47 B2B SEO Statistics Marketers Should Know in 2026

SEO in 2026 looks different than it did even 18 months ago.

AI Overviews are eating clicks.

B2B buyers are showing up to vendor conversations with their minds already made up.

And the channels that drove results in 2023 are getting harder to rely on.

But that doesn't mean SEO is dying.

It means the way you approach it has to evolve.

These 47 B2B SEO statistics — pulled directly from primary research by Forrester, Gartner, HubSpot, CMI, SparkToro, and others — will help you understand where the real opportunities are and what to stop wasting time on.

Featured B2B SEO Statistics

92% of B2B buyers start their purchasing journey with at least one vendor already in mind (Forrester Buyers' Journey Survey, 2024)

This is the stat that should change how you think about content strategy.

Forrester surveyed 11,352 B2B buyers globally and found that the vast majority enter the buying process with a shortlist already formed.

41% have a single preferred vendor before formal evaluation even starts.

Your SEO content isn't just about capturing demand — it's about building preference before buyers even know they're in a buying cycle.

If you're not showing up with helpful, product-adjacent content early in the journey, you're already behind.

61% of B2B buyers prefer a completely rep-free buying experience (Gartner, 2024)

Gartner surveyed 632 B2B buyers in August–September 2024 and found that 6 in 10 would rather complete their entire purchase without ever talking to a sales rep.

73% of those same buyers actively avoid suppliers that send irrelevant outreach.

Your content has to do the work that sales used to do.

That means your comparison pages, product-led articles, case studies, and pricing transparency matter more than ever.

If buyers can self-educate, self-qualify, and self-select — and they prefer to — your SEO content is your best sales tool.

Website, blog, and SEO is the #1 ROI-generating marketing channel for B2B brands (HubSpot State of Marketing 2026)

HubSpot surveyed 1,500+ global marketers for its 2026 State of Marketing report.

For B2B brands specifically, website/blog/SEO ranked as the top channel for ROI — above paid social, events, email, and everything else.

Despite all the noise about AI killing SEO, the marketers with the data still put organic at the top of the list.

It's not about more content.

It's about the right content, positioned to convert the right ICP.

For every 1,000 Google searches in the US, only 360 clicks go to the open web (SparkToro/Datos, 2024)

Rand Fishkin and Datos analyzed clickstream data from millions of US and EU searchers in 2024.

Nearly 60% of Google searches end without a single click to any result.

And almost 30% of all clicks go to Google-owned properties — YouTube, Maps, Images — not to your site.

This doesn't mean SEO is broken.

It means informational, top-of-funnel content has a very different job now: building visibility and brand recognition rather than just driving traffic.

Your BoFu content — comparisons, alternatives, product pages — still gets clicks from people who are in-market.

That's where your conversion focus should be.

40.3% of US Google searchers clicked on an organic result in March 2025 — down from 44.2% in March 2024 (Datos/SparkToro State of Search Q1 2025)

This stat comes from the joint Datos/SparkToro State of Search Q1 2025 report, pulling from tens of millions of desktop users.

Organic click share is shrinking year-over-year as AI Overviews, People Also Ask, and other SERP features take more real estate.

In the EU, the drop was similar — from 47.1% to 43.5%.

The implication: traffic-based SEO KPIs are becoming increasingly unreliable.

Move your reporting to conversion-focused metrics — demos, signups, revenue from organic — and stop celebrating raw clicks.

89% of B2B buyers use generative AI somewhere in their purchasing process (Forrester, 2024)

This number from Forrester's 2024 Buyers' Journey Survey was described by Forrester analysts as "shocking."

Buyers aren't just using AI for discovery — they're using it across the entire purchase cycle, including vendor comparison and final justification.

B2B buyers are also adopting AI-powered search at three times the rate of consumers.

This means getting your brand cited in LLM outputs isn't a future problem.

It's a right-now problem.

Build authority through third-party mentions, category content, and reviews — the signals LLMs rely on to determine who belongs in a recommendation.

87% of B2B marketers say content marketing helped build brand awareness in the last 12 months (Content Marketing Institute, 2025)

CMI surveyed 980 B2B marketers (from a global pool of 1,186) for its 15th annual B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks report.

74% said content helped generate demand and leads.

62% said it nurtured their audience.

49% said it helped generate sales and revenue.

The channel works.

The bigger problem? 58% of B2B marketers rate their own content strategy as only "moderately effective."

Nearly half of those say the issue is a lack of clear goals.

Sound familiar?

86% of B2B purchases stall during the buying process — and 81% of buyers are dissatisfied with the vendor they ultimately choose (Forrester, December 2024)

This stat from Forrester's State of Business Buying 2024 report should give every B2B marketer pause.

An average of 13 people are involved in the typical B2B buying decision.

89% of purchases involve two or more departments.

Deals stall because of misalignment inside the buying group — not because the content is bad.

Your SEO content can help here.

Comparison pages, ROI content, use case articles, and case studies all give different stakeholders what they need to build internal consensus.

Nearly 30% of marketers reported decreased search traffic as consumers turn to AI tools (HubSpot State of Marketing 2026)

HubSpot's 2026 State of Marketing report surveyed 1,500+ global marketers.

Close to a third reported measurable organic traffic declines as users shifted behavior toward AI-powered search tools.

The fix isn't to abandon SEO.

It's to stop treating every article like a traffic play and start treating your content like a sales asset.

Product-led content — articles that demonstrate your tool as the solution — will hold its value better than informational fluff as AI answers more generic queries.

81% of B2B marketers now use generative AI tools — but only 4% say they highly trust AI output (Content Marketing Institute, 2025)

Adoption is high.

Trust is not.

Only 17% of CMI survey respondents rated AI-generated content as "very good" or "excellent."

54% use AI ad hoc with no workflow integration.

45% of teams still have no AI usage guidelines.

The takeaway isn't that AI is useless — it's that AI-only content is a race to the bottom.

Use it to assist your best writers, not replace them.

The brands building trust with their audience are the ones using AI to go faster while keeping the human lens in everything they publish.

Complete B2B SEO Statistics List

B2B Buying Journey and Behavior

1. 92% of B2B buyers start their journey with at least one vendor already in mind before formal evaluation begins. (Forrester Buyers' Journey Survey, 2024)
2. 41% of B2B buyers have a single preferred vendor in mind before any formal evaluation begins. (Forrester, 2024)
3. 61% of B2B buyers prefer a rep-free buying experience overall. (Gartner, 2024 — survey of 632 B2B buyers)
4. 73% of B2B buyers actively avoid suppliers who send irrelevant outreach. (Gartner, 2024)
5. B2B buyers spend only 17% of their total buying time in direct contact with potential vendors. (Gartner, 2024)
6. On average, 13 people within an organization are involved in a typical B2B buying decision. (Forrester, State of Business Buying 2024)
7. 89% of B2B purchases involve two or more departments in the decision process. (Forrester, December 2024)
8. 86% of B2B purchases stall during the buying process. (Forrester, December 2024)
9. 81% of B2B buyers are dissatisfied with the provider they ultimately choose. (Forrester, December 2024)
10. 74% of B2B buyer teams demonstrate unhealthy conflict during the buying decision process. (Gartner, 2024 — survey of 632 B2B buyers)
11. 35% of B2B buyers currently consult external influencers (analysts, subject matter experts) during their journey. (Forrester Buyers' Journey Survey, 2024)
12. Millennials now make up 73% of all B2B buyers and 44% of final purchasing decision-makers. (LinkedIn B2B Buyer Report, 2025)

Search Behavior and Zero-Click Statistics

13. For every 1,000 Google searches in the US, only 360 clicks go to the open web. (SparkToro/Datos, 2024)
14. For every 1,000 Google searches in the EU, only 374 clicks go to the open web. (SparkToro/Datos, 2024)
15. Nearly 60% of Google searches in the US end without a click to any result. (SparkToro/Datos, 2024)
16. Almost 30% of all Google clicks in the US go to Google-owned properties — YouTube, Maps, and Images — rather than the open web. (SparkToro/Datos, 2024)
17. 40.3% of US Google searchers clicked on an organic result in March 2025 — down from 44.2% in March 2024. (Datos/SparkToro State of Search Q1 2025)
18. 43.5% of EU/UK Google searchers clicked on an organic result in March 2025, down from 47.1% in March 2024. (Datos/SparkToro State of Search Q1 2025)
19. Google AI Overviews appeared on 13.14% of all US desktop queries in March 2025 — up sharply from January 2025. (Semrush, 2025)
20. Half of all consumers now use AI-powered search in 2026, and half of all Google searches include an AI Overview. (HubSpot State of Marketing 2026)

AI and the B2B Buying Process

21. 89% of B2B buyers are using generative AI in at least one area of their purchasing process. (Forrester Buyers' Journey Survey, 2024)
22. Almost 95% of B2B buyers anticipate using generative AI to support their decision and purchase process in the next 12 months. (Forrester, December 2024)
23. 90% of B2B organizations are now using generative AI in some aspect of their purchasing process. (Forrester, 2024)
24. B2B buyers are adopting AI-powered search at three times the rate of consumers. (Forrester, 2024)
25. AI-generated traffic for B2B sites currently represents 2%–6% of total organic traffic and is growing at more than 40% per month. (Forrester, 2024)
26. 61% of purchase influencers say their organization has or will use a private generative AI engine to support purchasing. (Forrester B2B Marketing Predictions, 2026)

SEO and Content Marketing Performance

27. Website, blog, and SEO is the #1 ROI-generating marketing channel for B2B brands in both 2025 and 2026. (HubSpot State of Marketing 2026)
28. 87% of B2B marketers say content marketing helped create brand awareness in the last 12 months. (Content Marketing Institute B2B Research, 2025 — 980 B2B respondents)
29. 74% of B2B marketers say content marketing helped generate demand and leads in the last 12 months. (Content Marketing Institute, 2025)
30. 49% of B2B marketers say content marketing helped generate sales and revenue in the last 12 months. (Content Marketing Institute, 2025)
31. Only 28% of B2B marketers say their content marketing approach is extremely or very successful. (Content Marketing Institute, 2025)
32. 58% of B2B marketers rate their content strategy as only "moderately effective." (Content Marketing Institute, 2025)
33. Only 1 in 3 B2B marketers has a scalable content creation model in place. (Content Marketing Institute, 2025)
34. 40.6% of marketers cite updating their SEO strategy for changes in search as a top trend for 2026. (HubSpot State of Marketing 2026)
35. Over 92% of marketers plan to maintain or are already using SEO optimization for both traditional and AI-powered search engines. (HubSpot State of Marketing 2026)
36. Nearly 30% of marketers reported decreased search traffic as consumers shift toward AI tools. (HubSpot State of Marketing 2026)
37. 70.2% of marketers believe they can adapt their marketing strategy to changes in organic search including AI Overviews. (HubSpot State of Marketing 2026)

AI Content Adoption and Trust

38. 81% of B2B marketers now use generative AI tools. (Content Marketing Institute, 2025)
39. Just 4% of B2B marketers report a high level of trust in AI output. 67% report medium trust. (Content Marketing Institute, 2025)
40. Only 17% of B2B marketers rate AI-generated content as "very good" or "excellent." (Content Marketing Institute, 2025)
41. 51% of B2B marketers using AI report a reduction in tedious tasks. 45% report more efficient workflows. (Content Marketing Institute, 2025)
42. 54% of B2B teams use AI ad hoc; only 19% have it integrated into their content workflows. (Content Marketing Institute, 2025)
43. 45% of B2B marketing teams still have no AI usage guidelines in place. (Content Marketing Institute, 2025)

B2B SEO Budgets and Investment

44. 79.2% of marketing teams expect at least a slight budget increase in 2026 over 2025. (HubSpot State of Marketing 2026)
45. 73% of marketers say their budget receives more scrutiny now than in the past. (HubSpot State of Marketing 2026)
46. 61% of B2B organizations planned to increase their technology spending in 2024 compared to 2023. (Gartner Digital Markets 2024 Global Software Buying Trends Report — 2,499 respondents)
47. B2B companies plan to invest most in AI chatbots and platforms (37.7%) as their top marketing investment for 2026. (HubSpot State of Marketing 2026)

Closing Thoughts

These stats tell one big story.

B2B buyers are more self-directed, more skeptical, and more AI-assisted than ever before.

They arrive with vendors already in mind.

They prefer to avoid sales reps.

And they're increasingly getting their answers from AI tools instead of clicking through to your website.

None of this means SEO is dead.

It means the playbook has shifted.

The brands that win in 2026 are the ones building visibility before buyers enter the funnel — through product-led content, category authority, and a presence across the sources LLMs actually pull from.

Traffic is the wrong metric to optimize for.

Revenue from organic is the only number that matters.

Start there, and build everything else backward.