According to PYMNTS.com, Adobe is acquiring Semrush in a definitive agreement valued at $1.9 billion. The deal was announced in a November 19 press release and has already received approval from both companies’ boards of directors. The transaction isn’t final yet though—it still needs to clear customary closing conditions. Both companies expect everything to wrap up in the first half of 2026. Semrush specializes in GEO and SEO solutions that help marketers manage brand visibility. Adobe plans to integrate these capabilities to give marketers better insights into how their brands appear across AI systems, traditional search, and the wider web.
Adobe’s AI Gamble
Here’s the thing—this isn’t just another boring corporate acquisition. Adobe is making a $1.9 billion bet that AI search is going to completely reshape how brands get discovered. And honestly, they’re probably right. The numbers are staggering: traffic to U.S. retail sites from generative AI platforms jumped 1,200% year-over-year in October. That’s not just growth—that’s an explosion.
So what exactly is GEO? Basically, it’s the new SEO. While traditional search engine optimization focuses on ranking in Google results, GEO ensures brands are visible and recognized as authoritative sources by AI systems. As Adobe’s announcement explains, brands that don’t master this new channel risk becoming irrelevant. It’s a whole new battlefield for digital visibility.
Why This Matters Now
Look, Adobe has been feeling the heat. They’ve been adding AI to their creative tools, but competitors are popping up everywhere with new AI offerings. This acquisition is their way of saying “we’re not just about creative software anymore.” They’re building a comprehensive marketing stack that covers everything from content creation to customer engagement to now—AI search visibility.
Anil Chakravarthy, Adobe’s Digital Experience president, put it bluntly: brands that don’t embrace GEO risk losing relevance and revenue. And he’s not wrong. When AI assistants start answering customer questions directly, brands need to make sure they’re the ones being cited. Otherwise, they might as well be invisible.
The Bigger Picture
What’s really interesting is the timing. First half of 2026? That feels like forever in tech time. But it shows how complex this integration will be. Adobe isn’t just slapping Semrush’s tools into Creative Cloud—they’re building an entirely new ecosystem.
Semrush CEO Bill Wagner highlighted the core challenge: brands need to understand where and how customers are engaging with these new AI channels. It’s not just about being found—it’s about being found in the right context. And with AI search, context is everything.
Think about it—when every company needs to optimize for AI discovery, the tools to do that become incredibly valuable. That’s why Adobe is willing to pay nearly $2 billion. They’re not just buying technology; they’re buying a position at the center of the next digital marketing revolution.
