[Quarterly Update] B2B SEO Trends for Q2 2025: Essential Insights for Marketers

Last year was a volatile year for Search Engine Optimization. New tools sped up the process of finding answers, user behaviors shifted, and Google reconfigured who shows up at the top of search results. Nearly anyone who published content on the internet last year felt the impact of these changes.

As we look ahead to B2B SEO Trends Q2 2025, what can marketers do to stay out in front? I’ll be talking about that this year on The Content Hive.

Algorithms and AI 

There’s no doubt Google’s business decisions last year – from its introduction of AI Overviews in May 2024 to its algorithm updates – have had a significant impact. 

It’s been a year since the search engine giant rolled out its massive Core Update. Google claimed the update was intended to rid search results of non-helpful content and reduce ‘low quality’ search results by 40%. They would go on to release multiple core updates throughout the year and into 2025, all of them somewhat focused on refining what – and who-would appear in their May 2024 introduction: AI Overviews.  

How Google’s ‘Helpful Content’ impacts AI Overviews 

When Google began rolling out its Helpful Content updates in August 2022, the goal was to improve search results by giving priority to content that was deemed ‘helpful.’ The search engine’s definition of helpful content was that which illustrated Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Commonly referred to as E-E-A-T signals, Google was quick to point out these weren’t official ranking factors so much as advice to websites.  

Despite not being official ranking factors, the E-E-A-T signals do translate into who appears highest in search results. The Experience signal focuses on how much experience a website – or its writers – has on a particular topic. Expertise focuses on topical expertise, while Authoritativeness focuses on how well respected a website is for its expertise. Trustworthiness, as the name implies, looks at whether a website is trusted by its users. The more a site can illustrate these four signals, the more likely it is to rank high in search results, including AI Overviews.  

What our Google Study showed us about E-E-A-T and AI Overviews 

I’ve just wrapped up Phase 1 of a study I’m doing at Endeavor Business Media, evaluating the impact of Google’s AI Overviews. As part of the study, I’ve been examining the user behaviors of search engine audiences, particularly as it relates to B2B. The initial results have told us a lot about search impressions, whereas in Phase 2, I’m digging into queries and what people are searching for – and finding – online.  

My Phase 2 preliminary findings show that people are doing a lot of brand-related searches, specifically about companies and the products they produce. While Endeavor’s own brands certainly have subject matter expertise, brand authority, and trustworthiness for the topics we cover, our role as news and information sources often precludes us from writing about our first-hand experience with the products we’re reporting on.    

More on Google AI Overviews>>

B2B SEO Trends Q2 2025: What to Expect

I want to wrap up this SEO Update with two important considerations for your SEO Strategy:  

• Trust is a form of currency in a search world filled with Reddit threads and AI hallucinations. Search engine users want to see – or read – real people with answers or solutions. One way to optimize your website for search engines is to showcase people solving problems and using your products as part of the solution. 

• Along the same lines, lean into your brand’s experience and expertise with your products. Exercise some first-person perspectives on a company blog or YouTube channel. Be sure your testimonials include the word “I” in them.  

Next quarter, I’ll continue the conversation about SEO tactics that elevate your content and increase the likelihood you’ll be included in the top search engine results.   

Author Bio 

Erin Hallstrom is the Associate Director of SEO Strategy for Endeavor Business Media, where she works with more than 150 journalists across 90 brands to implement SEO best practices. Erin is also responsible for Endeavor’s metrics reporting, where she uses her expertise in website analytics to help teams understand their data to make informed SEO decisions. Erin holds multiple technical certifications in Google Analytics and regularly trains audiences and marketing groups on how best to utilize SEO for enhanced content performance.