Adobe’s $1.9B Acquisition of Semrush Signals a Major Power Shift in Brand Visibility for the Agentic AI Era

Adobe’s latest acquisition marks one of the most significant moves yet in the evolution of how brands manage visibility, discoverability, and customer engagement in an AI-driven world. On November 19, 2025, Adobe announced a definitive agreement to acquire Semrush Holdings, Inc. in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $1.9 billion, or $12.00 per share. The acquisition unites Adobe’s expansive customer experience and content orchestration tools with Semrush’s deep capabilities in search engine optimization (SEO) and the rapidly emerging field of generative engine optimization (GEO).

Adobe has been at the forefront of enabling enterprises to reimagine their customer experience workflows through agentic AI—AI that can plan, initiate, and optimize tasks autonomously. Tools such as Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), Adobe Analytics, and the newly introduced Adobe Brand Concierge reflect the company’s commitment to helping brands create, manage, and deliver content at scale. These products support a content supply chain that aligns with the needs of enterprises navigating new customer interfaces powered by large language models (LLMs).

Semrush’s inclusion strengthens Adobe’s position dramatically. As brands increasingly confront the challenge of remaining visible across traditional search engines and emerging AI-driven discovery channels, Semrush provides a powerful layer of intelligence and optimization. The company is widely known for its decade-long leadership in SEO analytics and has recently become a leading force in GEO—an emerging discipline focused on helping brands remain discoverable within AI-powered platforms, from LLMs to generative search engines.

The acquisition comes at a time when consumer behavior is rapidly shifting. With more customers receiving answers, recommendations, and purchase guidance from platforms like ChatGPT and Google Gemini, brand visibility is no longer confined to search engine rankings or owned channels. It now includes how a brand appears within LLM outputs, conversational AI systems, and algorithm-driven summaries. Organizations that fail to adapt to these dynamics risk losing relevance across key digital touchpoints.

Semrush brings enterprise-grade capabilities and impressive momentum to Adobe’s ecosystem. Its generative marketing tools are already being used by major brands, and the company recently reported 33% year-over-year Annual Recurring Revenue growth in its enterprise segment. This traction reflects a growing need among marketers who now rely on SEO and GEO teams to drive visibility strategies in generative environments.

Together, Adobe and Semrush will offer marketers a unified solution that spans the entire spectrum of brand exposure—owned websites, search engines, LLM responses, and the broader web. By integrating Semrush’s data intelligence into Adobe’s customer experience tools, the combined platform is designed to give organizations a holistic, real-time understanding of how their brand appears and performs across both traditional and AI-driven discovery channels.

This acquisition positions Adobe to become a central player in helping enterprises navigate the next phase of AI-enabled marketing. As AI continues reshaping how consumers gather information, evaluate options, and make buying decisions, Adobe’s expanded ecosystem aims to ensure that brands remain both discoverable and competitive in an increasingly complex digital landscape.

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