Adobe announced on November 19, 2025, that it will acquire Semrush for $1.9 billion in an all-cash deal at $12 per share, a 77% premium over the previous day's closing price. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026. Adobe cited one statistic that explains the urgency: traffic from generative AI sources to U.S. retail sites increased 1,200% year-over-year in October 2025.

Impact at a Glance

Why Adobe Paid $2 Billion for an SEO Company

Adobe isn't buying Semrush for keyword research. They're buying access to Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), the practice of optimizing content to appear in AI-generated responses from ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.

The numbers tell the story. Semrush reported 86% year-over-year growth in customers paying over $50,000 annually in Q1 2025. Its client roster includes Amazon, JPMorganChase, and TikTok. Revenue projections for 2025 sit at $443-445 million, up 18% from the prior year.

As TechCrunch reported, Adobe is betting that companies will invest heavily in making their content visible to AI tools, not just traditional search engines.
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The Pricing Question

This is what most current Semrush users want to know: will costs go up?

Not immediately. Until the deal closes (first half of 2026), Semrush operates independently. But Adobe's track record suggests caution. Products like Adobe Analytics skew toward enterprise pricing and complex implementations.

SEO strategist Cyrus Shepard made this point on Search Engine Journal: "Adobe's marketing tools lean towards ENTERPRISE. If Adobe leans this way with Semrush, it may be a less attractive solution to smaller operators."

Current Semrush pricing for context: Pro at $139.95/month, Guru at $249.95/month, Business at $499.95/month. If you're month-to-month, annual billing locks in current rates.

Semrush Alternatives Worth Knowing in 2025

With Semrush joining Adobe, Ahrefs becomes the largest fully independent SEO tool suite. They've already added Brand Radar ($199/month) for AI visibility tracking, directly competing with Semrush's AI Toolkit.

Other options depending on your needs:
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• ‍Ahrefs has the strongest backlink database and recently added AI visibility tracking. Best for link-focused workflows.
• ‍Moz Pro excels at competitive analysis with good educational resources.
• ‍SE Ranking starts at $52/month and works well for agencies managing multiple clients.
• ‍SpyFu goes deep on competitor PPC data if that's your focus.

The choice depends on what you actually use daily. If you're spending 80% of your time in backlink analysis, Ahrefs is the clear pick. If rank tracking and client reporting drive your work, SE Ranking handles that at a lower cost.

What Changes for Day-to-Day SEO Work

The practical shift is optimizing for traditional search results is no longer enough. When someone asks ChatGPT for a product recommendation, the AI pulls from sources it considers authoritative. Getting cited in those responses requires:
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• Depth over breadth — Specific, authoritative content on defined topics beats thin coverage of everything
• Structured content — Clear headings, schema markup, and direct answers help AI systems extract your content accurately
• Consistent presence — Brands appearing across trusted publications, owned properties, and reviews are more likely to be cited

Semrush's AI Toolkit grew to $3 million ARR within months of launching. Adobe wants that capability integrated with their content creation tools, a pipeline from Photoshop to AI citations.

For a deeper look at how GEO works and what tactics actually move the needle, we have published a practical guide to Generative Engine Optimization covering implementation specifics. Key finding from that research: content with proper schema markup shows 30-40% higher AI visibility.

The Media Property Wildcard

Here's something that didn't get much attention in the initial coverage: Semrush owns significant media properties. Traffic Think Tank (a premium SEO community), Backlinko (one of the most-read SEO blogs), and Third Door Media (publisher of Search Engine Land and Marketing Land).

Adobe hasn't announced plans for these assets. But the situation creates an interesting dynamic, one company owning both SEO tools and major SEO publications. Watch for announcements about editorial independence, potential spin-offs, or how Adobe integrates these community assets into their broader marketing strategy.

FAQ

What is the Adobe Semrush acquisition price?

$12.00 per share in cash, totaling approximately $1.9 billion. That's a 77% premium over Semrush's November 18 closing price of $6.89. Semrush shares jumped 74% on the news.

When does the deal close?

First half of 2026, pending regulatory approval and shareholder vote. Over 75% of Semrush voting power has already committed to supporting the deal.

What are the best Semrush alternatives in 2025?

Ahrefs for backlink analysis and all-in-one capability. SE Ranking ($52-259/month) for budget-conscious agencies. Moz Pro for competitive research. SpyFu for PPC intelligence. Match the tool to your actual daily workflows.

Will current Semrush subscriptions be honored?

Yes, through the transition. Adobe can't change contractual terms before closing. Post-closing changes typically happen at renewal, not mid-contract.

Why didn't Adobe build its own SEO tools?

Time and market position. Semrush has 118,000 paying customers, 15+ years of search data, and enterprise relationships with Amazon and TikTok. Building that from scratch would take years and still lack the brand recognition that drives enterprise sales. Adobe's failed $20 billion Figma acquisition (abandoned in 2023 over regulatory concerns) showed that waiting carries risk in fast-moving markets. At $1.9 billion, roughly 4x annual recurring revenue, Semrush represents a reasonable multiple for a company growing 18% year-over-year with expanding enterprise momentum.

How does this compare to other Adobe acquisitions?

This is Adobe's third-largest acquisition ever. Marketo cost $4.75 billion in 2018. Macromedia cost $3.4 billion in 2005. At $1.9 billion, Semrush is smaller but strategically significant, it's Adobe's first major deal since the Figma collapse and signals their commitment to the AI-driven marketing space.

What This Means for Your Reporting Stack

Tool consolidation is accelerating. When a major platform changes ownership, your data sources and workflows can shift with it.

If you're pulling data from multiple marketing platforms into dashboards, this is worth thinking about now. You can export manually, use native platform reports, or automate the process with a connector tool like Dataslayer that centralizes data from 50+ sources into Google Sheets, Looker Studio, or BigQuery. The point is maintaining consistent reporting regardless of which individual tools change hands.

The Adobe-Semrush deal is the largest validation of SEO and AI optimization tools to date. Whether it leads to better integrated solutions or enterprise-only pricing is the question worth watching.

If you want to keep marketing reports stable when your tools change try Dataslayer free for 15 days to connect Google Ads, Meta, GA4, and 50+ other sources to your preferred reporting destination.