<div><img width="1672" height="941" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Google-Language-Targeting.png" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Google-Language-Targeting.png 1672w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Google-Language-Targeting-768x432.png 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Google-Language-Targeting-1536x864.png 1536w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Google-Language-Targeting-1200x675.png 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1672px) 100vw, 1672px" /></div>Google’s shift to automated language matching removes a manual Search targeting control, leaving advertisers with less control

<div><img width="1672" height="941" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Google-Language-Targeting.png" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Google-Language-Targeting.png 1672w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Google-Language-Targeting-768x432.png 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Google-Language-Targeting-1536x864.png 1536w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Google-Language-Targeting-1200x675.png 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1672px) 100vw, 1672px" /></div>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Google is removing campaign-level language targeting from Search and AI Max for Search campaigns starting in late September, shifting responsibility for language matching to Google&#8217;s automated systems.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Instead of advertisers explicitly selecting which languages to target, Google will determine which ads to serve based largely on the language of the ad alongside signals about the languages a user understands.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>What&#8217;s changing</strong>. For Search and AI Max for Search campaigns, the campaign-level language targeting setting will disappear. Google says Search ads will automatically match based on the language of the ads.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Performance Max gets a more nuanced change. For ads appearing on Google Search, campaign-level language settings will no longer apply and language matching will work the same way as standard Search campaigns.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" width="2048" height="1152" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Language-Targeting-Update_Embargo-Until-8.13-scaled.png" alt="" class="wp-image-484841" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Language-Targeting-Update_Embargo-Until-8.13-scaled.png 2048w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Language-Targeting-Update_Embargo-Until-8.13-768x432.png 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Language-Targeting-Update_Embargo-Until-8.13-1536x864.png 1536w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Language-Targeting-Update_Embargo-Until-8.13-1200x675.png 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">But language targeting isn&#8217;t disappearing entirely from Performance Max. Advertiser-selected language settings will continue to guide delivery across YouTube, Display, Discover and Gmail, while Shopping ads within Performance Max aren&#8217;t affected by language settings.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>How Google will choose</strong>. Google already uses more than a user&#8217;s interface language to determine which languages they understand. On Search, signals can include the language of the search term, user language settings and other preferences.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">That means someone whose browser is configured in Spanish but who regularly searches Google in English could potentially receive ads in either language.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">When multiple eligible campaigns exist, Google says AI-based ad group prioritization will determine which ad candidates have the most relevant language for the user.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>What advertisers need to do</strong>. Google says no action is required for existing campaigns, but the change puts greater importance on the languages used in ad creative and landing pages.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Advertisers running multilingual campaigns should make sure their ads and destination pages are clearly structured in their intended languages, since those signals will become increasingly important for Search language matching.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>API changes</strong>. Developers will also need to adjust how they create and manage Search campaigns through the Google Ads API.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Google recommends stopping the use of language criteria when creating or updating Search campaigns. Existing language criteria can remain but will no longer affect targeting and can optionally be removed.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Attempts to add or update <code>CampaignCriterion.language</code> for Search campaigns will return a <code>ContextError.OPERATION_NOT_PERMITTED_FOR_CONTEXT</code> error. Performance Max won&#8217;t return the same error because language settings can still influence its non-Search channels.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Why we care</strong>. Google is removing a manual targeting control from Search, meaning you’ll no longer be able to explicitly choose which languages your campaigns target. Instead, Google will decide which language ad to serve using ad language and its own signals about what users understand, which could create less predictable delivery for multilingual campaigns. </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Advertisers should review campaign structures, creatives and landing pages and closely monitor performance once the change rolls out.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Bottom line</strong>. Google isn&#8217;t eliminating language matching from Search; it&#8217;s automating it. Beginning in late September, Search advertisers will no longer choose campaign-level languages, while Google will use ad language and user signals to determine the most appropriate ads to serve.</p>


Google is removing campaign-level language targeting from Search and AI Max for Search campaigns starting in late September, shifting responsibility for language matching to Google’s automated systems.
Instead of advertisers explicitly selecting which languages to target, Google will determine which ads to serve based largely on the language of the ad alongside signals about the languages a user understands.
What’s changing. For Search and AI Max for Search campaigns, the campaign-level language targeting setting will disappear. Google says Search ads will automatically match based on the language of the ads.
Performance Max gets a more nuanced change. For ads appearing on Google Search, campaign-level language settings will no longer apply and language matching will work the same way as standard Search campaigns.




But language targeting isn’t disappearing entirely from Performance Max. Advertiser-selected language settings will continue to guide delivery across YouTube, Display, Discover and Gmail, while Shopping ads within Performance Max aren’t affected by language settings.
How Google will choose. Google already uses more than a user’s interface language to determine which languages they understand. On Search, signals can include the language of the search term, user language settings and other preferences.
That means someone whose browser is configured in Spanish but who regularly searches Google in English could potentially receive ads in either language.
When multiple eligible campaigns exist, Google says AI-based ad group prioritization will determine which ad candidates have the most relevant language for the user.
What advertisers need to do. Google says no action is required for existing campaigns, but the change puts greater importance on the languages used in ad creative and landing pages.
Advertisers running multilingual campaigns should make sure their ads and destination pages are clearly structured in their intended languages, since those signals will become increasingly important for Search language matching.
API changes. Developers will also need to adjust how they create and manage Search campaigns through the Google Ads API.
Google recommends stopping the use of language criteria when creating or updating Search campaigns. Existing language criteria can remain but will no longer affect targeting and can optionally be removed.
Attempts to add or update CampaignCriterion.language for Search campaigns will return a ContextError.OPERATION_NOT_PERMITTED_FOR_CONTEXT error. Performance Max won’t return the same error because language settings can still influence its non-Search channels.
Why we care. Google is removing a manual targeting control from Search, meaning you’ll no longer be able to explicitly choose which languages your campaigns target. Instead, Google will decide which language ad to serve using ad language and its own signals about what users understand, which could create less predictable delivery for multilingual campaigns. 
Advertisers should review campaign structures, creatives and landing pages and closely monitor performance once the change rolls out.
Bottom line. Google isn’t eliminating language matching from Search; it’s automating it. Beginning in late September, Search advertisers will no longer choose campaign-level languages, while Google will use ad language and user signals to determine the most appropriate ads to serve.

Google’s shift to automated language matching removes a manual Search targeting control, leaving advertisers with less control

Google Ads is removing language targeting from Search campaigns

<div><img width="1920" height="1080" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/traffic-pie-grows.png" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Traffic pie grows" decoding="async" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/traffic-pie-grows.png 1920w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/traffic-pie-grows-768x432.png 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/traffic-pie-grows-1536x864.png 1536w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/traffic-pie-grows-1200x675.png 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /></div>New Shopify data shows AI drives higher-converting, first-time buyers, but Google still delivers the biggest share of merchant traffic.

<div><img width="1920" height="1080" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/traffic-pie-grows.png" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Traffic pie grows" decoding="async" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/traffic-pie-grows.png 1920w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/traffic-pie-grows-768x432.png 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/traffic-pie-grows-1536x864.png 1536w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/traffic-pie-grows-1200x675.png 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /></div>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">AI-referred sessions to merchant storefronts grew 197% year over year in the second quarter, Shopify said. Organic search traffic also increased 12%, according to new commerce data the company released this week.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The company found that AI and organic search serve different shopping behaviors. AI-referred shoppers converted at roughly twice the rate of organic visitors in research-intensive product categories. But organic search remained the largest source of referral traffic for Shopify merchants.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Organic search kept growing. </strong>AI-referred sessions and orders both roughly tripled from a year earlier across nearly every product category Shopify tracks. But organic search still sent more traffic to Shopify merchants than all tracked AI platforms combined. Shopify said the data suggests shoppers continue using traditional search even as AI adoption accelerates.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>AI performed best on research-heavy purchases.</strong> The biggest conversion gains came in categories where shoppers compare specifications, compatibility, reviews, and other buying criteria before making a purchase.</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>In those specification-heavy categories, AI-referred shoppers converted at about twice the rate of organic visitors. In broader, taste-driven categories, organic search remained the larger discovery channel. AI, however, brought in about 1.3 times more first-time customers.</li>
</ul>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Structured product data improved conversion</strong>. Shopify also found that AI-referred shoppers converted at twice the rate when AI systems used structured Shopify Catalog data instead of scraped or third-party product feeds.</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>The company said this supports Google&#8217;s guidance that AI Overviews and AI Mode use the same core ranking systems as Google Search. That means the same structured product data can improve visibility in both AI and traditional search.</li>
</ul>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>What they&#8217;re saying</strong>. Shopify CTO <a href="https://x.com/MParakhin/status/2087939352848711945" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mikhail Parakhin said on X</a> the results challenge the idea that AI search is replacing organic search.</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>&#8220;Everyone (myself included) assumes AI is swallowing Search and killing organic discovery. Surprisingly, Shopify&#8217;s numbers say otherwise: AI-referred sessions are up 3x YoY, but organic still grew 12% on a much bigger base. The pie itself got bigger.&#8221;</li>
</ul>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph" id="h-why-we-care"><strong>Why we care</strong>. AI search is growing quickly, but Shopify&#8217;s data shows organic search still drives the largest share of traffic. The same work that improves structured product data for AI platforms also supports visibility in traditional search. That means you can&#8217;t optimize for one without the other.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph" id="h-why-we-care"><strong>About the data</strong>. Shopify analyzed second-quarter commerce data from merchant storefronts. It compared AI-referred and organic search traffic using sessions, orders, and conversion rates across product categories. The company didn&#8217;t disclose how many merchants or transactions were included in the analysis.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>The report.</strong> <a href="https://www.shopify.com/enterprise/blog/ai-search-category-behavior">AI and organic search are doing different jobs: What Shopify&#8217;s data shows</a>


<a href="https://www.semrush.com/ai-seo/overview?utm_campaign=ic_sel_0101ai&#038;utm_source=searchengineland.com&#038;utm_medium=overlay&#038;onboarding=off" target="_blank">
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AI-referred sessions to merchant storefronts grew 197% year over year in the second quarter, Shopify said. Organic search traffic also increased 12%, according to new commerce data the company released this week.
The company found that AI and organic search serve different shopping behaviors. AI-referred shoppers converted at roughly twice the rate of organic visitors in research-intensive product categories. But organic search remained the largest source of referral traffic for Shopify merchants.
Organic search kept growing. AI-referred sessions and orders both roughly tripled from a year earlier across nearly every product category Shopify tracks. But organic search still sent more traffic to Shopify merchants than all tracked AI platforms combined. Shopify said the data suggests shoppers continue using traditional search even as AI adoption accelerates.
AI performed best on research-heavy purchases. The biggest conversion gains came in categories where shoppers compare specifications, compatibility, reviews, and other buying criteria before making a purchase.
In those specification-heavy categories, AI-referred shoppers converted at about twice the rate of organic visitors. In broader, taste-driven categories, organic search remained the larger discovery channel. AI, however, brought in about 1.3 times more first-time customers.
Structured product data improved conversion. Shopify also found that AI-referred shoppers converted at twice the rate when AI systems used structured Shopify Catalog data instead of scraped or third-party product feeds.
The company said this supports Google’s guidance that AI Overviews and AI Mode use the same core ranking systems as Google Search. That means the same structured product data can improve visibility in both AI and traditional search.
What they’re saying. Shopify CTO Mikhail Parakhin said on X the results challenge the idea that AI search is replacing organic search.
“Everyone (myself included) assumes AI is swallowing Search and killing organic discovery. Surprisingly, Shopify’s numbers say otherwise: AI-referred sessions are up 3x YoY, but organic still grew 12% on a much bigger base. The pie itself got bigger.”
Why we care. AI search is growing quickly, but Shopify’s data shows organic search still drives the largest share of traffic. The same work that improves structured product data for AI platforms also supports visibility in traditional search. That means you can’t optimize for one without the other.
About the data. Shopify analyzed second-quarter commerce data from merchant storefronts. It compared AI-referred and organic search traffic using sessions, orders, and conversion rates across product categories. The company didn’t disclose how many merchants or transactions were included in the analysis.
The report. AI and organic search are doing different jobs: What Shopify’s data shows



  
AI recommends.
      
See your AI visibility

New Shopify data shows AI drives higher-converting, first-time buyers, but Google still delivers the biggest share of merchant traffic.

Shopify: AI referrals up 197%, but organic search still leads traffic

<div><img width="1920" height="1097" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/microsoft-clarity-1920.jpg" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/microsoft-clarity-1920.jpg 1920w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/microsoft-clarity-1920-768x439.jpg 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/microsoft-clarity-1920-1536x878.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /></div>This report shows you the AI scrape activity against referral traffic as a metric to help you determine of that bot activity returns value.

<div><img width="1920" height="1097" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/microsoft-clarity-1920.jpg" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/microsoft-clarity-1920.jpg 1920w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/microsoft-clarity-1920-768x439.jpg 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/microsoft-clarity-1920-1536x878.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /></div>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Microsoft Clarity has added another new AI metric, this one is called AI Scrape-to-Referral insights. It puts a single metric on the AI scrape activity against referral traffic. The purpose is to give you insight into whether it is worth having that AI bot crawl your site, and whether there is enough return and value to keep allowing that bot to scrape your website.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>What is this metric. </strong>Microsoft wrote, &#8220;With the new AI Scrape-to-Referral Ratio card and direct links into session recordings, you can evaluate the tradeoff between content extraction and traffic return, then investigate how AI-referred visitors behave once they arrive.&#8221;</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">There is a new AI Scrape-to-Referral Ratio card which compares AI scrape activity against referral traffic in a single metric, helping you understand whether AI platforms are returning value in the form of visits rather than only extracting content.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Here is a graphic Microsoft uploaded of this metric:</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" width="2048" height="1016" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Scrape-to-referral-cover-image-1-2048x1016-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-484961" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Scrape-to-referral-cover-image-1-2048x1016-1.png 2048w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Scrape-to-referral-cover-image-1-2048x1016-1-768x381.png 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Scrape-to-referral-cover-image-1-2048x1016-1-1536x762.png 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This seems to say that this AI tool sent 41 referrals to your website, and if you do the math, it has a 6,000 scrapes-to-1-referral ratio based on its crawl activity related to referral activity. </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>More metrics. </strong>The Bot Analytics report now shows these metrics, as Microsoft said:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><strong>AI Scrape-to-Referral Ratio card</strong>: Compare AI scrape activity against referral traffic in a single metric, helping you understand whether AI platforms are returning value in the form of visits rather than only extracting content. </li>



<li><strong>Operator-level breakdown</strong>: Review a ranked list of referring operators to identify which AI sources are sending traffic back and which ones may have high scrape activity with limited referral return. </li>



<li><strong>Mapped-domain coverage safeguards</strong>: Ratios are calculated only across correctly mapped domains, helping prevent misleading rollups when CDN and Clarity coverage do not fully align. </li>



<li><strong>Clearer handling of coverage gaps</strong>: When your AI bot data and referral traffic data cover different domains, Clarity provides context so you understand how domain coverage may affect the Scrape-to-Referral Ratio.</li>



<li><strong>Direct path to session recordings</strong>: Click from referral insights into the Recordings tab with filters already applied for the selected AI referral source, making it easier to validate attribution and inspect real user journeys. </li>



<li><strong>Better traffic quality analysis</strong>: Move beyond top-line referral counts to see whether AI-referred visitors scroll, engage, convert, or leave quickly, so you can compare which AI sources are driving valuable traffic. </li>
</ul>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>How do you see it. </strong>Microsoft posted these steps to access this data for your site(s):</p>



<ol start="1" class="wp-block-list">
<li>Open <strong>Bot Analytics</strong> in the Clarity <a href="https://clarity.microsoft.com/ai-visibility" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AI Visibility Dashboard</a>. </li>



<li>Review the <strong>AI</strong> <strong>Scrape-to-Referral Ratio</strong> card to understand overall referral return and operator-level performance. </li>



<li>Check the coverage context to confirm your <strong>mapped domains</strong> are aligned across your connected data sources. </li>



<li>Select a referral source from the card to open <strong>session recordings</strong> filtered for<s> </s>AI-referred traffic. </li>



<li>Watch recordings to evaluate visit quality, including engagement patterns and meaningful actions such as <strong>purchases, sign-ups, or form fills</strong>. </li>



<li>Use those insights to compare AI sources and refine how you measure the value of AI visibility for your site.</li>
</ol>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Why we care. </strong>Many site operators ask, is it worth allowing AI crawlers to access, scrape, and use my site&#8217;s content? Well, here is a new metric that puts a number on that figure, allowing you to be more informed about which AI crawlers you allow and which AI crawlers you disallow.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">What is the ratio you are aiming for when making that decision? Well, that depends on the site, the business, and the purpose of the website.</p>


Microsoft Clarity has added another new AI metric, this one is called AI Scrape-to-Referral insights. It puts a single metric on the AI scrape activity against referral traffic. The purpose is to give you insight into whether it is worth having that AI bot crawl your site, and whether there is enough return and value to keep allowing that bot to scrape your website.
What is this metric. Microsoft wrote, “With the new AI Scrape-to-Referral Ratio card and direct links into session recordings, you can evaluate the tradeoff between content extraction and traffic return, then investigate how AI-referred visitors behave once they arrive.”
There is a new AI Scrape-to-Referral Ratio card which compares AI scrape activity against referral traffic in a single metric, helping you understand whether AI platforms are returning value in the form of visits rather than only extracting content.
Here is a graphic Microsoft uploaded of this metric:




This seems to say that this AI tool sent 41 referrals to your website, and if you do the math, it has a 6,000 scrapes-to-1-referral ratio based on its crawl activity related to referral activity. 
More metrics. The Bot Analytics report now shows these metrics, as Microsoft said:
AI Scrape-to-Referral Ratio card: Compare AI scrape activity against referral traffic in a single metric, helping you understand whether AI platforms are returning value in the form of visits rather than only extracting content. 
Operator-level breakdown: Review a ranked list of referring operators to identify which AI sources are sending traffic back and which ones may have high scrape activity with limited referral return. 
Mapped-domain coverage safeguards: Ratios are calculated only across correctly mapped domains, helping prevent misleading rollups when CDN and Clarity coverage do not fully align. 
Clearer handling of coverage gaps: When your AI bot data and referral traffic data cover different domains, Clarity provides context so you understand how domain coverage may affect the Scrape-to-Referral Ratio.
Direct path to session recordings: Click from referral insights into the Recordings tab with filters already applied for the selected AI referral source, making it easier to validate attribution and inspect real user journeys. 
Better traffic quality analysis: Move beyond top-line referral counts to see whether AI-referred visitors scroll, engage, convert, or leave quickly, so you can compare which AI sources are driving valuable traffic. 
How do you see it. Microsoft posted these steps to access this data for your site(s):
Open Bot Analytics in the Clarity AI Visibility Dashboard. 
Review the AI Scrape-to-Referral Ratio card to understand overall referral return and operator-level performance. 
Check the coverage context to confirm your mapped domains are aligned across your connected data sources. 
Select a referral source from the card to open session recordings filtered for AI-referred traffic. 
Watch recordings to evaluate visit quality, including engagement patterns and meaningful actions such as purchases, sign-ups, or form fills. 
Use those insights to compare AI sources and refine how you measure the value of AI visibility for your site.
Why we care. Many site operators ask, is it worth allowing AI crawlers to access, scrape, and use my site’s content? Well, here is a new metric that puts a number on that figure, allowing you to be more informed about which AI crawlers you allow and which AI crawlers you disallow.
What is the ratio you are aiming for when making that decision? Well, that depends on the site, the business, and the purpose of the website.

This report shows you the AI scrape activity against referral traffic as a metric to help you determine of that bot activity returns value.

Microsoft Clarity AI Scrape-to-Referral insights report

<div><img width="1920" height="1080" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Link-building-works-better-when-you-think-beyond-links.png" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Link building works better when you think beyond links" decoding="async" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Link-building-works-better-when-you-think-beyond-links.png 1920w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Link-building-works-better-when-you-think-beyond-links-768x432.png 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Link-building-works-better-when-you-think-beyond-links-1536x864.png 1536w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Link-building-works-better-when-you-think-beyond-links-1200x675.png 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /></div>The strongest off-page signals aren't always followed links. See how content, PR coverage, and outreach can reinforce one another.

Backlinks have been a confirmed Google ranking factor for years. But have you ever seen ChatGPT pull up information from a site with no domain authority or organic traffic? I have.
LLMs clearly don’t weigh links the same way Google does. Yet a Semrush study found a strong correlation between the quality of a site’s links and its visibility in AI search.
Backlinks still matter for SEO and AEO, but acquiring them comes with caveats — low outreach reply rates, little control over how other sites link to yours, resource limitations, and the inevitability of link decay.
After six years of link acquisition experience across 90+ SaaS brands, I’ve found that three approaches — link building, linkable assets, and digital PR — work best when they support one another. Used together, they can help you become the central authority on the topics that matter to your brand.
How link building, linkable assets, and digital PR differ
I’ll use these three terms to name separate link acquisition approaches.
Link building involves asking for links. Whether you’re guest posting, restoring broken links, or trying to get links in brand mentions, there’s usually an explicit ask.
Linkable assets are pieces of content that naturally attract backlinks. You don’t ask for them. You earn them through the appeal of the content.
Digital PR is based on a story that grabs attention. You ask outlets to take a look at your story, not to give you links. Yet you can earn links as a result of your story’s newsworthiness.
Both link building and digital PR require proactive outreach, but the ask is different: links versus story coverage. Linkable assets can earn links on their own, though promoting them with digital PR can significantly increase the volume and quality of these links. And note that linkable assets are just one of the content types that can create PR-worthy stories.
Historically, link building success has been measured by the number of followed links and the quality of the linking sites (mainly based on domain authority and organic traffic).
But holding linkable assets and digital PR to that same bar is short-sighted. A brand mention in top-tier media outlets covering a relevant topic can be more powerful than a standard followed link. 
That’s especially true in AI search, where a study found visibility in AI Overviews has a stronger correlation with brand mentions (0.664) than with backlinks (0.218). This is likely why I now see link-building outreach used to request brand mentions, even if they carry no links.
Plus, linkable assets and digital PR create nofollow links and brand mentions, which you can then address through link building.
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The case for link building
Out of the three approaches, link building has the highest probability of driving links to your commercial pages. That’s because you have a level of control over what links you’d be receiving as you’re explicitly asking for them.
Some tactics, like guest posting, also allow you to control the context and anchor of your links, as long as they pass editorial approval.
But adhering to Google’s link spam policies makes it very challenging to scale link building, as Google condemns both link buying and excessive link exchanges. If you’ve come across a scalable link-building approach, it probably violates these guidelines.
Based on a 2024 Google Search document leak, we can infer that the search algorithm devalues the impact of poor backlinks or ignores them entirely. This strengthens the case for fewer, higher-quality links.
Despite all the challenges, I view link building as an essential element of a well-rounded link acquisition strategy. It’s one to use with caution and rigorous quality control. When I use it, I target predominantly landing pages and converting BOFU blog posts because linkable assets and digital PR struggle to deliver such backlinks.
The set-it-and-forget-it linkable assets
There are different types of linkable assets. They fall into two broad categories: self-earning assets that attract links on their own and PR-promoted assets that you actively pitch through digital PR.
While there are no hard lines on what falls into one bucket or the other, I typically let linkable assets that are easy to produce deliver results naturally. This includes: 
Free tools such as a domain name generator or a mortgage calculator.
Top lists of people, companies, or software in a given industry.
Templates and checklists, such as an SEO audit template.
Statistical articles based on third-party data, such as a collection of stats from other companies.
All of these formats can deliver links on their own, as long as they gain visibility through search rankings or passive distribution to your email list, social following, or other existing channels.
Yet they don’t make good PR outreach material.
A free tool such as Canva’s business name generator is useful, so it’s no wonder it got close to 2,000 followed links from unique domains. Out of all these links, none come from a reputable media outlet. 
That’s not to say tools in general can’t earn media links. But they usually support a story a journalist is already writing, rather than being the story itself. This is how Canva’s image generator got featured in Inc.com and Fast Company as part of a broader story about AI.




Third-party statistical data runs into the same limitation. It works like a charm in earning natural links because tracking down a data point’s original source is often difficult. So, many writers default to linking to the first current stat they find. 
That’s how, at my company, we recently got a link in a U.S. Chamber of Commerce article that has over 30,000 organic monthly clicks. But you can’t pitch this to journalists because the data isn’t originally yours, it’s just an aggregation.




Self-earning linkable assets are usually easy to produce and can reliably scale link acquisition. For consistent results, you can produce multiple assets targeting a variety of topics to cast a wider net. 
Also, to give your self-earning linkable assets an initial push and help them rank, you can get their first few links with guest posting or broken link building. As long as you keep your assets up to date, they can deliver links for years.
But self-earning linkable assets typically drive links only to themselves. They can’t deliver links to your commercial pages. A good middle ground is to create internal links from your linkable assets to your related commercial pages. This way, your converting pages will still get part of the asset’s link equity.
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Where digital PR comes in
Digital PR can involve promoting original linkable assets, but it can also include expert commentary, a founder interview, or an interesting take on something in the news. No matter the story you’re creating, you need something that will interest journalists, and ultimately, their audience.
Links from digital PR typically point to a linkable asset or your homepage.
Facing the unpredictability of digital PR
This tactic is scalable because a successful campaign can take off and be syndicated hundreds of times. Here, though, lies the biggest flaw of digital PR — its results are hard to predict. 
Even a seasoned PR professional can’t guarantee a campaign will land coverage. That explains how our study of what people build with Hostinger’s vibe coding tool received no backlinks at all.
The good thing is, a digital PR story doesn’t have to be a one-time push. You can keep updating your successful campaigns and relaunching outreach over time to continue getting coverage. 
For a campaign that flops, sometimes taking a different angle or tying to something happening in the news can spark attention.
The cost of digital PR campaigns
Your spend on a digital PR campaign can vary a lot, even when you’re working entirely with first-party data, such as proprietary data or an original survey.
Research based on data from your tool’s usage requires only data analysis and creation of visual assets that clearly communicate your key findings. A large survey, by contrast, can set you back a few thousand dollars.
Using a blended approach that draws on different data sources (first-party, third-party, and open data) typically helps you develop a strong methodology while keeping costs reasonable. 
For instance, at a SaaS company, we created a statistical linkable asset using the most recent third-party data. We then enhanced it with extra data points collected with Semrush and Google Trends.
Creating this asset didn’t require its own budget, but because it interpreted readily available data in a new way, it secured more than 50 links from unique domains, including Entrepreneur and Shopify. 




When it comes to surveys, you can take a small sample of niche respondents and then combine the insights with data from free sources such as Google Trends, online reviews, government statistics, or social media APIs to add more angles to your story. 
Here’s an example. Gusto surveyed 1,000 U.S. workers to uncover insights into job anxiety related to the rise of AI. Then, layering in Google Trends data for state-level insights, the team avoided the need for a statistically significant survey for every state. More than 40 unique domains link to this page.




  
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How link building, linkable assets, and digital PR work together
As AI search share continues to grow, brands need to think of their off-page efforts holistically. The goal is to build quality links while becoming the central authority on a topic and consistently getting mentioned in relation to it.
To achieve that, you need to put your eggs into three baskets: link building, linkable assets, and digital PR. 




Let’s illustrate how the three interact for an imaginary time tracking tool:
Link building can kickstart a linkable asset: You build a link from a guest post about team productivity to your linkable asset — a page with 50 productivity statistics.
Linkable assets can support your commercial pages: You add internal links from that statistics page to your time tracking tool’s landing page.
Self-earning linkable assets can become PR-worthy stories: You pitch the media with a story on how much time workers spend answering emails, based on your tool’s internal data.
Digital PR can create new link building opportunities: You reach out to the sites that covered your email-time story but didn’t link to it, and request the link.
Digital PR stories can become evergreen self-earning linkable assets: Your email-time story keeps earning links on its own, long after the initial outreach push ends.
All three approaches help you in traditional and AI search, building connections between your brand and the topics you want to be known for.
To track the impact of link acquisition properly, I’d recommend building out four views:
Referral traffic and revenue from links. 
Correlation between links acquired and a page’s performance in rankings, traffic, AI visibility, citations, and revenue.
AI visibility and citations of your linkable assets.
Overall brand visibility and citations, split by topic and market.
The ultimate goal is to own a topic. In other words, when someone is writing a well-researched piece on a key topic for your brand, you already have all the resources they might need.

The strongest off-page signals aren't always followed links. See how content, PR coverage, and outreach can reinforce one another.

Link building works better when you think beyond links

<div><img width="1920" height="1080" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Your-B2B-SEO-can-win-the-click-and-lose-the-consideration.png" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Your B2B SEO can win the click and lose the consideration" decoding="async" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Your-B2B-SEO-can-win-the-click-and-lose-the-consideration.png 1920w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Your-B2B-SEO-can-win-the-click-and-lose-the-consideration-768x432.png 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Your-B2B-SEO-can-win-the-click-and-lose-the-consideration-1536x864.png 1536w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Your-B2B-SEO-can-win-the-click-and-lose-the-consideration-1200x675.png 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /></div>The brands cited in AI Overviews can influence which companies buyers investigate next, even when no one clicks the source.

<div><img width="1920" height="1080" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Your-B2B-SEO-can-win-the-click-and-lose-the-consideration.png" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Your B2B SEO can win the click and lose the consideration" decoding="async" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Your-B2B-SEO-can-win-the-click-and-lose-the-consideration.png 1920w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Your-B2B-SEO-can-win-the-click-and-lose-the-consideration-768x432.png 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Your-B2B-SEO-can-win-the-click-and-lose-the-consideration-1536x864.png 1536w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Your-B2B-SEO-can-win-the-click-and-lose-the-consideration-1200x675.png 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /></div>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">A buyer can click through to your website after making an important part of the decision.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">An <a href="https://searchengineland.com/guide/google-ai-overviews">AI Overview</a> can explain a technology, compare approaches, and surface brands while the buyer is still researching the market. By the time they click a result, they may already have an idea of which companies are credible, which solutions are worth exploring, and which brands belong on the shortlist.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">For complex B2B purchases, that creates a gap between winning the click and influencing consideration. Traditional <a href="https://searchengineland.com/guide/what-is-seo">SEO</a> metrics capture the first part. They don’t fully capture the second.</p>



<h2 id="h-search-visibility-no-longer-starts-with-the-click" class="wp-block-heading">Search visibility no longer starts with the click</h2>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Traditional SEO reporting focuses on rankings, impressions, clicks, and sessions. These metrics still matter, but they no longer show the full search experience.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Consider a health care professional researching a premium pelvic floor chair. Their questions may include:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>How does magnetic pelvic floor stimulation work?</li>



<li>How do different technologies compare?</li>



<li>Which patients may benefit?</li>



<li>How can the treatment be integrated into a medical practice?</li>



<li>What should a clinic consider before investing?</li>
</ul>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Previously, the buyer would’ve visited several websites to build an understanding of the market.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Today, an AI Overview may summarize much of that information directly in the search results. The brands and sources included in the answer can influence which companies the buyer considers credible enough to investigate further.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This shift is already visible in our own search data. Several commercially relevant pelvic floor keywords now trigger AI Overviews, while PelviPower also ranks prominently in the traditional organic results, often in Position 1.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This creates a second layer of visibility to monitor. Ranking well is still important, but it’s no longer the only way a brand can shape the buyer’s first impression. Presence in AI Overviews is becoming part of the same competitive search landscape.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img decoding="async" width="1980" height="1306" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Semrush-data-showing-commercially-relevant-keywords-that-trigger-AI-Overviews-.png" alt="" class="wp-image-484775" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Semrush-data-showing-commercially-relevant-keywords-that-trigger-AI-Overviews-.png 1980w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Semrush-data-showing-commercially-relevant-keywords-that-trigger-AI-Overviews--768x507.png 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Semrush-data-showing-commercially-relevant-keywords-that-trigger-AI-Overviews--1536x1013.png 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><em><em>Semrush data showing commercially relevant keywords that trigger AI Overviews&nbsp;</em></em></figcaption></figure>
</div>

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<h2 id="h-zero-click-doesn-t-always-mean-zero-value" class="wp-block-heading">Zero-click doesn’t always mean zero value</h2>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">AI Overviews may reduce clicks for some informational searches. However, a search without an immediate website visit isn’t automatically worthless. A buyer may still:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Remember the brand.</li>



<li>Search for it later.</li>



<li>Recognize it in a paid advertisement.</li>



<li>Share the information internally.</li>



<li>Return when the project becomes commercially relevant.</li>
</ul>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This matters in long B2B sales cycles.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">A clinic or rehabilitation center will rarely invest in new technology after one interaction. Buyers need to understand the solution, compare alternatives, evaluate evidence, and discuss the investment internally.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">An AI Overview can become one of several trust-building touchpoints before the inquiry.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong><em>Dig deeper: <a href="https://searchengineland.com/b2b-brands-rank-google-appear-ai-overviews-480954">B2B brands rank in Google but appear in just 3% of AI Overviews</a></em></strong>



<h2 id="h-being-cited-is-different-from-ranking" class="wp-block-heading">Being cited is different from ranking</h2>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Traditional SEO asks: “Where does our page rank?”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">AI search introduces another question: “Is our content being selected as a supporting source?”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">A page can rank well without being cited in an AI Overview. A source may also be included even when it isn’t the first traditional organic result.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This means B2B content should cover more than one target keyword. It should answer the connected questions surrounding the buying decision.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">For a medical technology product, those questions may include:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>How the technology works.</li>



<li>Who it’s intended for.</li>



<li>How it differs from alternatives.</li>



<li>What evidence supports it.</li>



<li>How it fits into a professional workflow.</li>



<li>What training and support are provided.</li>



<li>What buyers should consider before investing.</li>
</ul>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img decoding="async" width="2048" height="634" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Googles-AI-Overview-for-was-ist-beckenbodenstuhl-scaled.png" alt="Google’s AI Overview for “was ist beckenbodenstuhl” / “what is pelvic floor chair,” citing PelviPower as a supporting source." class="wp-image-484779" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Googles-AI-Overview-for-was-ist-beckenbodenstuhl-scaled.png 2048w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Googles-AI-Overview-for-was-ist-beckenbodenstuhl-768x238.png 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Googles-AI-Overview-for-was-ist-beckenbodenstuhl-1536x476.png 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><em><em>Google’s AI Overview for “was ist beckenbodenstuhl” / “what is pelvic floor chair,” citing PelviPower as a supporting source.</em></em></figcaption></figure>
</div>


<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The goal is to build a connected set of useful content that demonstrates expertise across the topic.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong><em>Dig deeper: <a href="https://searchengineland.com/b2b-content-types-ai-search-engines-love-460918">5 B2B content types AI search engines love</a></em></strong>



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<h2 id="h-how-to-measure-ai-driven-traffic" class="wp-block-heading">How to measure AI-driven traffic</h2>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">To measure what happens after a user reaches the website, I still consider GA4 the most important source of truth. It shows how visitors arrive, which pages they view, how they engage with the site, and whether they complete meaningful actions such as submitting a form, booking a consultation, or triggering another key event.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">With traffic from AI assistants already grouped into a separate acquisition channel, marketers can compare it directly with organic search, paid search, direct traffic, and other sources. This makes it possible to assess not only the volume of AI-referred traffic, but also its value once users reach the website.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">GA4 helps answer an important question: Do visitors arriving from AI assistants behave like high-quality prospects, or do they leave without taking meaningful action?</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">However, GA4 shouldn’t be treated as the final source of truth for lead quality. It can show that a form was submitted, but the CRM is still needed to determine whether that lead became qualified, entered the sales pipeline, or generated revenue.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img decoding="async" width="1704" height="923" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/GA4-AI-Assistant-1.jpeg" alt="GA4 acquisition data showing traffic from AI assistants" class="wp-image-484780" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/GA4-AI-Assistant-1.jpeg 1704w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/GA4-AI-Assistant-1-768x416.jpeg 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/GA4-AI-Assistant-1-1536x832.jpeg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1704px) 100vw, 1704px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><em><em>GA4 acquisition data showing traffic from AI assistants</em></em></figcaption></figure>
</div>


<h2 id="h-ai-visibility-can-support-paid-search" class="wp-block-heading">AI visibility can support paid search</h2>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">AI Overviews shouldn’t be treated only as an SEO topic because they can influence how buyers respond to every subsequent marketing touchpoint.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">A potential customer may first encounter a brand inside an AI-generated answer while researching a problem, comparing technologies, or evaluating possible solutions. Even without clicking, that exposure can create familiarity and associate the company with a relevant area of expertise.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">If the same brand later appears in a paid search ad, the ad is no longer introducing an unknown company. It’s reinforcing a name the buyer may already recognize. That familiarity can reduce uncertainty and make the advertisement feel more credible and relevant.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This may affect several signals across the buyer journey:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Growth in branded searches.</li>



<li>Higher recognition in paid search results.</li>



<li>Stronger click-through rates.</li>



<li>Greater trust when users reach the landing page.</li>



<li>More effective competitor campaigns.</li>



<li>Increased direct traffic.</li>



<li>Greater brand familiarity during sales conversations.</li>
</ul>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The effect is difficult to isolate because AI exposure may happen days or weeks before the measurable click or conversion. A buyer may see the brand in an AI Overview, return through organic search, click a paid advertisement later, and finally submit a form through direct traffic.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Traditional attribution may credit only the final interaction, even though earlier AI visibility helped shape the decision.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">For this reason, SEO, AI visibility, and paid search shouldn’t be evaluated as separate systems. They influence the same buyer at different stages of the same journey.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">PPC performance often depends on trust that was created before the ad appeared. AI Overviews are becoming one of the places where that trust can begin.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong><em>Dig deeper: <a href="https://searchengineland.com/paid-search-ai-search-advantage-484301">Why paid search could be your AI search advantage</a></em></strong>


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<h2 id="h-search-visibility-should-influence-consideration" class="wp-block-heading">Search visibility should influence consideration</h2>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The objective shouldn’t be to appear in every AI Overview. An AI citation matters only when it reaches the right audience, answers a commercially relevant question, and helps move the buyer toward a decision.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">B2B marketers should focus on credible, evidence-backed content, clear subject-matter expertise, and visibility that supports a qualified pipeline.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">AI Overviews expand SEO&#8217;s role. Rankings and clicks still matter, but buyers increasingly form their first impression before reaching the website.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In complex B2B search, the conversion may happen on the site. Trust increasingly begins before the click.</p>

A buyer can click through to your website after making an important part of the decision.
An AI Overview can explain a technology, compare approaches, and surface brands while the buyer is still researching the market. By the time they click a result, they may already have an idea of which companies are credible, which solutions are worth exploring, and which brands belong on the shortlist.
For complex B2B purchases, that creates a gap between winning the click and influencing consideration. Traditional SEO metrics capture the first part. They don’t fully capture the second.
Search visibility no longer starts with the click
Traditional SEO reporting focuses on rankings, impressions, clicks, and sessions. These metrics still matter, but they no longer show the full search experience.
Consider a health care professional researching a premium pelvic floor chair. Their questions may include:
How does magnetic pelvic floor stimulation work?
How do different technologies compare?
Which patients may benefit?
How can the treatment be integrated into a medical practice?
What should a clinic consider before investing?
Previously, the buyer would’ve visited several websites to build an understanding of the market.
Today, an AI Overview may summarize much of that information directly in the search results. The brands and sources included in the answer can influence which companies the buyer considers credible enough to investigate further.
This shift is already visible in our own search data. Several commercially relevant pelvic floor keywords now trigger AI Overviews, while PelviPower also ranks prominently in the traditional organic results, often in Position 1.
This creates a second layer of visibility to monitor. Ranking well is still important, but it’s no longer the only way a brand can shape the buyer’s first impression. Presence in AI Overviews is becoming part of the same competitive search landscape.
Semrush data showing commercially relevant keywords that trigger AI Overviews 



  
AI recommends.
      
See your AI visibility
    
Zero-click doesn’t always mean zero value
AI Overviews may reduce clicks for some informational searches. However, a search without an immediate website visit isn’t automatically worthless. A buyer may still:
Remember the brand.
Search for it later.
Recognize it in a paid advertisement.
Share the information internally.
Return when the project becomes commercially relevant.
This matters in long B2B sales cycles.
A clinic or rehabilitation center will rarely invest in new technology after one interaction. Buyers need to understand the solution, compare alternatives, evaluate evidence, and discuss the investment internally.
An AI Overview can become one of several trust-building touchpoints before the inquiry.
Dig deeper: B2B brands rank in Google but appear in just 3% of AI Overviews



Being cited is different from ranking
Traditional SEO asks: “Where does our page rank?”
AI search introduces another question: “Is our content being selected as a supporting source?”
A page can rank well without being cited in an AI Overview. A source may also be included even when it isn’t the first traditional organic result.
This means B2B content should cover more than one target keyword. It should answer the connected questions surrounding the buying decision.
For a medical technology product, those questions may include:
How the technology works.
Who it’s intended for.
How it differs from alternatives.
What evidence supports it.
How it fits into a professional workflow.
What training and support are provided.
What buyers should consider before investing.
Google’s AI Overview for “was ist beckenbodenstuhl” / “what is pelvic floor chair,” citing PelviPower as a supporting source.



The goal is to build a connected set of useful content that demonstrates expertise across the topic.
Dig deeper: 5 B2B content types AI search engines love




	
	
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How to measure AI-driven traffic
To measure what happens after a user reaches the website, I still consider GA4 the most important source of truth. It shows how visitors arrive, which pages they view, how they engage with the site, and whether they complete meaningful actions such as submitting a form, booking a consultation, or triggering another key event.
With traffic from AI assistants already grouped into a separate acquisition channel, marketers can compare it directly with organic search, paid search, direct traffic, and other sources. This makes it possible to assess not only the volume of AI-referred traffic, but also its value once users reach the website.
GA4 helps answer an important question: Do visitors arriving from AI assistants behave like high-quality prospects, or do they leave without taking meaningful action?
However, GA4 shouldn’t be treated as the final source of truth for lead quality. It can show that a form was submitted, but the CRM is still needed to determine whether that lead became qualified, entered the sales pipeline, or generated revenue.
GA4 acquisition data showing traffic from AI assistants



AI visibility can support paid search
AI Overviews shouldn’t be treated only as an SEO topic because they can influence how buyers respond to every subsequent marketing touchpoint.
A potential customer may first encounter a brand inside an AI-generated answer while researching a problem, comparing technologies, or evaluating possible solutions. Even without clicking, that exposure can create familiarity and associate the company with a relevant area of expertise.
If the same brand later appears in a paid search ad, the ad is no longer introducing an unknown company. It’s reinforcing a name the buyer may already recognize. That familiarity can reduce uncertainty and make the advertisement feel more credible and relevant.
This may affect several signals across the buyer journey:
Growth in branded searches.
Higher recognition in paid search results.
Stronger click-through rates.
Greater trust when users reach the landing page.
More effective competitor campaigns.
Increased direct traffic.
Greater brand familiarity during sales conversations.
The effect is difficult to isolate because AI exposure may happen days or weeks before the measurable click or conversion. A buyer may see the brand in an AI Overview, return through organic search, click a paid advertisement later, and finally submit a form through direct traffic.
Traditional attribution may credit only the final interaction, even though earlier AI visibility helped shape the decision.
For this reason, SEO, AI visibility, and paid search shouldn’t be evaluated as separate systems. They influence the same buyer at different stages of the same journey.
PPC performance often depends on trust that was created before the ad appeared. AI Overviews are becoming one of the places where that trust can begin.
Dig deeper: Why paid search could be your AI search advantage



  
customers won’t either.
      
See your AI visibility
    
Search visibility should influence consideration
The objective shouldn’t be to appear in every AI Overview. An AI citation matters only when it reaches the right audience, answers a commercially relevant question, and helps move the buyer toward a decision.
B2B marketers should focus on credible, evidence-backed content, clear subject-matter expertise, and visibility that supports a qualified pipeline.
AI Overviews expand SEO’s role. Rankings and clicks still matter, but buyers increasingly form their first impression before reaching the website.
In complex B2B search, the conversion may happen on the site. Trust increasingly begins before the click.

The brands cited in AI Overviews can influence which companies buyers investigate next, even when no one clicks the source.

Your B2B SEO can win the click and lose the consideration

<div><img width="1920" height="1080" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/google-eating-traffic.png" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Google eating traffic" decoding="async" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/google-eating-traffic.png 1920w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/google-eating-traffic-768x432.png 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/google-eating-traffic-1536x864.png 1536w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/google-eating-traffic-1200x675.png 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /></div>AI referrals made up 1.1% of publisher visits after AI chats, with most traffic coming from direct visits and search.

<div><img width="1920" height="1080" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/google-eating-traffic.png" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Google eating traffic" decoding="async" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/google-eating-traffic.png 1920w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/google-eating-traffic-768x432.png 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/google-eating-traffic-1536x864.png 1536w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/google-eating-traffic-1200x675.png 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /></div>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">AI referrals accounted for just 1.1% of visits to news publishers after conversations with AI assistants, according to a new Scrunch study that tracked millions of searches, AI chats, and website visits.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Most publisher visits came through direct navigation or traditional search. Google AI Overviews mostly appeared on news searches that already generated relatively few publisher clicks.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>By the numbers. </strong>Readers were 20.5 percentage points more likely to visit a news publisher during the week after a news-related AI conversation than after a non-news conversation. The study compared each reader&#8217;s browsing history. Scrunch said the results do not show that AI created new demand, only that news-related AI conversations often coincided with continued news reading.</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Among those post-chat visits, about three-quarters came through direct navigation. </li>



<li>About 9% came from traditional search, and 1.1% carried an AI referrer. </li>



<li>Scrunch noted that referral data captures only the last click before a visit. It can&#8217;t reconstruct the full path across AI conversations, searches, and later website visits.</li>
</ul>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>AI Overviews appeared on lower-click news searches</strong>. News searches with an AI Overview generated publisher clicks about 20% of the time, compared with roughly 30% for searches without one.</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>When Scrunch compared the same query with and without an AI Overview, the gap shrank to about 2 percentage points. </li>



<li>The study found that AI Overviews most often appeared on news searches that already produced relatively few publisher clicks. </li>



<li>During the study period, AI Overviews appeared on about one in four news searches. They were most common for utility-style topics such as weather, market prices, and explainers. </li>



<li>Sports searches, which had the highest publisher click-through rates, rarely triggered an AI Overview.</li>
</ul>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Large publishers captured most follow-through visits. </strong>When an AI assistant mentioned a publisher that the reader had not included in the prompt, visits to that publisher increased by 10.6 percentage points the next day. They increased by nearly 20 percentage points over the following week, compared with similar publishers not mentioned in the same response. Scrunch described this as a routing signal, not evidence of causation.</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Major publishers accounted for 82% of publisher names volunteered by AI assistants and 97% of follow-through visits. </li>



<li>Mid-sized publishers made up about 17% of publisher mentions but received a much smaller share of resulting visits.</li>
</ul>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Why we care.</strong> If you measure AI&#8217;s impact only through referral traffic, you are likely missing interactions that later lead to direct visits or traditional searches. The study suggests tracking your visibility in AI answers alongside referral data to better understand how people discover your brand.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>About the data. </strong>The study analyzed millions of searches, AI conversations, and publisher visits from a privacy-safe, opt-in panel between February and June 2026. It measured page visits, not subscriptions, revenue, or time spent.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>The study.</strong> <a href="https://scrunch.com/blog/surviving-the-clickpocalypse-ai-eating-the-news">Surviving the clickpocalypse: What millions of search events say about AI eating the news</a>


AI referrals accounted for just 1.1% of visits to news publishers after conversations with AI assistants, according to a new Scrunch study that tracked millions of searches, AI chats, and website visits.
Most publisher visits came through direct navigation or traditional search. Google AI Overviews mostly appeared on news searches that already generated relatively few publisher clicks.
By the numbers. Readers were 20.5 percentage points more likely to visit a news publisher during the week after a news-related AI conversation than after a non-news conversation. The study compared each reader’s browsing history. Scrunch said the results do not show that AI created new demand, only that news-related AI conversations often coincided with continued news reading.
Among those post-chat visits, about three-quarters came through direct navigation. 
About 9% came from traditional search, and 1.1% carried an AI referrer. 
Scrunch noted that referral data captures only the last click before a visit. It can’t reconstruct the full path across AI conversations, searches, and later website visits.
AI Overviews appeared on lower-click news searches. News searches with an AI Overview generated publisher clicks about 20% of the time, compared with roughly 30% for searches without one.
When Scrunch compared the same query with and without an AI Overview, the gap shrank to about 2 percentage points. 
The study found that AI Overviews most often appeared on news searches that already produced relatively few publisher clicks. 
During the study period, AI Overviews appeared on about one in four news searches. They were most common for utility-style topics such as weather, market prices, and explainers. 
Sports searches, which had the highest publisher click-through rates, rarely triggered an AI Overview.
Large publishers captured most follow-through visits. When an AI assistant mentioned a publisher that the reader had not included in the prompt, visits to that publisher increased by 10.6 percentage points the next day. They increased by nearly 20 percentage points over the following week, compared with similar publishers not mentioned in the same response. Scrunch described this as a routing signal, not evidence of causation.
Major publishers accounted for 82% of publisher names volunteered by AI assistants and 97% of follow-through visits. 
Mid-sized publishers made up about 17% of publisher mentions but received a much smaller share of resulting visits.
Why we care. If you measure AI’s impact only through referral traffic, you are likely missing interactions that later lead to direct visits or traditional searches. The study suggests tracking your visibility in AI answers alongside referral data to better understand how people discover your brand.
About the data. The study analyzed millions of searches, AI conversations, and publisher visits from a privacy-safe, opt-in panel between February and June 2026. It measured page visits, not subscriptions, revenue, or time spent.
The study. Surviving the clickpocalypse: What millions of search events say about AI eating the news

AI referrals made up 1.1% of publisher visits after AI chats, with most traffic coming from direct visits and search.

Only 1.1% of news publisher visits come directly from AI: Study

<div><img width="1920" height="1080" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Most-AI-visibility-gains-are-just-technical-debt-repayment.png" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Most AI visibility gains are just technical debt repayment" decoding="async" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Most-AI-visibility-gains-are-just-technical-debt-repayment.png 1920w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Most-AI-visibility-gains-are-just-technical-debt-repayment-768x432.png 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Most-AI-visibility-gains-are-just-technical-debt-repayment-1536x864.png 1536w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Most-AI-visibility-gains-are-just-technical-debt-repayment-1200x675.png 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /></div>AI search may be making long-standing problems with site architecture, content, internal linking, and rendering more costly.


Everyone seems to be searching for the AI optimization trick. 
Should you implement an llms.txt file? 
Does your schema need to change?
Should your content be chunked for retrieval? 
Are you optimizing for GEO, AEO, or whatever new acronym the industry has decided to promote this week?
All of those questions assume AI introduced an entirely new optimization problem, rather than exposing the one your organization has been postponing since the last redesign.
After looking at how websites gain and lose visibility in AI-generated answers, I’m increasingly convinced that many of the improvements attributed to “AI optimization” have little to do with new AI-specific tactics. They come from fixing technical SEO problems that should’ve been addressed years ago.
Most AI optimization projects are really technical debt repayment projects with a more fashionable name.
AI didn’t create the problem
Every website accumulates technical debt over time. 
A redesign introduces duplicate URLs that are never fully consolidated. 
A migration leaves behind redirect chains and conflicting canonicals. 
Three different teams publish articles on basically the same topic without coordinating with one another. 
Navigation grows organically until no one can explain why certain pages exist or how users are expected to find them. 
JavaScript becomes more complicated with every new feature, while the people who originally built the system have long since moved on (or been moved on) and taken all the institutional knowledge with them.
None of these decisions look bad when they’re made. Each one solves an immediate problem, supports a campaign, satisfies a stakeholder, or enables a launch on schedule. The consequences of those choices emerge slowly. So slowly and subtly, in fact, that they’re remarkably easy to ignore.
Eventually, the site becomes slower, more fragmented, and harder to interpret. Authority is divided across multiple URLs. Important information is buried beneath design elements or interactions. 
Content teams stop knowing which page is supposed to be definitive. Search performance may remain adequate enough that no one wants to spend the money or political capital required to address the underlying problems.
Then AI visibility becomes a priority, and the organization concludes it has an AI problem. Usually, it has an architecture problem everyone has been politely ignoring for years, and AI has finally made that impossible.
AI recommends.
      
See your AI visibility
    
Search engines compensated for more than we realized
Google became remarkably good at making sense of messy websites. Its systems learned to interpret conflicting canonical signals, render increasingly complex JavaScript, identify relationships among pages, and evaluate topics even when the underlying information architecture was less architecture and more of an archaeological site.
That didn’t mean the technical problems disappeared. It meant Google could sometimes compensate for them well enough that the business didn’t experience an immediate crisis.
If a page continued to rank, there was little urgency to consolidate it. If Google could render the content, no one wanted to rebuild the template. If five similar articles each attracted some traffic, merging them felt risky. The fact that the system appeared to work became evidence that the system didn’t need to be fixed.
That tolerance let many organizations get away with things they should’ve corrected years ago.
AI retrieval systems create a different set of pressures because they frequently work with passages, sections, or smaller units of information rather than treating the entire page as the final product. 
A page may rank well and still fail to provide a clean, useful passage for an AI-generated answer. Content may be accessible to Google while remaining awkward to extract, summarize, or attribute.
The website didn’t suddenly become broken. The systems using its information changed, and the old weaknesses became more expensive.
Dig deeper: Technical SEO for generative search: Optimizing for AI agents



Ranking and retrieval aren’t the same problem
Traditional search results generally present pages. AI-generated answers assemble information from multiple sources and may use only a small portion of any one page. That distinction changes how structural problems affect visibility.
A long article may rank because the page as a whole is authoritative and relevant. Yet if the answer to a specific question is buried inside a dense paragraph, poorly labeled section, or script-dependent interface, that passage may not be the easiest option to retrieve and use.
A topic spread across five similar articles may still generate organic traffic, but no single page establishes itself as the obvious source. An important product detail hidden behind a tab may technically be available to a human visitor while remaining a less reliable source for machine retrieval. A key explanation surrounded by unrelated calls to action, navigation elements, and promotional copy may carry less useful signal than a competitor’s much simpler answer.
In each case, the ranking system may have enough information to understand the page, while the retrieval system finds a competitor easier to use.
This is why strong organic performance doesn’t guarantee AI visibility. Ranking may get a page into consideration, but structure influences whether its information can be selected, extracted, and incorporated into an answer.
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Most AI visibility fixes look suspiciously familiar
When businesses ask why they’re not appearing in AI-generated answers, they usually expect the solution to involve some shiny new protocol, obscure file, or expensive tool with “AI visibility” in the product name.
The recommendations generally turn out to be much less exotic.
Consolidate articles that compete with one another. Improve the heading hierarchy. 
Strengthen internal links to priority pages. Remove obsolete or duplicative content. 
Make the primary answer visible near the beginning of the relevant section. 
Reduce dependence on JavaScript for information users and machines need to access. 
Clarify which page owns each topic. 
Improve performance so the content can be retrieved efficiently.
None of this is remotely new. These are ordinary technical and on-page SEO practices. What’s changed is the consequence of leaving the work unfinished.
A site with weak internal linking was always harder to crawl and understand. 
A site with overlapping content always divided its own authority. 
A site that hid essential information behind interactions always created accessibility and indexing risks. 
AI search didn’t invent these weaknesses. It introduced another environment in which they reduce visibility. This also explains why some supposed AI visibility successes look suspiciously like the results of a competent technical SEO cleanup. 
The organization consolidated its content, clarified its architecture, improved page performance, exposed important information in the HTML, and strengthened internal linking. Visibility improved, and the work was credited to an AI strategy.
It was an AI strategy in the same sense that repairing a leaking roof is a weather strategy.
Dig deeper: The biggest technical SEO time-wasters to avoid



Technical debt behaves like financial debt
Technical debt is easy to tolerate because it doesn’t arrive as one terrifying invoice. It arrives as a thousand small decisions, each of which seemed reasonable at the time.
Publishing a new article is easier than deciding whether an older one should be updated. 
Installing another plugin is faster than rebuilding a feature properly. 
Adding a landing page satisfies an immediate campaign request, even when three similar pages already exist. 
Leaving a redirect chain in place feels harmless because the URL still resolves and everyone has more pressing work to do.
Every shortcut saves time today by borrowing complexity from tomorrow.
Each shortcut looks inexpensive in isolation, which is how you eventually end up with a website held together by redirects, plugins, inherited templates, and institutional fear.
As the debt compounds, every future change takes longer, carries more risk, and produces less predictable results. 
Teams spend more time maintaining exceptions. 
Developers become reluctant to touch old templates. 
Content editors build workarounds because the CMS no longer supports the way the organization actually publishes. 
Eventually, nobody fully understands the system, but everyone agrees it’s too dangerous to change.
By the time AI visibility becomes a concern, the business isn’t starting from a clean technical foundation. It’s adding another requirement to a system already carrying years of unresolved debt.
The resulting project gets called AI optimization, but much of the budget is spent correcting choices made long before AI Overviews or ChatGPT search existed.
Start with the old questions
AI-specific enhancements can still be useful. Schema may clarify relationships and reduce ambiguity. An llms.txt file may help direct systems toward selected resources. New monitoring tools can reveal whether and how a brand appears in AI-generated answers.
None of those tools, however, can compensate for a website that no one inside the company fully understands anymore.
Before investing heavily in an AI visibility initiative, start with less glamorous questions:
How many pages cover substantially the same topic?
Which URLs are still receiving internal links despite no longer serving a clear purpose?
Are the most important answers visible in the HTML, or do they depend on tabs, accordions, or client-side rendering?
Does the heading structure accurately describe what each section contains?
Can a new employee identify the authoritative page for a core subject without asking three departments and receiving four answers?
It’s also worth examining whether years of content production have created more volume than value. Many sites have hundreds or thousands of articles that were published to satisfy keyword calendars but were never maintained, consolidated, or incorporated into a larger information architecture. Those pages now compete for crawl attention, internal authority, topical clarity, and retrieval eligibility.
Adding another 50 “AI-optimized” articles to that environment isn’t a strategy. It’s taking out another loan.
Dig deeper: 4 ways to strengthen buy-in for technical SEO work



AI doesn’t require perfection
None of this means a site must be technically flawless before it can appear in AI-generated answers. Few websites are flawless, and retrieval systems aren’t evaluating pages against an abstract standard of technical perfection.
They do, however, benefit from clarity. A page should have an identifiable purpose. Its important information should be accessible without unnecessary friction. Related content should reinforce rather than contradict or compete with it. Internal links should make the hierarchy visible. The language should clearly communicate what question the page answers and why the source is credible.
These aren’t futuristic requirements. They’re the characteristics of a competently managed website, which apparently now qualifies as an AI strategy.
The difference is that organizations can no longer assume search systems will compensate indefinitely for structural confusion. As search experiences become more dependent on retrieval and synthesis, the cost of ambiguity rises.
Dig deeper: Technical SEO testing: How to build a stronger experiment



  
customers won’t either.
      
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Your AI strategy may be the maintenance strategy
There will be genuinely new techniques for AI search. Retrieval systems will continue to evolve, new standards will emerge, and some tactics that appear speculative today may eventually become routine.
Even so, many companies are overestimating how much of their future visibility depends on discovering the next tactic. The organizations that perform well may simply be the ones disciplined enough to finish the technical work they’ve been postponing.
AI didn’t create that duplicate content, fragment your topic clusters, cause your inconsistent internal linking and unnecessary JavaScript dependencies, or confuse your site architecture. It didn’t force anyone to publish six pages where one authoritative resource would have been stronger.
Those problems were already there. AI simply reduced the amount of compensation websites could expect from the systems attempting to interpret them.
Before creating a separate AI optimization roadmap, look closely at the technical SEO backlog. You may find that the fastest path to better AI visibility isn’t a new initiative at all.
It may simply be time to pay off the technical debt everyone agreed was “fine for now” after the last migration.

AI search may be making long-standing problems with site architecture, content, internal linking, and rendering more costly.

Most AI visibility gains are just technical debt repayment

<div><img width="1920" height="1080" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Why-SEO-uncertainty-is-creating-opportunities-for-challengers.png" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Why-SEO-uncertainty-is-creating-opportunities-for-challengers.png 1920w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Why-SEO-uncertainty-is-creating-opportunities-for-challengers-768x432.png 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Why-SEO-uncertainty-is-creating-opportunities-for-challengers-1536x864.png 1536w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Why-SEO-uncertainty-is-creating-opportunities-for-challengers-1200x675.png 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /></div>When market leaders get nervous, years of competitive advantage become vulnerable. Search uncertainty creates an opening to close the gap.

<div><img width="1920" height="1080" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Why-SEO-uncertainty-is-creating-opportunities-for-challengers.png" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Why-SEO-uncertainty-is-creating-opportunities-for-challengers.png 1920w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Why-SEO-uncertainty-is-creating-opportunities-for-challengers-768x432.png 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Why-SEO-uncertainty-is-creating-opportunities-for-challengers-1536x864.png 1536w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Why-SEO-uncertainty-is-creating-opportunities-for-challengers-1200x675.png 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /></div>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">We’re well beyond the halfway point of 2026, and businesses are getting nervous. Me? I’m watching my <a href="https://www.seoforlunch.com/p/5-spicy-2026-seoai-predictions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2026 predictions take shape</a>.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Google is answering more questions today without sending clicks outside of its own platform. AI platforms are still the shiny object despite not yet delivering meaningful referral traffic. Attribution is still broken, and leaders are questioning whether SEO is still worth the investment.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Real talk:</strong> I’ve watched two clients of mine respond very differently to the current Google climate. One is taking its foot off the gas because it isn’t seeing the same ROI as it did in the past. The other is doubling down, seeing an opportunity to challenge a competitor that has dominated their market for more than a decade.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Both decisions, without a doubt, involve risk. The difference is that one business is focused on <strong>what it could lose</strong> by continuing to invest, while the other is focused on <strong>what it could gain</strong> while everyone else pulls back.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.seoforlunch.com/embed" rel="noopener noreferrer">View embedded content</a>



<h2 id="h-stable-markets-protect-market-leaders" class="wp-block-heading">Stable markets protect market leaders</h2>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Catching a market leader under normal conditions is insanely difficult. They have stronger brand recognition, larger content libraries, better backlink profiles, more first-party data, and years of customer reviews and third-party validation. Oh, they also have those large budgets, teams, and historical performance data to keep building on those advantages. <em>Gulp!</em>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">When everyone plays by the same rules, the leader’s head start continues to compound. Publishing a few more articles or improving several category pages won’t erase years of accumulated authority. At best, you may prevent the gap from growing.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">To close it, you need more than good intentions and executing Brian Dean’s legendary <a href="https://backlinko.com/skyscraper-technique" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Skyscraper Method</a>. You need the market itself (<em>and what it rewards)</em> to change.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">That is exactly what is happening now!</p>



<h2 id="h-doubt-creates-opportunity" class="wp-block-heading">Doubt creates opportunity</h2>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Search behavior no longer exists entirely within Google’s ecosystem. Buyers have more ways to find answers, and no business has completely figured out <a href="https://www.seoforlunch.com/p/beyond-google" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how to win across all of them</a>.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">That uncertainty weakens some of the advantages market leaders spent years building. Their content libraries, reporting models, and <a href="https://www.seoforlunch.com/p/seo-expert" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proven playbooks were designed</a> with scale <em>(but also for a more predictable search environment).</em>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Funny enough, the size and legacy that helped these companies dominate may now slow them down. They have more outdated content to reassess, more stakeholders to convince, stricter measurement requirements, and more existing revenue they’re afraid to disrupt. Investing in an unknown channel is difficult when every dollar must immediately prove a direct return.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The market leader is still ahead, and you won’t overtake them overnight. But we’re no longer running on a straight track. The course has changed, and everyone is learning it at the same time. <em>(This should get you excited, unless you&#8217;re the big company…)</em>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">That creates an opportunity to close the gap faster than a <em>“stable”</em> market ever would.</p>



<h2 id="h-you-don-t-need-to-recreate-their-last-five-years" class="wp-block-heading">You don’t need to recreate their last five years</h2>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Closing the gap doesn’t mean recreating everything the market leader did/does. You don’t need to match them article for article, backlink for backlink, or keyword for keyword. Much of what worked over the past five years will <em>likely</em> not deliver the same value over the next five.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Instead, invest in assets that matter! Get it in front of wherever your customers search, research, and make decisions:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Original research and proprietary data.</li>



<li>Recognizable subject-matter experts.</li>



<li>Firsthand experience and credible opinions.</li>



<li>Strong product, service, and category insights.</li>



<li>Customer reviews, case studies, and other proof. <em>(Yes, this is SEO!)</em></li>



<li>Traditional and digital PR.</li>



<li>Clean technical foundations and accessible structured information.</li>



<li>Content people actively seek, reference, and recommend. <em>(No, not search volume. I’d be OK if we never talked search volume ever again.)</em></li>
</ul>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">These aren’t “SEO assets” or “GEO assets.” They’re evidence that your business deserves to be discovered, cited, and trusted. This is not an E-E-A-T play to improve SEO/GEO. Legitimate value that generates brand champions, with the result being organic visibility.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img decoding="async" width="1024" height="559" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Legacy-vs-brand-champion-image-generated-via-Gemini.jpeg" alt="Legacy vs brand champion image generated via Gemini" class="wp-image-484753" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Legacy-vs-brand-champion-image-generated-via-Gemini.jpeg 1024w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Legacy-vs-brand-champion-image-generated-via-Gemini-768x419.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><em>Legacy vs brand champion image generated via Gemini</em></figcaption></figure>
</div>


<p class="wp-block-paragraph">You don’t have to recreate the leader’s past. You need to build for where the market is <strong>TODAY!</strong>



<h2 id="h-stop-using-referral-traffic-as-the-only-scoreboard" class="wp-block-heading">Stop using referral traffic as the only scoreboard</h2>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Here’s the uncomfortable truth: AI platforms may not send meaningful referral traffic anytime soon, and you can ignore Google’s claims about <a href="https://www.seoforlunch.com/p/dear-google" target="_blank" rel="noopener">clicks being the same</a>.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">That doesn’t make visibility <em>worthless</em>. It makes referral traffic an incomplete measurement. <a href="https://www.seoforlunch.com/p/seo-attribution" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Attribution has always screwed organic marketing</a>, so not really anything “<em>new</em>” here.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Clicks still matter. But so do branded search demand, direct traffic, assisted conversions, mentions and citations, answer visibility, and sales conversations influenced by content. We should also measure whether the traffic we still earn converts at a higher rate because <a href="https://www.seoforlunch.com/p/measuring-seo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">customers encountered the brand throughout their research.</a>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The goal isn’t to invent softer metrics to excuse declining traffic. It’s to recognize that last-click sessions alone no longer capture visibility’s <a href="https://www.seoforlunch.com/p/performance-narratives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">full impact on customer decisions</a>.</p>



<h2 id="h-the-biggest-risk-is-waiting-with-everyone-else" class="wp-block-heading">The biggest risk is waiting with everyone else</h2>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Waiting feels <em>safe</em> when your competitors are just as uncertain as you are. But when everyone pauses, even smaller <em>(but very intentional)</em> investments can create an outsized advantage.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Any Warren Buffett fans? His most quoted advice feels especially relevant right now:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><em>“Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful”</em></li>
</ul>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This isn’t an argument for <a href="https://www.seoforlunch.com/p/blind-trust?" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blindly going all in on AI</a>, publishing 100x content, or paying someone <a href="https://www.seoforlunch.com/p/ai-guarantees" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promising you “AI rankings”</a>. It’s about investing in the research, expertise, customer proof, brand recognition, and technical foundations your competitors will <em>wish</em> they had once the market becomes clearer.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">By then, those assets won’t be something a competitor can beat by publishing a slightly longer article with one or two more data points. These become defensible resources that are expensive and time-consuming to replicate <em>(which means 99% of your competitors won’t even try)</em>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Uncertainty doesn’t eliminate risk. It gives you a choice between the <em>risk of investing now</em> and <em>the risk of falling further behind</em>.</p>



<h2 id="h-build-for-the-next-five-years" class="wp-block-heading">Build for the next five years</h2>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">You probably can’t outspend the market leader or recreate what made them successful overnight. You certainly won’t close the gap by copying their playbook and seeking out <a href="https://www.seoforlunch.com/p/ai-shortcut" target="_blank" rel="noopener">easy button shortcut solutions</a>.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">You may never have a better opportunity than when customer behavior is shifting, proven strategies are breaking, and everyone else is <em>waiting</em> for certainty.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">You don’t need to recreate the previous 50 years.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">You need to start winning the <strong>next</strong> five.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Sure, keep firing your marketing team for short-term P&amp;L wins. Your competitors could use the help to put you out of business.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><em>This post first appeared on the author’s website and is republished here with permission.</em>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter"><a href="https://seoforlunch.com/?utm_source=searchengineland.com&amp;utm_medium=social"><img decoding="async" width="1774" height="887" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/05/leroy2.jpg.webp" alt="Leroy2" class="wp-image-476987" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/05/leroy2.jpg 1774w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/05/leroy2-768x384.jpg 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/05/leroy2-1536x768.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1774px) 100vw, 1774px" /></a></figure>
</div>

We’re well beyond the halfway point of 2026, and businesses are getting nervous. Me? I’m watching my 2026 predictions take shape.
Google is answering more questions today without sending clicks outside of its own platform. AI platforms are still the shiny object despite not yet delivering meaningful referral traffic. Attribution is still broken, and leaders are questioning whether SEO is still worth the investment.
Real talk: I’ve watched two clients of mine respond very differently to the current Google climate. One is taking its foot off the gas because it isn’t seeing the same ROI as it did in the past. The other is doubling down, seeing an opportunity to challenge a competitor that has dominated their market for more than a decade.
Both decisions, without a doubt, involve risk. The difference is that one business is focused on what it could lose by continuing to invest, while the other is focused on what it could gain while everyone else pulls back.
View embedded content



Stable markets protect market leaders
Catching a market leader under normal conditions is insanely difficult. They have stronger brand recognition, larger content libraries, better backlink profiles, more first-party data, and years of customer reviews and third-party validation. Oh, they also have those large budgets, teams, and historical performance data to keep building on those advantages. Gulp!



When everyone plays by the same rules, the leader’s head start continues to compound. Publishing a few more articles or improving several category pages won’t erase years of accumulated authority. At best, you may prevent the gap from growing.
To close it, you need more than good intentions and executing Brian Dean’s legendary Skyscraper Method. You need the market itself (and what it rewards) to change.
That is exactly what is happening now!
Doubt creates opportunity
Search behavior no longer exists entirely within Google’s ecosystem. Buyers have more ways to find answers, and no business has completely figured out how to win across all of them.
That uncertainty weakens some of the advantages market leaders spent years building. Their content libraries, reporting models, and proven playbooks were designed with scale (but also for a more predictable search environment).



Funny enough, the size and legacy that helped these companies dominate may now slow them down. They have more outdated content to reassess, more stakeholders to convince, stricter measurement requirements, and more existing revenue they’re afraid to disrupt. Investing in an unknown channel is difficult when every dollar must immediately prove a direct return.
The market leader is still ahead, and you won’t overtake them overnight. But we’re no longer running on a straight track. The course has changed, and everyone is learning it at the same time. (This should get you excited, unless you’re the big company…)



That creates an opportunity to close the gap faster than a “stable” market ever would.
You don’t need to recreate their last five years
Closing the gap doesn’t mean recreating everything the market leader did/does. You don’t need to match them article for article, backlink for backlink, or keyword for keyword. Much of what worked over the past five years will likely not deliver the same value over the next five.
Instead, invest in assets that matter! Get it in front of wherever your customers search, research, and make decisions:
Original research and proprietary data.
Recognizable subject-matter experts.
Firsthand experience and credible opinions.
Strong product, service, and category insights.
Customer reviews, case studies, and other proof. (Yes, this is SEO!)
Traditional and digital PR.
Clean technical foundations and accessible structured information.
Content people actively seek, reference, and recommend. (No, not search volume. I’d be OK if we never talked search volume ever again.)
These aren’t “SEO assets” or “GEO assets.” They’re evidence that your business deserves to be discovered, cited, and trusted. This is not an E-E-A-T play to improve SEO/GEO. Legitimate value that generates brand champions, with the result being organic visibility.
Legacy vs brand champion image generated via Gemini



You don’t have to recreate the leader’s past. You need to build for where the market is TODAY!



Stop using referral traffic as the only scoreboard
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: AI platforms may not send meaningful referral traffic anytime soon, and you can ignore Google’s claims about clicks being the same.
That doesn’t make visibility worthless. It makes referral traffic an incomplete measurement. Attribution has always screwed organic marketing, so not really anything “new” here.
Clicks still matter. But so do branded search demand, direct traffic, assisted conversions, mentions and citations, answer visibility, and sales conversations influenced by content. We should also measure whether the traffic we still earn converts at a higher rate because customers encountered the brand throughout their research.



The goal isn’t to invent softer metrics to excuse declining traffic. It’s to recognize that last-click sessions alone no longer capture visibility’s full impact on customer decisions.
The biggest risk is waiting with everyone else
Waiting feels safe when your competitors are just as uncertain as you are. But when everyone pauses, even smaller (but very intentional) investments can create an outsized advantage.
Any Warren Buffett fans? His most quoted advice feels especially relevant right now:
“Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful”
This isn’t an argument for blindly going all in on AI, publishing 100x content, or paying someone promising you “AI rankings”. It’s about investing in the research, expertise, customer proof, brand recognition, and technical foundations your competitors will wish they had once the market becomes clearer.
By then, those assets won’t be something a competitor can beat by publishing a slightly longer article with one or two more data points. These become defensible resources that are expensive and time-consuming to replicate (which means 99% of your competitors won’t even try)



Uncertainty doesn’t eliminate risk. It gives you a choice between the risk of investing now and the risk of falling further behind.
Build for the next five years
You probably can’t outspend the market leader or recreate what made them successful overnight. You certainly won’t close the gap by copying their playbook and seeking out easy button shortcut solutions.
You may never have a better opportunity than when customer behavior is shifting, proven strategies are breaking, and everyone else is waiting for certainty.
You don’t need to recreate the previous 50 years.
You need to start winning the next five.
Sure, keep firing your marketing team for short-term P&L wins. Your competitors could use the help to put you out of business.
This post first appeared on the author’s website and is republished here with permission.

When market leaders get nervous, years of competitive advantage become vulnerable. Search uncertainty creates an opening to close the gap.

Why SEO uncertainty is creating opportunities for challengers

<div><img width="1920" height="1080" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/toxic-link.png" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Toxic link" decoding="async" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/toxic-link.png 1920w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/toxic-link-768x432.png 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/toxic-link-1536x864.png 1536w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/toxic-link-1200x675.png 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /></div>The case could test whether businesses can use false advertising law to challenge harmful backlink campaigns.

<div><img width="1920" height="1080" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/toxic-link.png" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Toxic link" decoding="async" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/toxic-link.png 1920w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/toxic-link-768x432.png 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/toxic-link-1536x864.png 1536w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/toxic-link-1200x675.png 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /></div>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">A federal judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit alleging an auto transport company used toxic backlinks to hurt a competitor&#8217;s Google rankings.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Catch up quick. </strong>The June 2 ruling came at the motion-to-dismiss stage:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>The court didn&#8217;t decide whether the allegations are true. Instead, it found the plaintiffs had plausibly alleged a false advertising claim under the federal <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/lanham_act">Lanham Act,</a> along with trademark and related Illinois consumer protection claims. </li>



<li>The judge dismissed only the plaintiffs&#8217; California unfair competition claims.</li>
</ul>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph" id="h-alleged-toxic-backlink-campaign"><strong>Alleged toxic backlink campaign. </strong>Montway&#8217;s verified complaint alleges competitor Nexus AT LLC created more than 2,350 toxic backlinks between April and October 2025. The links pointed to Montway&#8217;s website from spam-filled sites using anchor text such as &#8220;buy steroids online,&#8221; &#8220;Payday loan services,&#8221; &#8220;illegal betting sites,&#8221; &#8220;Cocaine powder online,&#8221; and &#8220;unlicensed firearms.&#8221;</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Montway alleges the campaign aimed to lower its Google rankings and falsely associate its brand with illegal or unsavory products and services.</li>



<li>The complaint also alleges a former Nexus manager told Montway executives that Nexus CEO George Arkin directed an SEO contractor to carry out the campaign. </li>



<li>Montway further alleges it sent a cease-and-desist letter in October 2025 and that the backlink campaign intensified afterward. Those allegations have not been proven in court.</li>
</ul>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph" id="h-false-advertising-claim-survives"><strong>False advertising claim survives</strong>. Judge Matthew Kennelly found that the plaintiffs had plausibly alleged that the anchor text was literally false because it appeared to promise one destination but sent users elsewhere. He also found the alleged backlink campaign could qualify as &#8220;commercial advertising or promotion&#8221; under the Lanham Act. That allowed the false advertising claim to move forward.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph" id="h-why-this-ruling-is-interesting"><strong>Why this ruling is interesting. </strong>The decision focuses on whether an alleged toxic backlink campaign can fall under existing false advertising law. It doesn&#8217;t decide whether the defendants are liable.</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Rebecca Tushnet, a Harvard Law professor who writes about trademark law, <a href="https://tushnet.blogspot.com/2026/06/court-allows-tm-and-false-advertising.html">analyzed the decision on her 43(B)log</a>, questioning parts of the court&#8217;s trademark analysis while examining its approach to the false advertising claim.</li>
</ul>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph" id="h-why-we-care"><strong>Why we care. </strong>Companies that believe competitors are trying to manipulate their search visibility have traditionally had few options beyond reporting the activity to search engines. If this legal theory survives, it could provide another legal avenue to challenge SEO sabotage.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph" id="h-why-we-care"><strong>The case. </strong>You can read more about it on <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71776095/montway-llc-v-nexus-at-llc/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Court Listener.</a>


<a href="https://www.semrush.com/ai-seo/overview?utm_campaign=ic_sel_0102ai&#038;utm_source=searchengineland.com&#038;utm_medium=overlay&#038;onboarding=off" target="_blank">
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    <div>
      
      <div id="semrush-one-headline" class="headline-responsive">
        If AI can’t find you, <span>customers won’t either</span>.
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      <p id="semrush-one-subhead">
       Track your visibility across AI search, uncover missed opportunities, and grow your presence where customers are asking questions.
      </p>
    </div>
    <div>
      <span id="semrush-one-cta">See your AI visibility</span>
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A federal judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit alleging an auto transport company used toxic backlinks to hurt a competitor’s Google rankings.
Catch up quick. The June 2 ruling came at the motion-to-dismiss stage:
The court didn’t decide whether the allegations are true. Instead, it found the plaintiffs had plausibly alleged a false advertising claim under the federal Lanham Act, along with trademark and related Illinois consumer protection claims. 
The judge dismissed only the plaintiffs’ California unfair competition claims.
Alleged toxic backlink campaign. Montway’s verified complaint alleges competitor Nexus AT LLC created more than 2,350 toxic backlinks between April and October 2025. The links pointed to Montway’s website from spam-filled sites using anchor text such as “buy steroids online,” “Payday loan services,” “illegal betting sites,” “Cocaine powder online,” and “unlicensed firearms.”
Montway alleges the campaign aimed to lower its Google rankings and falsely associate its brand with illegal or unsavory products and services.
The complaint also alleges a former Nexus manager told Montway executives that Nexus CEO George Arkin directed an SEO contractor to carry out the campaign. 
Montway further alleges it sent a cease-and-desist letter in October 2025 and that the backlink campaign intensified afterward. Those allegations have not been proven in court.
False advertising claim survives. Judge Matthew Kennelly found that the plaintiffs had plausibly alleged that the anchor text was literally false because it appeared to promise one destination but sent users elsewhere. He also found the alleged backlink campaign could qualify as “commercial advertising or promotion” under the Lanham Act. That allowed the false advertising claim to move forward.
Why this ruling is interesting. The decision focuses on whether an alleged toxic backlink campaign can fall under existing false advertising law. It doesn’t decide whether the defendants are liable.
Rebecca Tushnet, a Harvard Law professor who writes about trademark law, analyzed the decision on her 43(B)log, questioning parts of the court’s trademark analysis while examining its approach to the false advertising claim.
Why we care. Companies that believe competitors are trying to manipulate their search visibility have traditionally had few options beyond reporting the activity to search engines. If this legal theory survives, it could provide another legal avenue to challenge SEO sabotage.
The case. You can read more about it on Court Listener.



  
customers won’t either.
      
See your AI visibility

The case could test whether businesses can use false advertising law to challenge harmful backlink campaigns.

Judge lets SEO sabotage lawsuit over toxic backlinks move forward

<div><img width="1672" height="941" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Google-adds-real-time-reporting-endpoint-to-Campaign-Manager-360-API.png" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Google-adds-real-time-reporting-endpoint-to-Campaign-Manager-360-API.png 1672w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Google-adds-real-time-reporting-endpoint-to-Campaign-Manager-360-API-768x432.png 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Google-adds-real-time-reporting-endpoint-to-Campaign-Manager-360-API-1536x864.png 1536w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Google-adds-real-time-reporting-endpoint-to-Campaign-Manager-360-API-1200x675.png 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1672px) 100vw, 1672px" /></div>Developers can now retrieve Campaign Manager 360 reporting data in real time with a single API request.

<div><img width="1672" height="941" src="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Google-adds-real-time-reporting-endpoint-to-Campaign-Manager-360-API.png" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Google-adds-real-time-reporting-endpoint-to-Campaign-Manager-360-API.png 1672w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Google-adds-real-time-reporting-endpoint-to-Campaign-Manager-360-API-768x432.png 768w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Google-adds-real-time-reporting-endpoint-to-Campaign-Manager-360-API-1536x864.png 1536w, https://searchengineland.com/wp-content/seloads/2026/08/Google-adds-real-time-reporting-endpoint-to-Campaign-Manager-360-API-1200x675.png 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1672px) 100vw, 1672px" /></div>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Google introduced a new <code>reportData.query</code> endpoint for the Campaign Manager 360 API, making it easier for developers to retrieve campaign performance data without generating downloadable reports.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The new endpoint is designed for real-time reporting, dashboards and ad-hoc analysis.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>What&#8217;s happening:</strong> The <code>reportData.query</code> endpoint allows developers to synchronously query campaign performance data and receive structured JSON directly in the API response.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Unlike the existing reporting workflow, developers no longer need to create a Report resource before retrieving data. Instead, they can define dimensions, metrics and filters directly in the request body.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Queries can run for up to 60 seconds, making the endpoint better suited for interactive reporting and real-time applications.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>The existing reporting API remains.</strong> Google says the traditional Reports service is still the preferred option for large datasets, scheduled reporting jobs and applications that rely on downloadable CSV or Excel files.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">That workflow requires creating report configurations, running reports, polling for completion and downloading the generated files.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Why we care</strong>. The new endpoint significantly simplifies reporting for developers building dashboards or custom analytics tools. By eliminating report configuration and file management, it reduces implementation complexity and speeds up access to campaign data.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Bottom line</strong>. <a href="https://ads-developers.googleblog.com/2026/08/query-report-data-with-campaign-manager.html">Google&#8217;s new <code>reportData.query</code> endpoint</a> offers a faster, simpler way to retrieve Campaign Manager 360 reporting data, while the existing Reports API remains the best choice for large-scale and scheduled reporting.</p>


<a href="https://www.semrush.com/analytics/traffic/paid-search?utm_campaign=ic_sel_0102ppc&#038;utm_source=searchengineland.com&#038;utm_medium=overlay&#038;onboarding=off" target="_blank">
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    <div>
      
      <div id="semrush-one-headline" class="headline-responsive">
        Every click they win is <span>a customer you lose</span>.
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        See where competitors are investing, which keywords drive their results, and how to capture more of the market.
      </p>
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      <span id="semrush-one-cta">See who’s stealing your traffic</span>
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    </a>



Google introduced a new reportData.query endpoint for the Campaign Manager 360 API, making it easier for developers to retrieve campaign performance data without generating downloadable reports.
The new endpoint is designed for real-time reporting, dashboards and ad-hoc analysis.
What’s happening: The reportData.query endpoint allows developers to synchronously query campaign performance data and receive structured JSON directly in the API response.
Unlike the existing reporting workflow, developers no longer need to create a Report resource before retrieving data. Instead, they can define dimensions, metrics and filters directly in the request body.
Queries can run for up to 60 seconds, making the endpoint better suited for interactive reporting and real-time applications.
The existing reporting API remains. Google says the traditional Reports service is still the preferred option for large datasets, scheduled reporting jobs and applications that rely on downloadable CSV or Excel files.
That workflow requires creating report configurations, running reports, polling for completion and downloading the generated files.
Why we care. The new endpoint significantly simplifies reporting for developers building dashboards or custom analytics tools. By eliminating report configuration and file management, it reduces implementation complexity and speeds up access to campaign data.
Bottom line. Google’s new reportData.query endpoint offers a faster, simpler way to retrieve Campaign Manager 360 reporting data, while the existing Reports API remains the best choice for large-scale and scheduled reporting.
a customer you lose.
      
See who’s stealing your traffic

Developers can now retrieve Campaign Manager 360 reporting data in real time with a single API request.

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Read the Latest Trends and Headlines in Digital Marketing.

Here are some of the latest headlines on digital marketing insights, search, and ecommerce:

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