Marketers still call AI search SEO, study finds
Most marketing teams have not adopted a new name for AI search work, according to a survey of 343 U.S. marketing decision-makers by Fractl. Only 27% said their team had formally adopted a term beyond SEO, while 42% had decided against it and 31% were still undecided. Half of those surveyed said they had looked up a term they did not know after seeing a peer or competitor use it.
The vocabulary gap runs highest among senior leaders. Directors and C-suite executives were the most likely to say their teams had moved past SEO, at 36%, but also the most likely to have looked up an unfamiliar term, at 56%. When marketers hear terms such as GEO or AEO in a pitch, 42% said their reaction depends on how much context comes with it, 30% saw the language as innovative, 22% said it had no impact and 7% said it made the vendor seem less trustworthy.
Budget is moving regardless of the naming debate. Marketers now put an average of 24% of their search or content budget towards AI search visibility, with 82% committing at least some spend and 43% allocating more than 20%. SEO and performance marketing teams direct a larger share than content and brand teams. The top challenge cited was keeping pace with change, at 28%, ahead of measuring performance in AI results at 17% and choosing which platforms to prioritise at 15%.
ChatGPT is the platform most marketers target, named by 34%, followed by Gemini at 16%, Claude at 6% and Copilot or Bing AI at 5%. Perplexity was named by 1%, and 14% had not picked a platform. When judging vendors, 34% ranked case studies with measurable results as the strongest credibility signal, 22% chose clear methodology and 15% chose team track record. Terminology fluency came last at 9%, and 36% said heavy buzzwords without explanation were the biggest turnoff.
Reported by Search Engine Land ↗
Topics: ChatGPT, Gemini, Measurement