Search Marketing Budgets 2025: GEO vs. SEO & PPC

Clutch surveyed 600 marketing professionals to find out how that balance is shifting. GEO marketing investment is gaining on traditional search marketing, with 63% planning to increase GEO investment over the next year. That growth comes at a time when overall marketing budgets are holding steady at about 7.7% of company revenue, according to Gartner’s 2025 CMO Survey, and paid media already accounts for nearly a third of the total. Within those limits, dollars often flow first to performance anchors, leaving GEO to compete for incremental spend.

Three patterns stand out in the data:

• GEO investment has reached parity with SEO and PPC. 78% of companies surveyed fund GEO, nearly matching the 77.5% that fund traditional search channels.
• 63% of marketers plan to increase GEO budgets in the next 12 months, including 26% who expect significant increases.
• Only 7% plan to reduce GEO investment, showing strong growth momentum across the board.
• Most companies are still testing GEO cautiously. 57% of budgets fall below $2,000/month — but 10% now exceed $5,000.
• 56% of companies already dedicate 10–40% of total marketing spend to SEO/PPC, making GEO’s rise especially notable given limited budget flexibility.
• Marketers are split on SEO’s future: 43% say SEO is losing ground, while 33% believe it’s more important than ever.
• Measurement methods vary widely. Among SEO/PPC marketers, 37% prioritize traffic, 32% use revenue attribution, and 27% focus on lead gen — with 9% admitting they don’t track performance at all.

GEO Reaches Budget Consideration Parity with Traditional Search

For the first time, the percent of companies investing in GEO is keeping pace with traditional search.

Out of those surveyed, 78% reported funding GEO programs. That figure is nearly identical (77.5%) to those that continue to put money into SEO and PPC. The alignment marks a turning point, showing that GEO has shifted from an experiment to a core part of the marketing toolkit.

“Real estate on Google keeps shrinking, AI overviews siphon clicks, and users hop between search, social, and communities before they decide anything,” said Kamron Yazdani, COO of theKOLLAB.

Spending patterns suggest most companies are testing GEO cautiously, though a committed segment is putting real money behind it. Current monthly allocations break down as follows:

• 25% keep allocations under $500
• 32% budget between $500–$2,000
• 16% fall in the $2,000–$5,000 range
• 10% dedicate more than $5,000

This parity signals that GEO is no longer on the fringe. Marketers are carving out meaningful budgets, placing them alongside SEO and PPC as an established channel rather than a side experiment. This sets the stage for what comes next: how fast those budgets are growing.

Marketers Signal Strong Growth Momentum for GEO

Adoption is only part of the story. What stands out in the data is how aggressively marketers expect to focus on GEO in the year ahead. Nearly two-thirds of respondents (63%) say they’ll increase focus on AIO in the next 12 months, including 26% who anticipate significant increases and 37% who expect more moderate growth. That momentum suggests GEO isn’t just holding parity with SEO and PPC — it’s on track to expand well beyond it.

The breakdown shows how expectations vary across the market. 22% of companies plan to keep focus steady, 7% expect to scale back, and 8% remain undecided. With far more marketers planning increases than decreases, GEO is gaining traction as a strategic line item rather than an experimental add-on.

“Truthfully, we’ll probably answer all of this differently in even as little as three months. With AI Mode now live in Google, and rumours it could become the primary destination for searches, we’ll keep flexing our mix based on the signals that matter,” said Jack Oddy, Managing Director of Soap Media.

These growth plans come as most companies already dedicate a substantial share of their budgets to search. More than half (56%) allocate between 10% and 40% of total marketing spend to SEO and PPC. GEO is rising against that backdrop, competing for dollars in portfolios that are already heavily weighted toward search.

SEO’s Future Splits the Industry: Decline or Renewal in the Age of AI?

The survey shows there’s no agreement on what AI means for SEO. 43% of marketing professionals believe SEO is still important but losing ground, while 33% say it’s more important than ever. That divide reflects a market in flux and helps explain why many companies are experimenting with GEO alongside traditional search.

The rest of the responses highlight just how unsettled the picture remains. 16% think SEO is becoming notably less relevant, and 9% say it’s no longer a significant focus at all. With the industry lacking a clear consensus, some are leaning harder into organic search, others are pulling back, and many are trying to strike a balance with AI.

Strategic Uncertainty

This split, with no clear dominant position, shows that marketers haven’t agreed on AI’s impact on SEO.

“We look for leading indicators that the channel is creating success for us or a client. For example, we have been receiving many qualified leads from ChatGPT this year. This was a leading indicator that we as an agency should be investing more time and money in GEO,” said Jacqueline Basulto, CEO of SeedX.

That lack of alignment may be fueling GEO’s rapid rise, as companies spread their bets across both established and emerging search strategies.

The Measurement Gap: Traffic Metrics vs. Business Impact

How marketers define success in search varies widely, and that inconsistency makes it harder to judge GEO’s value. Among the companies that run SEO or PPC, website traffic is the most common metric, cited by about 37%. Close behind, 32% use revenue or sales attribution, and 27% focus on lead generation. Others look at brand awareness (23%), while nearly one in ten admit they don’t measure results at all.

Benchmarks from WordStream’s 2025 Google Ads report help put these gaps into context. Across more than 16,000 campaigns, the average click-through rate (CTR) was 6.66% and the average cost per click (CPC) reached $5.26. Conversion rates averaged 7.52%, while the typical cost per lead (CPL) came in at $70.11 — a 5% increase year over year, far less dramatic than the 25% jump seen in 2024.

Those rising CPC and CPL figures highlight why the split in success metrics matters. Teams that measure traffic may look at GEO as a relatively safe way to capture additional volume, especially as CTRs improve in certain categories. But companies that track ROI through revenue or CPL are more cautious, since rising CPCs can erode margins quickly.

For context, 56% of survey respondents already dedicate 10-40% of their marketing budgets to SEO and PPC. GEO spending is still modest against these anchors, but momentum is building  — and how success is defined will determine how fast those budgets scale.

The Measurement Gap

More marketers track traffic than revenue, which creates a disconnect between activity and impact. Until companies align their metrics with business goals, GEO’s role in the search portfolio will be harder to evaluate and harder to defend when budgets tighten.

GEO Moves from Hype to Core Strategy

Taken together, the findings show a turning point for search marketing. In this survey, 78% of companies reported funding GEO programs, slightly more than the 77.5% investing in SEO and PPC. That balance marks a shift: what was once an experiment is now a fixture.

“[AI is] changing everything — online content is more important than ever, because AI tools search the web for authoritative information to provide to users looking for answers to specific needs,” said Eric Elkins, CEO of WideFoc.us.

And with 63% of marketers planning to raise GEO budgets in the next year, the momentum is hard to ignore.

Several dynamics will shape what happens next:

• Nearly 9x more companies expect to increase GEO focus (379) than reduce it (43).
• Opinions on SEO remain sharply divided, leaving no clear industry direction in the age of AI.
• Among the 465 active in search, measurement standards vary — some focus on traffic, others on revenue — complicating ROI assessments.
• Parity with traditional channels, combined with growth intent, suggests GEO is already part of mainstream digital strategy.

The key takeaway: adoption parity and clear growth intent show GEO has moved well past the test phase. It’s becoming part of core planning for marketing teams of all sizes.

Marketing leaders should weigh their own GEO budgets against SEO and PPC and decide which measurement approach best connects search activity to business outcomes. That step will be essential as the industry adjusts to this new balance of old and new search tactics.

Methodology

Survey Details

• Data source: Pollfish survey platform
• Total sample size: 600 marketing professionals
• Search marketing subset: 465 companies (excludes 135 that do neither SEO nor PPC)
• Collection period: August 2025
• Survey title: “Search Marketing Budget Reality: Is GEO All Talk?”

Sample Composition (All 600 Respondents):

• Associates/Analysts: 36% (218 respondents)
• Managers: 34% (205 respondents)
• Directors: 13% (78 respondents)
• VP or Above: 9% (52 respondents)
• Consultants: 8% (47 respondents)

Search Marketing Activity Breakdown:

• Both SEO and PPC: 272 companies (45.3%)
• PPC only: 98 companies (16.3%)
• SEO only: 95 companies (15.8%)
• Neither SEO nor PPC: 135 companies (22.5%)

Percentages for general marketing opinions (for example, SEO sentiment and GEO growth expectations) reflect the full sample of 600 respondents. Search-specific metrics are based on the 465 companies actively engaged in SEO or PPC.

About the Author

Anna Peck Content Marketing Manager at Clutch

Anna Peck is a content marketing manager at Clutch, where she crafts content on digital marketing, SEO, and public relations. In addition to editing and producing engaging B2B content, she plays a key role in Clutch’s awards program and contributed content efforts. Originally joining Clutch as part of the reviews team, she now focuses on developing SEO-driven content strategies that offer valuable insights to B2B buyers seeking the best service providers.

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