focus instead on brand visibility, regardless of the platform.

For example, with B2B audiences, beyond Google and the AI answer engines, you should also aim to be visible in:

• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Websites that your audience visits
• Industry-specific and other relevant communities
• And at industry events

Engage with your audience on LinkedIn. Be captivating and memorable on YouTube. And be sure to get involved in websites, communities, and events where your audience members spend time.

It’s through this type of holistic approach that you’re more likely to be top of mind for them when they are ready to create a shortlist for a new purchase.

Original research is one of the strongest forms of content in driving SEO results. According to our studies, content based on original research positively impacts Google page one rankings, SEO traffic, and referring domain growth. According to our latest research, those B2B websites that offer original research achieve 67% greater organic traffic growth than those websites lacking original research.

Original research is also a powerful way to break through the noise and be recognized by the AI answer engines.

On top of all of this, original research is effective in PR and content marketing for expanding reach, gaining media attention, and driving new leads.

With AIO and the AI answer engines, gaining visibility on top-of-the-funnel (TOFU) terms is growing increasingly difficult across many topics.

Where it’s easier to win is the middle-of-the-funnel (MOFU) and bottom-of-the-funnel (BOFU). This is where experience-led and expertise-led content can set you apart. This is where competitor comparisons and “alternative pages” (e.g., Salesforce alternatives) help you influence how you’re positioned by AIO and the AI answer engines. This is where brand-specific content helps you remain dominant for any brand-related searches, whether in Google or an AI answer engine.

On top of this, MOFU and BOFU content help you to achieve higher conversion rates on your website, translating into greater leads and pipeline.

When you make the decision to invest in SEO in 2025, you’ll likely be faced with a number of common SEO investment challenges. Your CEO or CFO (or both) may question the decision. Here’s what you’ll be up against, and how you can justify the investment.

SEO Takes Time

Some argue that because SEO takes time, they prefer to focus on more immediate tactics such as paid media. SEO does take time, but the payoff is ultimately greater than paid media. As mentioned above, SEO captures traffic and new customers at a lower acquisition cost than paid media. Plus, SEO results compound over time, whereas your traffic and leads drop as soon as you start reducing media spend. SEO is simply a more cost-effective way to build the business long-term.

The Evolving SERP

Some argue that with the continually evolving Google SERP, it’s just too difficult to keep up and win in Google. But that’s not true as long as you are providing overwhelming value to your audience. Create content that your audience loves and build a brand that your customer loves, and it will be much easier to cut through the noise and achieve business impact with your SEO efforts.

And when optimizing, aim for visibility among the various SERP features, not just a single ranking. For example, People Also Ask (PAA), video carousels, the Knowledge Panel, byline articles on third-party sites, and AI Overviews. This will give you a greater opportunity to find your way onto Google page and attract attention from those searching for information or solutions.

The Rise of AI Overviews

Yes, the number of keywords triggering an AI Overview is growing. But as outlined above, the only thing that matters is your own search TAM, not the generic universe of search. And as we’ve seen in our B2B SEO studies, the percentage of ranking keywords triggering an AI Overview can be as low as 0.58% all the way into the thirties. So, we’re talking about roughly 65%-99% of keywords without an AI Overview.

Besides, the top companies in our latest B2B SEO study (those doubling, trippling, and quadrupling organic traffic year-over-year) were triggering a higher rate of AI Overviews than the others. AI Overviews does not mean doom and gloom necessarily.

The Future of Search: Google AI Mode

Google rolled out AI Mode in the U.S. recently, and it’s sure to have a major impact on the future of SEO. It will be important to analyze and determine the most effective ways to connect with your audience in the AI Mode interface.

Realize, though, that Google has rolled out many technologies that were supposed to completely change search, and didn’t. Think of voice search, or augmented reality, or Google glasses, etc.

It’s with this context that AI Mode will take time to evolve. It will take time to confirm its level of impact. For 2025, expect that traditional Google search will reign supreme. But keep your eye closely on AI Mode for additional opportunities.

According to BrightEdge, B2B companies generate twice the revenue from organic search than any other channel.

57% of B2B marketers say SEO provides better ROI than other marketing channels, according to Gitnux.

As mentioned above, Stratabeat has achieved a record number of organic leads in 2025.

Should you invest in SEO in 2025? Yes, the evidence is clear. SEO not only works in 2025, but it’s powering strong leads and pipeline growth for countless companies that are doing it right.

And to truly maximize your results this year, start to shift your focus to brand visibility overall, capitalizing on not only SEO and GEO, but also YouTube, LinkedIn, relevant communities, industry events, and websites where your ICP spends time.