How Is AI Changing Search and Content Creation for UK B2B Marketers?

The UK AI Search Landscape in 2026

Google still handles roughly 90% of all search queries globally, but its dominance is being quietly eroded. ChatGPT now has between 800 and 900 million weekly active users worldwide, with 16 million monthly users in the UK alone, capturing 84% of all UK AI tool usage time. Perplexity serves 22 to 45 million monthly active users. Google responded by rolling out AI Overviews to 1.5 billion monthly users across 200 countries, including the UK since August 2024.

For UK B2B marketers, the critical data comes from Magenta Associates' "Search Forward" study of 300 UK senior professionals. It found that 45% of B2B decision-makers now use AI as one of their main research channels, placing it ahead of LinkedIn (41%) and industry publications (34%). More striking still, 85% have discovered a new supplier through AI, and only five brands capture 80% of top AI-generated responses in any given B2B category. The window to establish visibility is narrowing fast.

UK consumer adoption is equally telling. IAB UK data shows 22.5 million UK people used AI tools in October 2025. Attest's consumer research found 37% of under-40s use AI for at least half their internet searches, higher than the US figure of 32%. DSIT's government research confirms that among UK businesses already using AI, marketing and administration are the joint top deployment areas at 72%.

How AI Search Affects Website Traffic and Clicks

The rise of AI-generated answers is compressing organic click-through rates. Seer Interactive's study of 25.1 million impressions found organic CTR dropped 61% on queries where Google AI Overviews appear. Ahrefs reported that position one CTR fell from 7.3% to 2.6% on keywords that gained AI Overviews between March 2024 and March 2025. The zero-click rate across EU and UK searches now stands at 59.7% according to Semrush.

UK-specific impact is severe. A Tank agency study of 800 UK companies found organic traffic growth collapsed 86% following AI Overviews rollout, from 26.3% average monthly growth to just 3.7%. Hospitality was worst hit, but every sector felt the squeeze.

However, brands cited inside AI responses gain a significant advantage. Seer Interactive's data shows brands appearing in AI Overviews earn 35% more organic clicks and 91% more paid clicks than non-cited competitors. AI referral traffic also converts at dramatically higher rates: Ahrefs found AI traffic drove 12.1% of their signups from just 0.5% of total traffic. Whitehat SEO's Answer Engine Optimisation service helps B2B companies position their content to capture these high-converting citations.

Traditional SEO Still Matters, But It Is No Longer Enough

A crucial finding from Ahrefs' study of 15,000 queries reveals why both SEO and AEO are now essential. Only 12% of URLs cited by AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot rank in Google's top 10 for the same query. By contrast, 76% of Google AI Overview citations come from pages already ranking in the top 10 organically.

This distinction is vital. Google AI Overviews still reward traditional SEO fundamentals, with BrightEdge's 16-month study showing overlap between organic rankings and AI Overview citations grew to 54.5%. But standalone AI assistants, the ones 45% of UK B2B buyers are using for procurement, operate on entirely different retrieval logic. Getting found by ChatGPT and Perplexity requires a different strategy alongside your existing SEO.

Ahrefs' brand visibility study of 75,000 brands found the strongest correlating factor for AI citations is not backlinks or content volume. It is branded web mentions, with a correlation of 0.66 to 0.71 across platforms. Domain Rating showed only weak correlation (0.27). Content freshness matters too: 76.4% of ChatGPT's most-cited pages were updated in the last 30 days. This is why a dedicated AEO strategy for B2B marketers has become essential.

AI Content Creation: What the Data Actually Shows

HubSpot's 2026 State of Marketing survey of 1,500 marketers found 42.5% now use AI extensively for content creation, with a further 38% using it occasionally. Only 1.7% have no plans to use AI at all. Among UK SMEs specifically, YouGov reports 53% adoption in the marketing and advertising sector. MIT research across 106 experiments confirmed that human-AI collaboration outperforms humans working alone, with content creation tasks showing the strongest benefit from generative AI tools.

The critical nuance: while adoption is near-universal, only 4% of marketers publish AI-generated content without human editing according to HubSpot's 2025 State of AI report. The market has decisively shifted toward hybrid workflows where AI handles research, first drafts, and repetitive tasks while humans provide strategy, expertise, and editorial judgement. Content produced with AI assistance is up to 4.7 times less expensive than human-only production, and teams report 77% higher output volumes.

AI content is also increasingly visible in search. Originality.ai's tracking shows AI-generated content in Google's top 20 results grew from 2.27% in February 2019 to 17.31% by September 2025. Detection remains unreliable on edited content, with accuracy dropping from 95% on unmodified text to just 20 to 63% on hybrid content.

Google's Evolving Position on AI Content and E-E-A-T

Google's official stance remains that it does not penalise content simply for being AI-generated. The focus is on "helpful, reliable, people-first content" demonstrating E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). However, Google's actions tell a more nuanced story.

The January 2025 Search Quality Rater Guidelines update expanded from 170 to 181 pages and included the first-ever definition of generative AI, plus new sections on "Scaled Content Abuse" targeting mass-produced AI content with "little effort, originality, or added value." In April 2025, John Mueller confirmed raters are directed to identify AI-generated main content and may assign the lowest quality rating. The December 2025 core update was massive: it directly evaluated AI content authenticity, broadened E-E-A-T beyond YMYL topics to virtually all competitive queries, and tightened author attribution requirements.

The practical takeaway for UK B2B marketers: AI-assisted content reviewed and enriched by subject-matter experts is fine. Mass-produced AI content without genuine expertise and editorial oversight will be penalised. The December 2025 update affected 71% of affiliate sites and 67% of health content, with AI content farms facing what analysts describe as "progressive marginalisation." Working with an experienced AI consultancy can help you navigate these evolving requirements.

How to Get Your Content Cited by AI Search Engines

Getting cited by AI requires a different approach to traditional SEO. Research from Superprompt shows that opening paragraphs which directly answer a query get cited 67% more often by AI engines. Pages using a clear H2, H3, bullet-point structure are 40% more likely to be cited. The Princeton GEO study found that adding original statistics boosted AI visibility by 37%, and pages with original data tables received 4.1 times more AI citations.

Whitehat SEO recommends focusing on these evidence-backed practices for AI citation:

• Start every section with a direct 50 to 70 word answer to the question posed in the heading
• Structure content with clear heading hierarchies that AI can parse independently
• Include original data, statistics with source attribution, and proprietary research
• Build branded web mentions through guest posts, industry publications, and review platforms
• Update content frequently, as 85% of AI Overview citations were published in the last two years
• Implement schema markup, which Bing's Fabrice Canel confirmed "helps LLMs understand content"

One important caveat from SparkToro's January 2026 research: AI recommendations are highly volatile, with a less than 1-in-100 chance of any two identical queries returning the same brand recommendation list. This means tracking AI visibility requires measuring visibility percentage across many prompt variations, not chasing a fixed "AI ranking position."

UK Regulatory Landscape for AI Content

UK businesses currently face a lighter regulatory burden than EU counterparts. The ASA confirmed in May 2025 that there is no blanket UK requirement to disclose AI usage in advertising, with existing Advertising Codes applying regardless of how content is created. The UK government has opted for a principles-based, sector-led approach through existing regulators rather than comprehensive AI legislation.

The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 relaxed restrictions on automated decision-making and introduced new legitimate interest provisions for direct marketing. Copyright and AI provisions were not included, with an impact assessment due around March 2026.

However, UK companies targeting EU consumers should note the EU AI Act's Article 50 transparency obligations take effect on 2 August 2026. These require machine-readable marking of AI-generated output and disclosure when AI text is published on matters of public interest. Non-compliance carries fines of up to 15 million euros or 3% of global revenue. The practical recommendation: adopt voluntary transparency now. KPMG research shows only 42% of the UK public trust AI, while 86% of Britons demand clear AI content labelling.

HubSpot's Breeze AI: What It Means for Your Content Workflow

HubSpot's AI capabilities now operate under the Breeze platform, offering a suite of tools directly relevant to content teams. The Breeze Content Agent generates blog posts with data-informed topic suggestions, automatic internal linking, and SEO optimisation powered by GPT-4 and Semrush data. The Blog Research Agent, launched in December 2025, researches topics and identifies sources before generating optimised content at scale.

Content Remix lets teams repurpose a single blog post into emails, social posts, ads, landing page sections, and audio content. Brand Voice learning ensures AI-generated content matches your established tone. HubSpot's Content Hub now also includes built-in AI visibility tracking for ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini, giving marketing teams direct insight into how their content appears in AI search.

HubSpot's 2026 State of Marketing data confirms the platform's strategic direction: half of all consumers now use AI-powered search, and 40.6% of marketers cite updating SEO for AI search changes as a top trend. As a HubSpot Diamond Partner, Whitehat SEO helps clients configure these AI features as part of a broader content strategy, ensuring Breeze's capabilities are aligned with genuine business objectives rather than deployed as isolated tools.

Expert Perspectives on AI Search in 2026

The industry's most respected voices are converging on a practical consensus. Rand Fishkin, CEO of SparkToro, argues the "AI versus search" narrative is largely manufactured: Google search volume actually grew 22% in 2024, adding roughly one trillion new searches. The overall pool of available clicks expanded even as per-query click rates fell.

Lily Ray, VP of SEO Strategy at Amsive Digital, emphasises authenticity and original research as the durable competitive advantages, while cautioning against what she calls "GEO grifters" who repackage standard SEO under a new name. UK-based search scientist Tom Capper of Moz recommends marketers become translators for overwhelmed executives, building "AI comprehension dashboards" rather than traditional rank trackers.

Kelly-Anne Crean of UK agency Koozai captures the shift well: "SEO is no longer just about ranking pages; it is about being the source AI trusts and uses." And Barry Schwartz offers the most practical advice: "Keep doing what works. Write great content. Be useful. But build your audience. Do not depend on Google alone."

What UK B2B Marketing Directors Should Do Now

The data points to a clear set of priorities for marketing leaders at mid-market UK companies. AI search is not replacing traditional search, but it is creating a parallel discovery channel that your competitors may already be exploiting. Forrester found AI search is now the most-selected impactful interaction in B2B buying decisions, ahead of product experts and industry websites.

Whitehat SEO recommends these immediate actions:

1. Audit your AI visibility. Search for your core service queries in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. If you are not appearing, your competitors likely are. HubSpot's Content Hub now includes built-in tracking for this.
2. Restructure existing content for AI extraction. Add direct answers at the top of every page. Structure content with clear heading hierarchies. Include original data and statistics with proper attribution.
3. Invest in brand mentions, not just backlinks. Brand mentions correlate more strongly with AI citations (0.66 to 0.71) than any other factor. Guest posts, industry publications, and review platforms are your primary levers.
4. Adopt a hybrid content workflow. Use AI for research, drafting, and repetitive tasks. Reserve human expertise for strategy, original insight, and editorial quality. The data is clear: this approach wins on both cost and quality.
5. Keep content fresh. With 85% of AI citations from content published in the last two years, and 44% from 2025 alone, a regular publishing and update cadence is essential.
6. Maintain your SEO foundations. Google AI Overviews still draw 76% of citations from top 10 organic results. Traditional SEO and AI content strategy are complementary, not competing.

The opportunity is significant and time-sensitive. With no authoritative UK B2B-specific content currently ranking for core AI search queries, early movers have a genuine chance to establish category leadership. Whitehat SEO's Answer Engine Optimisation service is built specifically for this moment, combining deep HubSpot expertise with evidence-based AEO methodology.

Ready to assess your AI search visibility? View our pricing or get in touch for a free initial consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will AI replace traditional search engines like Google?

No. Google still handles approximately 90% of all search queries and its total volume grew 22% in 2024. AI tools are creating a parallel discovery channel rather than replacing search. However, AI Overviews now appear on an estimated 15 to 25% of UK queries, and 45% of UK B2B buyers use AI as a main research channel. Both channels require attention.

Does Google penalise AI-generated content?

Google does not penalise content for being AI-generated. It penalises low-quality, unhelpful content regardless of origin. However, the December 2025 core update directly evaluated AI content authenticity, and manual actions have been issued for "Scaled Content Abuse." The safe approach is AI-assisted content with genuine human expertise and editorial oversight.

What is Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO)?

AEO is the practice of structuring content to be cited and recommended by AI search tools such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity. Unlike traditional SEO which targets organic rankings, AEO focuses on brand mentions, direct answer formatting, content freshness, and third-party presence. Only 12% of AI-cited URLs overlap with Google's top 10 rankings.

How many UK businesses are using AI for marketing?

DSIT's January 2026 research found 16% of UK businesses use AI overall, but among those adopters, marketing is the joint top deployment area at 72%. YouGov reports 53% AI adoption in the UK marketing and advertising sector specifically. HubSpot's data shows 42.5% of marketers globally use AI extensively for content creation.

Do UK businesses need to disclose AI-generated content?

Currently no. The ASA confirmed in May 2025 there is no blanket UK requirement to disclose AI in advertising. However, the EU AI Act's Article 50 transparency obligations take effect in August 2026 and apply to UK companies serving EU audiences. With 86% of UK consumers demanding AI content labelling, voluntary transparency builds trust.

How do I check if my content appears in AI search results?

Search for your target queries directly in ChatGPT (with web search enabled), Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. Document which brands appear and which sources are cited. HubSpot's Content Hub includes built-in AI visibility tracking. SparkToro's research warns against single-query tracking, as AI recommendations vary significantly between identical searches.

Is traditional SEO still worth investing in?

Yes. Google AI Overviews draw 76% of citations from pages already ranking in the top 10 organically. BrightEdge data shows the overlap between organic rankings and AI citations grew to 54.5% over 16 months. Traditional SEO provides the foundation, and AEO builds on it. The two strategies are complementary.

Sources and References

1. Magenta Associates, "Search Forward" report, 300 UK senior professionals, November 2025. Via Procurement Magazine
2. IAB UK / UKOM Ipsos Iris, AI Usage Statistics, December 2025
3. DSIT, AI Adoption Research, January 2026
4. Seer Interactive, AIO Impact on Google CTR, September 2025
5. Ahrefs, AI Search Overlap Study, August 2025
6. Ahrefs, AI Brand Visibility Correlations, December 2025
7. Tank, The Google AI Search Shift Report, October 2025
8. BrightEdge, Rank Overlap After 16 Months of AIO, September 2025
9. Pew Research Center, Google Users Less Likely to Click with AI Summary, July 2025
10. HubSpot, 2026 State of Marketing Report
11. Google Search Central, Using Generative AI Content
12. SparkToro, AI Brand Recommendation Inconsistency, January 2026
13. Superprompt, How to Get Cited by AI Search, August 2025
14. Princeton University, GEO Study, KDD 2024
15. Originality.ai, AI Content in Google Search Results, September 2025
16. ASA/CAP, Disclosure of AI in Advertising, May 2025
17. KPMG/University of Melbourne, UK Attitudes to AI, 2025
18. EU AI Act, Article 50 Transparency Obligations
19. MIT Sloan, When Humans and AI Work Best Together, 2025
20. Attest, 2025 Consumer Adoption of AI Report
21. HubSpot, Breeze AI Platform
22. Forrester via Digital Commerce 360, AI Search Reshaping B2B Marketing, July 2025
23. Sitebulb, SEO in 2026: Expert Predictions, December 2025
24. Lily Ray, A Reflection on SEO and AI Search, January 2026