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Marketing & SEO · 47 figures

SEO Industry Statistics 2026

Search is still the core of online marketing spend: US search ads earned $114.2 billion in 2025 according to IAB and PwC, and Google Search brought Alphabet $63.35 billion in Q3 2026 alone. Hiring help cost about $2,917 a month on average, or $111 an hour, in Ahrefs's poll of 439 SEO providers, last updated in 2024. AI answers are cutting clicks: Pew Research Center found users clicked a result on 8% of Google visits with an AI summary against 15% without one.

Download CSVCite this pageUpdated November 4, 2026 · 20 sources · 52/52 quotes re-checked

This page covers the money in search: what advertisers spend on search ads, what Google earns and charges per click, what SEO agencies, freelancers and consultants charge, what SEO software companies earn and sell for, which search engines people use, and how AI summaries change clicks. Most figures describe 2025 and 2026 in the US or worldwide. The SEO pricing survey is older and is marked as such.

Search remains one of the largest single ad categories. IAB and PwC put US search ad revenue at $114.2 billion in 2025, but growth slowed to 11% from 15.9% in 2024. Google still dominates the supply: Cloudflare found Google referred nearly 90% of search visits to sites on its network in 2025, and Alphabet's Search and other revenue reached $63.35 billion in Q3 2026, up $6.8 billion on a year earlier. Paid clicks rose 8% and cost per click 4%, so advertisers paid more for more clicks.

Organic search has its own market. In Ahrefs's poll of 439 SEO providers, last updated in August 2024, the average retainer was $2,917 a month and the average hourly rate $111. Agencies charged 138% more than freelancers, and consultancies the most per hour at $171.18. Software is a second cost line: Semrush reported 108,000 paying customers and average annual recurring revenue of $4,369 per paying customer at the end of 2025, and Adobe bought the company for $1.87 billion in April 2026.

AI answers are changing what that spend buys. Pew Research Center found that Google users who saw an AI summary in March 2025 clicked a traditional result on 8% of visits, against 15% without one, and clicked a link inside the summary only 1% of the time. Ahrefs measured a 58% lower click-through rate for the top result when an AI Overview appeared, using December 2025 data. Seer Interactive's 2026 update shows a partial recovery, with organic CTR on AI Overview queries rising from 1.3% to 2.4% between December 2025 and February 2026.

The new spend category is AI visibility. WPP Media puts generative search advertising at $5.1 billion in 2026, still small next to search, and Adobe's filing says the Semrush deal adds generative engine optimization tools. AI crawlers take far more than they return: Cloudflare counted 38,000 crawls per visitor referred by Anthropic in July 2025 and 194 for Perplexity, and user-prompted AI crawling grew more than 15 times over during 2025. Labor costs set the in-house alternative: BLS reports a $166,790 median wage for US marketing managers in May 2025.

01

Search advertising spend

Paid search is the clearest price signal for search traffic because advertisers bid for the same queries SEO targets. US and European search spend still grows, but slower than social, video and retail media. Alphabet's results show the bulk of that money still flows to Google, while Microsoft's search and advertising business grew 12%. Generative search ads are new and small, so forecasts for them carry wide uncertainty.

  • $114.2 billion

    US search ad revenue, including AI search, reached $114.2 billion in 2025.

    IAB and PwC · Digital Ad Revenue Climbs to Nearly $300B as IAB Celebrates 30 Year Anniversary (Apr 2026)

    Exact quote

    Search revenues (including AI search) continue to hold the largest share of revenue dollars, reaching $114.2 billion in 2025.

  • 11%

    US search ad revenue grew 11% in 2025, down from 15.9% in 2024.

    IAB and PwC · Digital Ad Revenue Climbs to Nearly $300B as IAB Celebrates 30 Year Anniversary (Apr 2026)

    Exact quote

    While search grew 11% YoY, its growth rate slowed considerably vs. 2024 (15.9%).

  • $5.1 billion

    Generative AI search advertising is worth about $5.1 billion worldwide in 2026 and is projected to pass $100 billion by 2030.

    WPP Media · This Year Next Year 2026 Midyear Forecast: Global ad revenue to grow 8.9% to $1.3 trillion (Jun 2026)

    Exact quote

    Looking forward, Generative Search is set to become the fastest-scaling channel ever recorded, projected to jump from $5.1 billion in 2026 to over $100 billion by 2030 .

  • $63,350 million

    Google Search and other properties earned Alphabet $63.35 billion in Q3 2026, up from $56.57 billion in Q3 2025, according to its quarterly filing.

    Alphabet · Alphabet Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 (Oct 2026)

    Exact quote

    Google Search & other $ 56,567 $ 63,350 $ 161,459 $ 187,020

  • $6.8 billion

    Google Search and other revenues rose $6.8 billion year over year in Q3 2026 and $25.6 billion in the first nine months of 2026.

    Alphabet · Alphabet Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 (Oct 2026)

    Exact quote

    Google Search & other revenues increased $6.8 billion and $25.6 billion from the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025 to the three and nine months ended September 30, 2026.

  • 12%

    Microsoft's search and advertising revenue, excluding traffic acquisition costs, grew 12% in the quarter ended September 30, 2026, on higher rates and volume across Bing, Edge and LinkedIn.

    Microsoft · Microsoft Corporation Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 (Oct 2026)

    Exact quote

    Search and advertising revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs increased 12% driven by higher rate and volume across LinkedIn, Edge, and Bing.

  • 8.8%

    Paid search spend in Europe grew 8.8% in 2025, slower than display at 12.5%.

    IAB Europe · IAB Europe’s AdEx Benchmark 2025 Report: European Digital Advertising Market Records 10.5% Growth to Reach €131 Billion (Jul 2026)

    Exact quote

    Established channels remain resilient: Display advertising grew by 12.5% , while paid search and classifieds grew by 8.8% and 6.5%, respectively.

  • 9.3%

    UK search ad spend grew 9.3% year on year in Q2 2026, behind social media at 22.2%, according to the Advertising Association and WARC.

    Advertising Association and WARC · UK Advertising Forecast to Reach Record £14.0bn in Festive Quarter (Oct 2026)

    Exact quote

    Double-digit growth was recorded across several other channels, including social media (22.2%), out of home (12.7%) and addressable TV (12.7%). Smaller but still positive gains were seen for search (9.3%), direct mail (4.5%), online classified (4.4%), digital radio (3.2%) and TV (2.6%).

02

What a search click costs

Alphabet reports changes in paid clicks and cost per click rather than the price itself. In Q3 2026 both rose, which means advertisers bought more clicks and paid more for each. Google also pays about a fifth of its ad revenue to partners such as browsers and websites as traffic acquisition costs. Seer Interactive's data show paid click-through rates falling fastest on queries with AI Overviews, so the same budget can buy fewer clicks on those terms.

  • 4%

    Google's average cost per click on Search and other properties rose 4% year over year in Q3 2026.

    Alphabet · Alphabet Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 (Oct 2026)

    Exact quote

    Google Search & other Paid clicks change 8 % 11 % Cost-per-click change 4 % 4 %

  • 8%

    Paid clicks on Google Search and other properties rose 8% year over year in Q3 2026 and 11% in the first nine months.

    Alphabet · Alphabet Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 (Oct 2026)

    Exact quote

    Google Search & other Paid clicks change 8 % 11 %

  • 20.0%

    Alphabet's traffic acquisition cost rate was 20.0% of ad revenue in Q3 2026, down from 20.1% a year earlier.

    Alphabet · Alphabet Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 (Oct 2026)

    Exact quote

    The TAC rate decreased from 20.1% to 20.0% from the three months ended September 30, 2025 to the three months ended September 30, 2026

  • 13.88%

    On informational queries without an AI Overview, paid click-through rate was 13.88% in Q3 2025, down 20.1% year over year, in Seer Interactive's client data.

    Seer Interactive · AIO Impact on Google CTR: September 2025 Update (Nov 2025)

    Exact quote

    Queries where no AIO appears: Organic CTR: 1.45% (down 46.2% YoY) Paid CTR: 13.88% (down 20.1% YoY)

  • 4.14%

    When an AI Overview appeared and the advertiser was not cited, paid click-through rate fell 78.4% year over year to 4.14% in Q3 2025, per Seer Interactive.

    Seer Interactive · AIO Impact on Google CTR: September 2025 Update (Nov 2025)

    Exact quote

    Queries where AIO is present but you aren't cited: Organic CTR: 0.52% (down 65.2% YoY) Paid CTR: 4.14% (down 78.4% YoY)

03

What SEO services cost

These figures come from an Ahrefs poll of 439 SEO service providers whose websites were checked by hand. The page was last updated in August 2024, so it is the oldest data on this page, but no newer public survey of SEO prices with this sample size was available. Averages assume the top of each price band, so they lean high. Most providers bill monthly retainers, and agencies and consultants charge roughly twice what freelancers do.

Average hourly SEO rate by provider type

Poll of 439 SEO providers, last updated August 2024. Averages use the top of each price band.

$171
$98.9
$71.6
ConsultanciesAgenciesFreelancers

Source: Ahrefs, SEO Pricing: How Much Does SEO Cost? 439 People Polled

04

SEO software market

Few SEO software companies publish audited numbers. Semrush did until Adobe completed its purchase in April 2026, so its final annual report is the best public view of what businesses pay for SEO tools. Average recurring revenue per paying customer of $4,369 a year works out to about $364 a month. Yext, which sells listings and search tools, shows that not every vendor in the category is growing.

Semrush annual revenue ($ millions)

Fiscal years ending December 31. Semrush was acquired by Adobe in April 2026.

$0$250$5002023: $30820232024: $37720242025: $4442025

Source: Semrush, SEMrush Holdings, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025

  • $443.6 million

    Semrush's revenue was $443.6 million in 2025, up from $376.8 million in 2024.

    Semrush · SEMrush Holdings, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 (Mar 2026)

    Exact quote

    For the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, our revenue was $443.6 million, $376.8 million, and $307.7 million, respectively.

  • $4,369

    Semrush's annual recurring revenue per paying customer reached $4,369 at the end of 2025, up from $3,522 a year earlier.

    Semrush · SEMrush Holdings, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 (Mar 2026)

    Exact quote

    We have grown our ARR per paying customer to $4,369 as of December 31, 2025, up from $3,522 as of December 31, 2024, driven by strong upsell activity and adoption of our AI products .

  • 108,000

    Semrush had about 108,000 paying customers in 145 countries at the end of 2025.

    Semrush · SEMrush Holdings, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 (Mar 2026)

    Exact quote

    As of December 31, 2025, we had approximately 108,000 paying customers on our platform across 145 countries.

  • $1.87 billion

    Adobe completed its acquisition of Semrush on April 28, 2026, for $1.87 billion, mostly in cash.

    Adobe · Adobe Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended August 28, 2026 (Sep 2026)

    Exact quote

    (“Semrush”), a publicly held brand visibility platform company, for $ 1.87 billion, primarily in cash consideration.

  • $111.1 million

    Yext's revenue fell 2% to $111.1 million in the quarter ended July 31, 2026, mainly because of customer attrition.

    Yext · Yext, Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended July 31, 2026 (Sep 2026)

    Exact quote

    Total revenue was $111.1 million for the three months ended July 31, 2026, compared to $113.1 million for the three months ended July 31, 2025, a decrease of $2.0 million or 2%.

05

Search engine market share and AI crawling

Cloudflare measures search share from the referrer header on traffic to the millions of sites it serves, so it shows where search visits come from, not how many queries each engine handles. Google sends nearly nine in ten search visits, but its share drops to about 80% on desktop, where Bing benefits from Windows defaults, and local engines lead in markets such as Russia. AI bots are a growing share of crawling, yet Pew's survey shows a third of US adults had used ChatGPT by early 2025, so AI tools are still a supplement to search rather than a replacement. These are 2025 full-year figures and will shift as AI search grows.

Search engine referral share worldwide, 2025

Share of search engine referrals to sites on Cloudflare's network, all devices, full year 2025. Cloudflare gives Google as nearly 90%.

  • Google90%
  • Bing3.1%
  • Yandex2%
  • Baidu1.4%
  • DuckDuckGo1.2%

Source: Cloudflare, The 2025 Cloudflare Radar Year in Review: The rise of AI, post-quantum, and record-breaking DDoS attacks

06

AI summaries and organic clicks

Three independent methods point the same way: AI summaries reduce clicks to websites. Pew tracked the real browsing of 900 US adults, Ahrefs compared click-through rates across hundreds of thousands of keywords, and Seer Interactive used its clients' Search Console data. The two Seer studies use different query sets, so their CTR levels are not directly comparable. Seer's early 2026 data show some recovery, so the size of the loss is still moving.

Organic click-through rate by AI Overview status, Q3 2025

3,119 informational queries across 42 Seer client organizations, Q3 2025.

1.45%
0.7%
0.52%
No AI OverviewAI Overview, brand citedAI Overview, not cited

Source: Seer Interactive, AIO Impact on Google CTR: September 2025 Update

  • 58%

    58% of US adults in Pew Research Center's browsing panel ran at least one Google search in March 2025 that showed an AI summary.

    Pew Research Center · Do people click on links in Google AI summaries? (Jul 2025)

    Exact quote

    About six-in-ten respondents (58%) conducted at least one Google search in March 2025 that produced an AI-generated summary.

  • 8%

    In Pew Research Center's March 2025 browsing data, Google users who saw an AI summary clicked a traditional search result on 8% of visits, against 15% for users who did not see one.

    Pew Research Center · Do people click on links in Google AI summaries? (Jul 2025)

    Exact quote

    Users who encountered an AI summary clicked on a traditional search result link in 8% of all visits. Those who did not encounter an AI summary clicked on a search result nearly twice as often (15% of visits).

  • 1%

    Google users clicked a link inside an AI summary on just 1% of visits to pages with one, in Pew Research Center's March 2025 browsing data.

    Pew Research Center · Do people click on links in Google AI summaries? (Jul 2025)

    Exact quote

    This occurred in just 1% of all visits to pages with such a summary.

  • 26%

    Pew Research Center found users ended their browsing session after 26% of Google pages with an AI summary, against 16% of pages with only traditional results, in March 2025.

    Pew Research Center · Do people click on links in Google AI summaries? (Jul 2025)

    Exact quote

    This happened on 26% of pages with an AI summary, compared with 16% of pages with only traditional search results.

  • 58%

    Using December 2025 data, Ahrefs found that an AI Overview correlates with a 58% lower average click-through rate for the top-ranking page, compared with December 2023.

    Ahrefs · Update: AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 58% (Feb 2026)

    Exact quote

    We found that the presence of an AI Overview now correlates with a 58% lower average clickthrough rate for the top-ranking page.

  • 34.5%

    In Ahrefs's earlier study of 300,000 keywords, comparing March 2024 with March 2025, the drop in top-result click-through rate was 34.5%.

    Ahrefs · AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 34.5% (Apr 2025)

    Exact quote

    We analyzed 300,000 keywords and found that the presence of an AI Overview in the search results correlated with a 34.5% lower average clickthrough rate (CTR) for the top-ranking page, compared to similar informational keywords without an AI Overview.

  • 2.4%

    Organic click-through rate on queries with AI Overviews rose from 1.3% in December 2025 to 2.4% in February 2026 in Seer Interactive's client data.

    Seer Interactive · AIO Impact on Google CTR: 2026 Update (2026)

    Exact quote

    Organic CTR on AIO-present queries climbed from a floor of 1.3% in December 2025 to 2.4% in February 2026.

  • 5x

    Throughout 2025, being cited in an AI Overview delivered 2 to 5 times the organic click-through rate of not being cited, per Seer Interactive.

    Seer Interactive · AIO Impact on Google CTR: 2026 Update (2026)

    Exact quote

    Throughout all of 2025, being cited in an AIO delivered 2–5x the organic CTR of not being cited, even as those CTRs compressed.

  • 38,000

    Anthropic's crawlers fetched about 38,000 pages for every visitor they referred in July 2025, down from 286,000 in January, according to Cloudflare.

    Cloudflare · The crawl-to-click gap: Cloudflare data on AI bots, training, and referrals (Aug 2025)

    Exact quote

    Crawl-to-refer imbalance (how many pages a bot crawls per page that a user clicks back to): Anthropic increased referrals but still leads with 38,000 crawls per visitor in July (down from 286,000:1 in January).

  • 194

    Perplexity crawled 194 pages per visitor referred in July 2025, per Cloudflare.

    Cloudflare · The crawl-to-click gap: Cloudflare data on AI bots, training, and referrals (Aug 2025)

    Exact quote

    Perplexity decreased referrals in 2025 — with more crawling but fewer referrals at 194 crawls per visitor in July.

  • 80%

    Training now drives nearly 80% of AI bot crawling activity, up from 72% a year earlier, according to Cloudflare.

    Cloudflare · The crawl-to-click gap: Cloudflare data on AI bots, training, and referrals (Aug 2025)

    Exact quote

    Training now drives nearly 80% of AI bot activity, up from 72% a year ago.

07

SEO and marketing pay

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not track SEO specialists as a separate occupation. In-house search marketers are usually classed as market research analysts and marketing specialists, and those who run teams as marketing managers. These wages set the in-house alternative to the agency and freelance prices above: a full-time specialist at the median wage costs about $6,560 a month before benefits.

  • $166,790

    The median annual wage for US marketing managers was $166,790 in May 2025.

    US Bureau of Labor Statistics · Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers: Occupational Outlook Handbook (2026)

    Exact quote

    The median annual wage for marketing managers was $166,790 in May 2025.

  • $78,760

    The median annual wage for US market research analysts, the BLS group that includes search marketing specialists, was $78,760 in May 2025.

    US Bureau of Labor Statistics · Market Research Analysts: Occupational Outlook Handbook (2026)

    Exact quote

    The median annual wage for market research analysts was $78,760 in May 2025.

  • 7 percent

    US employment of market research analysts is projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, much faster than average.

    US Bureau of Labor Statistics · Market Research Analysts: Occupational Outlook Handbook (2026)

    Exact quote

    Employment of market research analysts is projected to grow 7 percent from 2025 to 2035, much faster than the average for all occupations.

FAQ

How much does SEO cost per month?

In Ahrefs's poll of 439 SEO providers, last updated in August 2024, the average was $2,917 a month and most businesses spent $500 to $5,000. Agencies averaged $3,209, consultancies $3,250 and freelancers about $1,349 a month.

How big is the search advertising market?

IAB and PwC measured $114.2 billion of US search ad revenue in 2025, up 11%. Alphabet alone earned $63.35 billion from Google Search and other properties in Q3 2026.

Do AI Overviews reduce clicks to websites?

Several studies point that way. Pew Research Center found Google users clicked a result on 8% of visits with an AI summary against 15% without one in March 2025, and Ahrefs measured a 58% lower click-through rate for the top result when an AI Overview appeared, using December 2025 data. These are correlations, not proof of cause.

What is Google's search engine market share?

Cloudflare found Google referred nearly 90% of search engine visits to sites on its network worldwide in 2025, almost 93% on mobile and about 80% on desktop. Bing was second at 3.1% overall and nearly 11% on desktop.

Are Google ad clicks getting more expensive?

Yes. Alphabet reported that cost per click on Google Search and other properties rose 4% year over year in Q3 2026, while paid clicks rose 8%.

How much does an SEO tool subscription cost on average?

Semrush reported average annual recurring revenue of $4,369 per paying customer at the end of 2025, about $364 a month, across roughly 108,000 paying customers.

Methodology note

We selected figures on the money and traffic behind search: search ad revenue from IAB with PwC, IAB Europe, the Advertising Association with WARC and WPP Media; search revenue, click and price changes from Alphabet and Microsoft SEC filings; SEO service prices from an Ahrefs provider poll; SEO software revenue from Semrush, Adobe and Yext filings; search referral share and AI crawling from Cloudflare's 2025 Radar Year in Review; AI summary effects and ChatGPT use from Pew Research Center, Ahrefs and Seer Interactive; and wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The SEO pricing poll was last updated in August 2024 and is the oldest source here. Cloudflare measures referral share on sites it serves, not query volume. Seer's CTR studies use its clients' informational queries and differ between editions. Click studies show correlation, not proof that AI summaries alone cause lower clicks. Every quote is re-fetched from the source by our checker. See how we rank and verify.

Sources

  1. 1Adobe: Adobe Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended August 28, 2026
  2. 2Advertising Association and WARC: UK Advertising Forecast to Reach Record £14.0bn in Festive Quarter
  3. 3Ahrefs: SEO Pricing: How Much Does SEO Cost? 439 People Polled
  4. 4Ahrefs: Update: AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 58%
  5. 5Ahrefs: AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 34.5%
  6. 6Alphabet: Alphabet Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026
  7. 7Cloudflare: The 2025 Cloudflare Radar Year in Review: The rise of AI, post-quantum, and record-breaking DDoS attacks
  8. 8Cloudflare: The crawl-to-click gap: Cloudflare data on AI bots, training, and referrals
  9. 9IAB and PwC: Digital Ad Revenue Climbs to Nearly $300B as IAB Celebrates 30 Year Anniversary
  10. 10IAB Europe: IAB Europe’s AdEx Benchmark 2025 Report: European Digital Advertising Market Records 10.5% Growth to Reach €131 Billion
  11. 11Microsoft: Microsoft Corporation Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026
  12. 12Pew Research Center: 34% of U.S. adults have used ChatGPT, about double the share in 2023
  13. 13Pew Research Center: Do people click on links in Google AI summaries?
  14. 14Seer Interactive: AIO Impact on Google CTR: September 2025 Update
  15. 15Seer Interactive: AIO Impact on Google CTR: 2026 Update
  16. 16Semrush: SEMrush Holdings, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025
  17. 17US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers: Occupational Outlook Handbook
  18. 18US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Market Research Analysts: Occupational Outlook Handbook
  19. 19WPP Media: This Year Next Year 2026 Midyear Forecast: Global ad revenue to grow 8.9% to $1.3 trillion
  20. 20Yext: Yext, Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended July 31, 2026

Cite this page

Rankozo. (2026, November 4). SEO Industry Statistics 2026. https://rankozo.com/seo-industry-statistics

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