BrightEdge

?? March 2025 Weekly Insights -- AI OVERVIEWS GREW 18%+ THIS MONTH SO FAR: WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOUR TRAFFIC! ?? BrightEdge Generative Parser? reveals Google's AI Overviews are rapidly growing in size! Just since March 1, we’ve observed a significant 18.26% increase in AI Overview pixel height in just two weeks, with some dramatic jumps in specific industries: ??? Travel: Massive 39.49% increase in AI Overview size ?? B2B Tech: Sharp 37.13% increase ?? Education: Substantial 35.49% increase ?? Finance: Notable 32.89% expansion This isn't just about real estate on the SERP—it's about your traffic and visibility! As these take more real estate on the screen, you can expect impressions increase while clicks and CTRs decline as AI Overviews continue to expand. But here's the crucial part—this development requires a TWO-PRONGED approach: 1?. Track Impact on Traffic Performance: Track how AI Overviews affect click-through rates and clicks even as impressions increase. This crucial data helps you differentiate where your regular search results need to be focused for maximum ROI. 2?. Optimize Citation Presence: As AI Overviews increasingly guide customer decision-making, ensure your content is cited and influencing how AI helps your audience. This isn't about losing traffic—it's about expanding and enhancing how you measure SEO's power! The result? Complete visibility into both sides of the equation: ?? Which keywords have AI Overviews providing the most answers to customers ?? Where your best opportunities exist for citation within these influential AI Overviews ?? How to adjust strategy based on industry-specific growth patterns As Google continues expanding AI Overviews—particularly in travel and B2B tech—your ability to track both traffic impacts AND citation presence isn't just nice-to-have, it's business-critical. BrightEdge customers can accomplish both of these strategies in one unified platform with Data Cube X and Google Search Console Reporting. Ready to gain complete visibility into how expanding AI Overviews are affecting your business? Let's connect! #SEO #AISearch #GoogleUpdates #SearchAnalytics #BrightEdge

?? The LLM race is heating with 'MULTI’-multi-model and reasoning advancements. The bigger picture is what this means for marketers. Is Perception the new reality? ?? ? In just the last few days: ? ? Google released Gemini 2.5, taking a big step forward in multimodal AI—combining text, code, images, audio, and video in one seamless model. ?? ? OpenAI rolled out major image generation upgrades, boosting quality, speed, and control—making creative workflows faster and more accessible than ever. ?? ? Multimodal AI is no longer a future concept—it's already transforming ? 1. The way marketers build and create content 2. How companies communicate with consumers 3. Critical shift in search mindsets. And the overall picture ? LLMs that drive AI-driven search aren't just surfacing your content—they shape Perception, sometimes before a customer even clicks. ??? ? For years, we measured success with impressions, traffic, and CTRs. ?? ? But now, AI summaries and chat responses influence trust and reputation in real-time. ? ?? Visibility is no longer enough. ?? ? We need to ask: ?? What is AI saying about us? ?? ?? ?How are we being represented? ??? ?? Are we part of the narrative—or getting left out? ?? ? The LLM race isn't just a battle between tech giants. ?? It's a wake-up call for every builder, marketer, and business leader to understand where this is headed—and how to stay ahead. ?? ? As these AI models get better at reasoning and making informed opinions about brands and products, is AI Perception part of this new reality? ?? ? #AI #LLM #OpenAI #GoogleGemini #MultimodalAI #FutureOfWork #Claude #Branding #Innovation #ChatGPT #DeepSeek #Perplexity ? https://lnkd.in/dsdMbTsY ? https://lnkd.in/dpBXeN4h

??Great sharing BrightEdge data & insights with Mark Sullivan at Fast Company on what Anthropic's entry into search means for search, brands, and the evolving AI landscape. Anthropic’s move to integrate web search into Claude is a game-changer. As more people turn to AI for product research, this shift could open new commercial opportunities. At BrightEdge, we’re tracking how AI-driven search impacts digital performance. Our data shows Claude’s referrals to websites jumped 82% month-over-month in February, outpacing ChatGPT and Perplexity. Adding these new entry points bodes well for further growth. Read more here: https://bit.ly/41X8dtZ #AI #Search #DigitalMarketing #Claude #Anthropic

?? Had a great conversation with Mark Stenberg at ADWEEK about how Google is ramping up AI Overviews and what it means for search traffic and visibility. BrightEdge data shows that AI Overviews now appear in 16% of all search queries—the highest since launch. As Google gains confidence in its AI-powered search experience, we’re seeing a ~50% drop in clickthrough rates when AIOs are present, changing how users interact with search results. As AI continues to reshape search, brands and publishers must adapt. Check out the full article for insights on what’s next: https://bit.ly/42eGSVg #AI #Google #Search #DigitalMarketing

???? Anthropic Adds Another New Entrant to the AI Search Race With Claude's Real-Time Web Search. The Big Question: A Parity Move or Clever Strategy, Tech Stack and Partnership Move? It was just last week ago that I posted on Anthropic and its $61.5 Billion AI Powerhouse.?? One of the key things mentioned was how its approach to market differed from many as it focused on content, coding, and enterprise businesses and partnerships with key investors like Google and Amazon, keeping a close eye on the coding and enterprise market.???? I also mentioned that its uniqueness lay in its no follower strategy to the likes of #ChatGPT and other technologies that focus on building out web search features for consumers. ?? At the same time, I also mentioned that "despite not being classified as a search engine," BrightEdge Generative Parser? in February detected an 82% month-over-month increase in organic website referrals. We also know that competitive and consumer pressure was mounting for a search feature.?? Things move fast in this market! ??♂??? ?? Anthropic Adds Real-Time Web Search As the news broke on yesterday, I spoke with MediaPost and Laurie Sullivan and shared my thoughts below. 1. For now, internet search capabilities are exclusively available with Anthropic's most recent model that powers Claude, specifically Claude 3.7 Sonnet. 2. Its current unique point lies in searching and sharing what it finds in a natural conversation. Claude will naturally become smarter by adding current information to what it already knows via its own crawler. 3. Expect more USPs in coming months – voice? 4. It looks like a move to a whole AI solution, not just content and coding, enterprise plays – direct-to-consumer. However, at the moment, it also raises more questions than answers.? 1. Will it use its proprietary index and public data or #Bing or #Google as time progresses? Today, #TechCrunch reported that appears to be using #Brave as a source. 2. Will it do more media deals for citations? 3. Will it go multimodal to compete at the top level? 4. Is this a signal that Claude is going for a Google-like all-in-one approach to AI? 5. How will this new feature change how businesses use AI assistants and search? ?? As AI platforms and search align, it's another signal of the search and AI multiverse that requires different search approaches for specific engines/platforms. It emphasizes the shift for marketers in terms of how they manage their brand discoverability and understand AI opinions and conversations, as well as measuring outcomes. ?? ?? Final thought Given the Google investment, will Google give them access to its search index? It's unlikely, but perhaps another source or partnership piece will come into the news soon. After all, the AI and Search space is full of surprises! https://lnkd.in/gXHue-h5

?? The Hidden Power of Deep Content in Google's AI Overviews. Are You Optimizing?The Right Content On the Right Pages?? ? ?? While we've long considered homepages the crown jewels of our websites, they account for just 0.5% of citations in AI Overviews! ? Our latest BrightEdge research has uncovered something fascinating about Google's AI Overviews that challenges some conventional SEO wisdom. ? The real winners? ?? Those *detailed, specialized pages* buried deeper in your site structure – accounting for a massive 82.5% of all AI Overview citations! ? It was great to catch up with Danny Goodwin on #SearchEngineLand to share insights and discuss what this means for marketers. ? Below is what our analysis revealed, with some key extracts on what this means for brands and website owners: ?? ? ·??????Deep content pages (two or more clicks from homepage) dominate AI Overview citations at 82.5% ·??????Primary category/product pages account for 17% of citations ·??????Homepages represent only 0.5% of citations ·??????86% of citations appeared for just one keyword ? Even more interesting is the scale of opportunity: ?? the median search volume for keywords triggering these citations exceeds 15,000 monthly searches, with 19% exceeding 100,000 volume! ? What this mean: ? 1. Your deeper content pages now have the potential to drive significantly more visibility than the long-tail keywords they typically rank for in traditional organic results. ? 2. In this new AI-driven search landscape, success isn't about chasing the latest development—it's about fortifying your entire site and content foundation. ? ??? When algorithms and AI scan for truth, they don't just peek through your front door—they explore every room in your digital home, seeking the hidden gems of expertise that make your content worthy of citation. ?? ? Every page now has the potential to be someone's first brand interaction. ? ? https://lnkd.in/gPYRxKgB ? ? Is your entire site ready for its moment in the spotlight? ?? ? #AISearch #SEO #DigitalMarketing #ContentStrategy #GoogleAI #DataDriven #SearchInsights #BrightEdgeGenerativeParser ?

?? ?? It's the 2nd most visited website globally AND is one of the top traffic referrers to other sites, BUT are you paying attention to the most critical YouTube trends? As #YouTube approaches its 20th Anniversary, today it celebrated being named #11 on Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies list for 2025. ?? Its evolution in this new era of AI has been quite remarkable! It was great to have my thoughts featured in Greg Jarboe's latest piece on #SEJ and three critical YouTube trends below. ?? 1. AI + Personalization = The Ultimate Power Move?? YouTube's AI-driven recommendations are more powerful than ever. Creators and brands that master hyper-personalization, A/B testing, and data-driven storytelling will dominate in 2025. 2. SEO, AI + Video: A Winning Combination ?? Data from BrightEdge Generative Parser? has found that video content now appears in 31% of Google searches, proving that YouTube isn't just a social platform—it's a search engine powerhouse. Marketers who optimize video titles, descriptions, and transcripts for SEO will have a greater chance of appearing in Google search results. 3. Cross-Platform Success is the Future ?????? The days of treating YouTube as just a desktop or mobile platform are gone. With the rise of smart TVs, YouTube Shorts, and AI-driven recommendations, brands need to focus on cross-platform analytics to understand audience behavior across devices. Look out for more YouTube Innovations Coming Soon?? YouTube updates 1/3 of its major features each year, and with its 20th Anniversary in sight, we can expect big announcements around April–May at events like IAB NewFronts (May 5-8) and YouTube Brandcast (May 12-14). Marketers who stay ahead of these shifts will have a competitive advantage. ?? Final Takeaway >> YouTube is no longer just a video platform—it's an ecosystem where brands, creators, and advertisers compete + its content will *influence* and *feed* into GenAI engines. The brands and creators that succeed on YouTube in 2025 will be those who embrace change, invest in innovation, and prioritize cross-platform engagement. Whether you're an advertiser, a content creator, or a digital strategist—the time to act is NOW. https://lnkd.in/ge-piDPV https://lnkd.in/gMCxpwMj #YouTubeMarketing #SEOAI #BrightEdgeResearch #ContentStrategy #SocialMediaGrowth

?? As Anthropic raises ?$3.5 billion at a $61.5 billion post-money valuation, what does Google's 14% stake mean for the AI Enterprise Ecosystem? Here are some observations I find pretty fascinating. ?? Last week, Anthropic announced it had raised $3.5 billion more in funding at a $61.5 billion valuation. Anthropic has quietly executed a disciplined enterprise strategy centred on coding capabilities - potentially one of the most valuable enterprise AI use cases. ?? Here is what I find super fascinating. 1. Google's Strategic AI Investments: TAM (Total Addressable Market) Footprint Google currently holds a 14% stake in Anthropic, having invested more than $3 billion across multiple rounds, with plans to add another $750 million in September. Despite having no voting rights or board seats, reports from the New York Times indicate that U.S. regulators have softened their stance, permitting Google to keep its investment in Anthropic.??? 2. Google and Anthropic: Competitive Players or Frenemy-like Partners ?? Google likely sees value in Claude's superior programming capabilities, with Claude's 3.7 Sonnet recently scoring 70.3% on benchmarks testing real-world software engineering abilities ?? Claude 3.7 Sonnet recently set new benchmark records for coding performance ?? Their new command-line AI agent "Claude Code" helps developers build applications faster ?? Cursor (AI-powered code editor defaulting to Claude) has reportedly reached $100M ARR in just 12 months ?? Enterprise coding revenue surged 1000% in the last quarter of 2024 3. Anthropic's Unique No Follow Strategy: An LLM for Enterprise Ecosystems: Unlike competitors rushing to match features, they haven't integrated web search into their app. This calculated omission signals their laser-focus on enterprise markets where coding capabilities deliver significantly higher ROI. ?? Claude is positioning itself as the LLM that matters most for businesses. It reportedly aims for $34.5B in revenue by 2027 - mainly driven by API business for enterprise coding applications.??? 4. Super Interesting Search Tandem: While its position may not suggest it is not a search engine, Anthropic's Claude has seen a significant uptick in organic search referrals to websites over the last few months. In February, BrightEdge Generative Parser ? found an 82% month-over-month increase in organic website referrals.?? #ChatGPT 29% #Perplexity 20% #DeepSeek 108% #Claude 82% 5. What it Means for The Market and the Competition ?? While most competitors are trying to serve enterprise and consumer markets with feature parity, #Google and #Amazon - and its $8 billion investment - have an extra pair of eyes on the coding and enterprise market. The New York Times https://lnkd.in/gjMY9tzU #ArtificialIntelligence #EnterpriseAI #SoftwareDevelopment #TechTrends #Innovation #LLMS #EnterpriseSEO?