As brands respond to AI search, walls crumble between paid and organic

"Unless you have that shared goal... your strategies are going to be at odds. Brands that have a strategy that integrates SEO and paid are going to be able to basically dominate whatever queries actually drive revenue for them. Meeting the moment meant moving on from old divisions in which the paid ads teams sits over here, and the SEO team sits over here, and they do not talk."

"Since Google debuted its Overviews feature in May 2024, brands have turned to SEO teams to understand changing search user behavior. All the data points that we're seeing is that those queries are significantly larger than they've ever been. They're much more contextual. In recent months, agencies have begun wielding organic and paid capabilities in closer coordination."

For nearly two decades, paid search and SEO operated as separate disciplines within marketing agencies. However, the emergence of zero-click search and Google's Overviews feature has prompted agencies to break down organizational silos and align these teams around shared client objectives. Agencies like Digitas and Barkley OKRP are restructuring to coordinate organic and paid search capabilities, using organic expertise to identify overlooked keywords and strategically bid against queries that trigger Overview summaries. This integration enables brands to dominate revenue-driving queries more effectively. The shift reflects changing search behavior, with queries becoming larger and more contextual, and over half of U.S. adults now using generative AI tools for searches.

Read at Digiday