AI search behavior: What it means for your marketing strategy in 2026

AI search behavior may be causing a dip in your traffic, but it’s also sending higher-quality leads your way. For marketers, that second part is a massive win. AI search was the number one predictor of purchase intent for CRM software buyers, according to HubSpot’s State of AEO 2026 report. And there are more findings from the report that every go-to-market team needs to know.

AI search behavior: What it means for your marketing strategy in 2026

AI search behavior may be causing a dip in your traffic, but it’s also sending higher-quality leads your way. For marketers, that second part is a massive win. AI search was the number one predictor of purchase intent for CRM software buyers, according to HubSpot’s State of AEO 2026 report. And there are more findings from the report that every go-to-market team needs to know.

The role of citations in AEO: Why citations matter more than backlinks for AI visibility

For years, the SEO playbook was straightforward: earn backlinks, climb rankings, capture clicks. But as AI reshapes how traditional SEO works, a different mechanism is determining which content gets seen — and it’s not backlinks. It’s citations. The role of citations in AEO is fundamentally different from link-building: instead of other publishers vouching for your page, AI answer engines are selecting your content as the direct source behind their generated answers.

The role of citations in AEO: Why citations matter more than backlinks for AI visibility

For years, the SEO playbook was straightforward: earn backlinks, climb rankings, capture clicks. But as AI reshapes how traditional SEO works, a different mechanism is determining which content gets seen — and it’s not backlinks. It’s citations. The role of citations in AEO is fundamentally different from link-building: instead of other publishers vouching for your page, AI answer engines are selecting your content as the direct source behind their generated answers.

The role of citations in AEO: Why citations matter more than backlinks for AI visibility

For years, the SEO playbook was straightforward: earn backlinks, climb rankings, capture clicks. But as AI reshapes how traditional SEO works, a different mechanism is determining which content gets seen — and it’s not backlinks. It’s citations. The role of citations in AEO is fundamentally different from link-building: instead of other publishers vouching for your page, AI answer engines are selecting your content as the direct source behind their generated answers.

Introducing the HubSpot Agent CLI

A few weeks ago, I wrote about our vision for the agent era: agents should be able to run on HubSpot, and to run HubSpot. I want to go a level deeper on what “run HubSpot” actually means, and our latest step in bringing this vision to life.

Introducing the HubSpot Agent CLI

A few weeks ago, I wrote about our vision for the agent era: agents should be able to run on HubSpot, and to run HubSpot. I want to go a level deeper on what “run HubSpot” actually means, and our latest step in bringing this vision to life.

A master class in persuasion from an unlikely place

Walk down a suburban street, and you might stumble across a following sign. It’s probably messy with poor formatting and inconsistent font size. Here’s one that I saw in Houston.

A master class in persuasion from an unlikely place

Walk down a suburban street, and you might stumble across a following sign. It’s probably messy with poor formatting and inconsistent font size. Here’s one that I saw in Houston.

What AI Overviews mean for SEO & website traffic

If you’re worried about what AI Overviews mean for SEO, let me remind you of the panic over featured snippets circa 2017. Remember how that turned out? At first, bloggers and SEOs bristled over these quick-glance summaries at the top of the Google SERPs, fearing they’d steal all our traffic. Eventually, however, we adapted and started optimizing content to get mentioned in them. I believe the same will be true of AI Overviews. I mean, it’s already happening: The internet is now filled with the latest advice on how to get cited in AI Overviews (including this article).

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