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B2B marketers across the UK and Europe have spent the past year grappling with a clear and persistent trend. Organic search traffic has been falling since late 2024 and the decline has accelerated through 2025. For many organisations this has reduced inbound enquiries, weakened pipeline performance and increased reliance on paid channels.
The immediate question for every marketing leader is the same. What has caused this drop and how can it be reversed?
Why B2B traffic has fallen
Throughout Q3 and Q4 we have spoken to a growing number of B2B firms who are facing the same issue. Their rankings have not collapsed. Their content is still visible. Yet their traffic continues to fall month after month.
The cause is consistent across every case. Google’s introduction of AI Overviews has changed the behaviour of search users and reshaped the results page. Instead of clicking into websites, users are now given direct answers within the search results themselves.
AI Overviews summarise product information, compare vendors, outline processes, and respond to typical early-stage questions. This means users often do not need to visit a company website to get the basics. The result is a true zero click environment and a noticeable drop in organic visits even when rankings remain strong.
For B2B brands that rely on search for lead generation this shift has created an uncomfortable reality. Traditional SEO alone is no longer enough. Visibility now needs to extend beyond the search results page and into the conversational environments where research is taking place.
How AI search reshapes B2B discovery
This new landscape does not remove the value of search. Instead, it changes how discovery works. Buyers now carry out early research in assistants such as ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, Microsoft Copilot and other LLM-driven tools. These systems pull from trusted sources that demonstrate expertise, clarity and topical relevance.
B2B marketers therefore need to ensure their content can be recognised, interpreted and surfaced by these systems. The brands that adapt early will capture visibility long before competitors begin to notice the shift.
Five opportunities B2B marketers should adopt in 2026
To regain lost visibility and build authority within conversational search, B2B organisations should begin shaping their 2026 strategy around five core actions.
1. Commission a full SEO audit
Identify which product pages, service pages and landing pages have seen traffic decline. Understand whether the issue relates to competing content, technical blockers or queries now answered directly by AI Overviews. Clear diagnosis is essential before any recovery plan can begin.
2. Refresh ideal customer profiles
AI-driven search places greater emphasis on intent and context. Marketing teams need updated ICPs to ensure their content speaks directly to the pains, motivations and questions of their audience. This clarity strongly influences how well content is interpreted by LLMs.
3. Complete an AI search readiness audit
Assess how well your content is positioned to appear within emerging AI environments. This includes structure, markup, clarity of purpose, topical coverage, author credibility and the presence of retrieval-friendly formats such as concise explanations, definitions and question-led sections.
Most B2B sites are not yet prepared for this shift. Readiness audits highlight the gaps.
4. Strengthen topical authority
Conversational search relies on trusted themes rather than isolated keywords. Determine the subjects where your business must lead the conversation, then build structured content programmes that reinforce those themes. The goal is to become a recognised authority that LLMs can reference with confidence.
5. Build content that supports the full research journey
Buyers will still visit websites, but typically later in the journey. To win in 2026, B2B brands need content that supports early education, comparison, evaluation and proof. Formats such as glossaries, guides, FAQs, explainers, deep comparisons and industry viewpoints all contribute to being surfaced in AI environments.
The opportunity for 2026
Traffic will not return to previous levels simply by maintaining traditional SEO. The brands that regain visibility will be those that recognise the shift in buyer behaviour and position themselves within conversational discovery.
AI search is now a core part of the B2B research experience. It should sit alongside paid search, organic search, content marketing and LinkedIn as a primary route for demand generation.
Marketers who begin this work now will enter 2026 with an advantage. Those who delay will continue to see traffic decline and an increasing distance between themselves and competitors who adapt more quickly.
If you would like, I can refine this into a LinkedIn post, shorten it into a newsletter format, or turn it into a sales deck page for your B2B conversations.
About the author
Amo Sokhi is Managing Director of POLARIS. Amo has partnered with B2B businesses since 2009 to drive an increase in performance through search strategy. He has hands on experience in demand generation, lead generation and guides POLARIS to continue to perform as a leading B2B SEO agency in London.
