Accelerating the GEO Era: Adobe's Semrush Play and the Race for Digital Visibility

This IDC Market Note examines Adobe's announcement of the company's intent to acquire Semrush for $1.9 billion and the implications for the emerging generative engine optimization (GEO) market. The move combines Adobe's strengths in content supply chain, analytics, and experience orchestration with Semrush's extensive web index and visibility intelligence across search, social, and LLM-driven channels. Together, the companies aim to give brands a unified view of how they surface across both owned and earned environments as AI-powered discovery accelerates.The acquisition reflects Adobe's growing commitment to GEO and the company's recognition that brand visibility is shifting beyond traditional SEO toward machine-mediated experiences. While strategically well aligned, success will depend on clear packaging, thoughtful integration, and maintaining the innovation pace that has made Semrush influential in its category.Overall, the deal positions Adobe to play a central role in shaping the next phase of digital discoverability and provides an early signal of how the GEO landscape may evolve as vendors converge content, data, and AI-driven visibility capabilities.