Semrush joins Adobe to power next-gen generative AI marketing
Adobe has reached a deal to acquire Semrush in a cash transaction for approximately $1.9 billion, the companies announced on Wednesday.
Adobe’s acquisition is a bold step in the broader effort to develop its generative AI marketing capabilities further and reveal how to make brands more visible across the digital landscape.
Adobe says it will purchase Semrush at $12 a share, a premium of roughly 77.5% above Semrush’s recent trading price. Following the announcement, Semrush shares surged more than 74%, suggesting investor enthusiasm was evident.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026, pending approval from regulatory authorities and shareholders. Adobe is acquiring the firm to integrate Semrush’s generative engine optimization and search engine optimization solutions into its Experience Cloud tools, which include Adobe Experience Manager and Adobe Analytics.
The aim is to help marketers understand not just how its brand looks on more conventional websites, but also how it appears in AI-powered interfaces, including ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.
Adobe’s President of Digital Experience, Anil Chakravarthy, presented the acquisition as a response to a new battleground in a rapidly evolving landscape. Generative AI, when deployed to search for and discover brands, is a significant way for companies that don’t adapt to this new “engine” to be left behind, putting them at risk of irrelevance.
Semrush’s Chief Executive, Bill Wagner, also stated that the merger will provide marketers with a 360-degree view of the brand’s engagements—whether on owned channels, the broader web, or AI-driven platforms.
Semrush powers marketing with big data insights
Semrush had been steadily growing ever since. In Semrush’s Q2 2025 earnings report, ARR grew to $435.3 million, representing approximately 15% year-over-year growth, fueled by large customers such as Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, and TikTok.
Semrush is well-positioned from a financial standpoint, with an ARR exceeding $400M and a non-GAAP operating margin of greater than 12%. The site serves approximately 117,000 clients – including tens of Fortune 500 companies— and still generates substantial revenue.
For Adobe, the deal is, to some degree, about tools — it’s a way into systems that help marketing teams decide how and where to advertise online, from the relative tide pools of banner ads, tweets on Twitter, and posts on Facebook. Semrush’s data and platform enable Adobe to serve up something distinct: A look at what is possible with traditional SEO, as well as how GEO is just starting to change.
Adobe plans to incorporate Semrush’s functions across its Experience Cloud and new developments – such as Adobe Brand Concierge, which is expected soon- to enable marketers to attend to their marketing needs in one place.
This provides Adobe with greater capabilities to help brands work with massive language models and chat-based discovery — not just ranking search engine databases, but also being seen by AIs.
This integration between Adobe’s creative offerings and Semrush’s marketing intelligence enables brands to create a seamless content creation process while gaining access to a wealth of visibility information.
Integration hurdles could slow Adobe’s plans
The deal is significant from a strategic perspective, but it is a tough one. Adobe is paying a steep premium, while Semrush has not yet experienced clear, standalone growth. Analysts say it prioritizes strategic value over short-term financial benefits, rather than immediate profits.
To be successful, Adobe must seamlessly integrate Semrush’s platform into a single, unified system that minimizes disruptions to the existing business and customer experience.
Buyers of these services are also likely to be sensitive to price increases, as Adobe will own the software. If an acquisition succeeds, it could be a game-changing digital marketing technology, as even competitors such as Ahrefs, Moz, or other SEO platforms would likely compete with Adobe’s AI-first, integrated alternative.
This move could also lead to cross-selling opportunities throughout Adobe’s creative, analytics, and marketing platforms, as well as establish its footing as a marketing powerhouse powered by AI.
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