SEO Experts Weigh In On What Adobe's Semrush Acquisition Means for Agencies

Adobe has just signaled where it thinks marketing is headed.

The software company's $1.9 billion Semrush acquisition has sparked debate across the SEO industry.

What comes next for agencies, enterprise workflows, and the future of AI search optimization?

Some see it as a bold diversification play, while others view it as a defensive move against AI tools that are chipping away at Adobe's creative software dominance.

To cut through the speculation, DesignRush spoke with seven SEO strategists and agency leaders about what this deal actually means for the people using these tools each day.

Their answers reveal a much more nuanced picture than the headlines suggest.

Don't Expect a Revolution Overnight

If you're waiting for Adobe to overhaul Semrush the moment the deal closes, you might be waiting a while.

Michael Melen, co-founder of SmartSites, doesn't expect immediate changes.

"Immediately — nothing. I don't foresee any significant changes from the acquisition at least until mid-2026," he said.

Ridge Anderson, Co-Founder of Rock Salt Marketing, agrees that Adobe will likely tread carefully.

"I anticipate that Adobe will look into improving Semrush's UI first and foremost," he added.

"Semrush has a lot going on and has a loyal user base, so Adobe won't want to shake things up too quickly."

The consensus among those we spoke with is that Adobe's priority will be integrating Semrush's data capabilities into its existing marketing cloud, rather than reinventing the platform itself.

Jessica Stanley, head of project management at Baunfire, sees this as a data unification play above all else.

"Expect tighter integrations between Semrush's keyword, competitive, and SERP datasets with Adobe's content, analytics, and automation tools," she shared.

"For enterprise marketers, this means better end-to-end visibility, from strategy to content creation to performance measurement, without stitching together a dozen platforms."

Will This Trigger a MarTech Land Grab?

When Adobe has paid nearly $2 billion for an SEO platform, the rest of the industry is most certainly taking notice.

However, will this acquisition push HubSpot, Salesforce, Shopify, and Wix to make similar moves?

The experts are surprisingly skeptical.

"This isn't anything new, and I don't think it will trigger a wave of acquisitions in the space," Anderson explained.

"I anticipate continuing to see acquisitions like this, but at the same pace we've always seen them."

Melen points to Adobe's acquisition history as evidence.

"Recall when Adobe bought Magento — this did not spring any further ecommerce platform acquisitions."

Stanley, however, sees it differently.

"We see Adobe as an early mover, not an outlier," she asserted.

"With AI reshaping the search landscape, every major platform is racing to strengthen its data graph."

"This move absolutely pressures HubSpot, Salesforce, and even Shopify and Wix to deepen their SEO and content intelligence capabilities, either through acquisition or deeper partnerships."

Trevin Shirey, VP of marketing at WebFX, frames it in terms of control over emerging AI visibility metrics.

"When a company like Adobe pays nearly $2 billion for an SEO platform, it sends a clear message to the rest of the industry.

Whoever controls the data on how brands get discovered in AI environments is going to control a huge piece of marketing spend over the next decade."

Irina Gedarevich, founder and marketing consultant at eSEOspace, sees the acquisition changing the benchmark for what clients expect.

"When a tech giant absorbs a much smaller SEO company, it raises the standard for everyone else.

Independent providers will need to deliver smarter tools and clearer results to stay competitive. The bar for performance just became higher.”

The Workflow Promise and the Lock-In Risk

For agencies already embedded in Adobe's ecosystem, this acquisition could streamline fragmented SEO workflows into something more unified.

"Those on the Adobe Marketing Cloud will experience better integrated systems," Melen said. "Not so much for everyone else."

Ryan Duncan, Chief SEO Architect at Funnel Boost Media, sees both opportunity and concern in consolidation.

"The upside is a more unified workflow across research, content, and analytics," he commented.

"The concern is that consolidation often leads to enterprise-level pricing and fewer choices for smaller teams."

Adobe's subscription model has drawn criticism from industry voices for its pricing structure and cancellation policies, but whether this will extend to Semrush remains to be seen.

Stanley puts a timeline on when we'll know the answer.

"The next 24 months will determine whether Adobe keeps Semrush open or closes the walls around its garden."

Meanwhile, Rachel Cunningham, Content Marketing Director at Bop Design, raises support quality as another practical concern.

"Semrush has a fantastic support model and team that is a real resource for all questions.

We don't find that type of support level with Adobe and are hopeful that Adobe preserves the current level of support for Semrush products," she explains.

What AI Search Really Demands

The bigger question is whether Adobe and Semrush together can accelerate what the industry actually needs, which are tools built for generative engine optimization.

AI-powered search platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini are reshaping how consumers discover information.

And brands need visibility tools to track how they appear in AI-generated answers.

Stanley outlines what these tools must provide.

"Real-time search intent mapping, entity-level visibility, first-party content performance models, and competitive intelligence across both traditional SERPs and AI answer engines," he stated.

Cody Jensen, CEO and Founder of Searchbloom, echoes this focus on fundamentals while questioning whether Adobe can deliver on speed.

"The essential capabilities are visibility across AI surfaces, entity level data, and real intent modeling. Whoever owns the infrastructure to measure those three areas will control the future of SEO," he explained.

Duncan goes further, identifying personalized AI results as the next measurement frontier.

"AI systems already shape answers based on each user's history, interests, and patterns," he shared.

"In our own office, we run the same query and every ChatGPT agent returns a different version of the answer based on what the model has learned about that individual."

This creates a measurement challenge that current tools haven't yet solved.

"If Adobe can build reporting that reflects these variations, it would be a major step forward for the entire SEO community," Duncan adds.

Anderson, however, remains skeptical that Adobe will bring much to Semrush beyond capital.

"Semrush is already behind the curve here, despite their unique capabilities to offer better versions of these tools," he says.

"Adobe may bring some more capital to improve Semrush's lackluster AI search tools, but I don't think they bring much to the table data-wise."

Our Take: How Will the Adobe-Semrush Deal Influence AI Search?

I think this acquisition is all about positioning for an industry that's being reshaped faster than most companies can adapt.

Shirey does a great job of summarizing the pace of change.

"What felt like a year's worth of SEO evolution back in 2018 now happens in about two weeks," he explains.

Whether Adobe accelerates or slows this evolution depends on how aggressively it invests in what the industry actually needs.

The experts we spoke with aren't betting on a revolution just yet, but they're watching closely.

Either way, I think whoever solves the AI visibility measurement challenge first will define how marketing works over the course of the next decade.

As AI reshapes search visibility, choosing the right SEO partner matters more than ever.

Explore our top SEO agencies to find specialists who can navigate both traditional and AI-driven discovery.