Marketers are funding AI search visibility with real budget, but most still call the work SEO. A new survey of 343 U.S. marketing decision-makers found that 81% continue to use the term SEO for their internal AI search strategy, and 70% would search for either “AI search optimization” or simply “SEO” when looking for outside help. The work has moved from experimentation into planning, while the vocabulary buyers use to describe it has stayed close to familiar ground.
What the survey measured
The survey asked marketers how they describe, fund, and evaluate AI search optimization. The intent was to separate the language the industry uses to signal expertise from the language buyers use to solve a problem. The full set of findings is broken down below.
Most teams still call it SEO
Only 27% of marketing teams have formally adopted a term beyond SEO for their AI search work, while 42% have decided against a new term and 31% are still undecided. Half of marketers said they have researched a term they did not know after seeing it used by a peer or competitor.
Term adoption rises with seniority. Among directors and C-suite executives, 36% said their teams have moved beyond SEO. C-suite leaders were also the most likely to report looking up unfamiliar terms, at 56%.
New acronyms show up more often in leadership language. C-suite marketers use GEO at 28% and AEO at 17%, compared with 9% and 3% among individual contributors. C-suite leaders were three times more likely than individual contributors to reach for these new terms.
How buyers react to GEO or AEO in a pitch
- 42% said their reaction depends on how much context is provided.
- 30% saw the language as innovative.
- 22% said it had no impact.
- 7% said it made the vendor seem less trustworthy.
Excessive buzzword usage without a clear explanation was the top vendor red flag, named by 36% of marketers.
Budgets have arrived, even if strategy hasn’t
Marketers are now allocating 24% of their total search or content budget, on average, to AI search visibility. Up to 82% have committed at least some budget, and 43% are allocating more than 20%.
The teams investing the most are closest to performance measurement. SEO and performance marketing teams put a higher share of their budgets into AI search visibility than content and brand teams do. These teams are also the first to notice changes in impressions, rankings, traffic quality, attribution paths, and assisted conversions.
Where the budget goes by platform
- ChatGPT: 34%
- Gemini: 16%
- Claude: 6%
- Copilot or Bing AI: 5%
- Perplexity: 1%
- Undecided: 14%
Perplexity’s share is low despite the attention it draws in industry circles, which suggests platform priority inside marketing teams is more concentrated than the conversation online.
What marketers say is the hardest part
Speed of change was the top challenge, cited by 28% of marketers, ahead of measuring performance or visibility in AI-generated results (17%), identifying which AI search platforms to prioritize (15%), and the absence of industry standards or best practices (13%).
For agencies and internal SEO leaders, the implication is that the mandate is broader than another dashboard. Teams need a strategy that can evolve as AI search surfaces continue to change, and they need to know which sources those surfaces are pulling from, whether listicles, Reddit threads, analyst pages, trade media, YouTube transcripts, the brand’s own site, or competitor-owned content.
Case studies beat acronym fluency by 4:1
When marketers evaluate vendors, the signals they trust are familiar. Case studies with measurable, verifiable results were the top credibility signal, selected by 34% of marketers. Clear methodology followed at 22%, and team expertise or a demonstrated track record came in at 15%. Together, those three signals accounted for 71% of decision-makers’ top credibility choice.
Terminology fluency ranked at just 9%. The strongest pitch, the data suggests, is one that shows what changed, what was done about it, and how the work was measured.
Top vendor red flags
- Buzzword use without clear explanation: 36%
- Lack of case studies or trackable results: 21%
- Vague or unsubstantiated performance claims: 20%
- Repackaged SEO services with new AI branding: 16%
AI search is now part of how vendors get discovered
Two-thirds of marketers said they have personally used an AI search tool such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini to research or evaluate a marketing vendor or agency. Adoption was highest among the groups most likely to influence search investment: SEO specialists (89%), performance marketers (84%), and C-suite leaders (81%).
When asked where they start when researching AI search solutions or partners, marketers tied between AI search tools and peer recommendations at 34% each. Traditional discovery channels (Google Search, LinkedIn, industry publications, and trade media) came in at 22%, and agency review platforms like G2 and Clutch came in at 8%.
Vendor discovery no longer starts and ends with Google, LinkedIn, trade media, review platforms, or referrals. A prospect may search Google, ask peers in a Slack community, and prompt ChatGPT before ever filling out a form. Auditing the full discovery path, including what AI tools say, which third-party sources those answers rely on, how peers describe the agency, and whether case studies are visible enough to support the claims, has become a core part of how senior SEO teams operate.
What it means for agencies and in-house teams
Marketers are still using familiar terms and rewarding vendors who can explain the work clearly. What is changing is where marketers discover and validate vendors, and how much budget is moving into AI search visibility. The teams most likely to benefit are those that are easy to find and evaluate across Google, AI search tools, and the peer networks marketers already trust.
For teams that want a clearer picture of how their brand is showing up in AI answers, tracking visibility across AI search surfaces is now part of the same work as traditional SEO. NewSunSEO, which has been doing SEO in one form or another since 2001, treats AI search visibility as a continuation of the same practice: earning the sources AI pulls from, and proving the work with case studies marketers already know how to read.
FAQ
What did the Fractl survey find about how marketers describe AI search work?
81% of marketers still refer to their internal AI search visibility strategy as SEO. Only 27% of marketing teams have formally adopted a term beyond SEO, while 42% have decided against one and 31% are still undecided.
How much budget are marketers putting toward AI search visibility?
Marketers allocate 24% of their total search or content budget, on average, to AI search visibility. Up to 82% have committed at least some budget, and 43% are allocating more than 20%.
What do marketers look for when evaluating AI search vendors?
Case studies with measurable, verifiable results were the top credibility signal at 34%, followed by clear methodology at 22% and team expertise or track record at 15%. Terminology fluency ranked at just 9%, and excessive buzzword use without explanation was the top red flag at 36%.
Related coverage
- 7 SEO Myths Small Businesses Still Believe in 2026 (And What Actually Works)
- How User Experience and SEO Work Together to Rank Your Business in 2026
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