Imagine spending years optimizing your website for search traffic, only to see Google answer your audience’s questions before they even click your link.

That’s exactly what AI Overviews are doing. By generating instant, AI-powered responses directly in search results, Google is making it super easy for users to get the information they need without visiting your website.

In this guide, we’ll break down how AI Overviews are reshaping search and, more importantly, share actionable strategies to future-proof your SEO.

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The current state of AI Overviews

AI Overviews, first launched as Search Generative Experience in May 2023, have already seen a measurable impact. A recent study by SparkToro found that over 58% of Google searches now result in zero clicks, meaning most users find what they need without ever engaging with external websites.

An example of an AI Overview.

As Google continues to expand AI Overviews, this trend is expected to grow, further cutting into organic traffic and making traditional SEO tactics less effective.

Plus, AI Overviews now show for 47% of searches—most of those informational—but with the potential to spread to other types in the future.

But it’s not all bad news. While AI Overviews are changing the game, they’re also creating new opportunities for brands that know how to adapt. Google’s market share is still around 90%, and search volume grew by 21% in 2024 (four times ChatGPT’s total search volume).

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With this information in mind, it’s safe to say that SEO isn’t dead yet—it’s just evolving, and businesses that adjust their strategies now will be the ones that thrive.

Need a refresher on how AI is impacting marketing (+some tips and tricks)? Free download >> Emergency Guide to AI in Marketing

5 ways AI Overviews are changing SEO forever (+how you can adapt to keep traffic and rankings)

Let’s dive into the big ways AI Overviews are impacting SEO and what you can do about it.

1. Organic clicks are plummeting

The data makes it clear: A Semrush study of 10,000 informational keywords found that AI-generated summaries significantly reduced both organic and paid click-through rates. Meanwhile, Moz’s latest research suggests that AI Overviews could slash organic traffic by 18% to 64%, particularly for websites that provide straightforward informational content.

This shift is particularly concerning for businesses that rely on organic traffic to generate leads and revenue. If users no longer have to click through to find the information they need, websites will see fewer visits, which will lead to massive losses in revenue.

How to adapt and maintain traffic

Rather than competing with AI-generated summaries, businesses should focus on creating content that AI can’t easily replicate or condense. The key is to provide value beyond a quick answer by offering depth, originality, and real-world application.

• Create content with depth and complexity: AI excels at summarization but struggles with in-depth analysis. Publishing comprehensive, expert-backed content that explores topics from multiple angles will make your content harder to replace.
  • Example: Google May Have to Sell Chrome: What You Need to Know. This article goes beyond surface-level reporting with expert-led analysis and bold opinions AI can’t replicate. While an AI Overview might summarize the basic facts, it can’t capture the nuance of potential market impacts and forward-looking insights.
• Leverage original research and unique data: AI models pull information from existing sources, which means they cannot generate new data on their own. Websites that publish original research, proprietary data, and industry reports can offer something AI simply cannot replicate. Conducting surveys, running experiments, and presenting firsthand insights will make content more valuable and difficult for AI to summarize.

• Provide case studies and real-world applications: One of the best ways to differentiate content is by showcasing real-world applications through case studies. AI-generated summaries provide general information, but they lack the nuance of real experiences. Businesses that share in-depth success stories, failures, and lessons learned create content that feels more practical, credible, and engaging.
• Develop step-by-step, highly detailed ‘how-to’ guides: While AI can generate general guides, it often lacks the ability to walk users through complex processes with precision. Content that breaks down tasks into clear, actionable steps (especially when combined with screenshots, video tutorials, or interactive elements) can make a significant difference in engagement and retention.

• Optimize for featured snippets to maintain visibility: Although AI Overviews dominate the top of search results, featured snippets remain a valuable way to capture attention. Structuring content in a way that makes it easy for Google to feature (such as using clear subheadings, bullet points, and concise answers) can help businesses remain visible even as organic traffic declines.
  • Example: 4 Ways to Optimize for Zero-Click Searches​. This piece discusses strategies such as structuring content with clear subheadings, bullet points, and concise answers to increase the likelihood of being featured in Google’s snippets.​

2. Content summaries can misrepresent brands

AI-generated summaries pull information from multiple sources, often stripping away essential context or excluding critical details. This can result in misrepresentation of a brand’s messaging, leading to confusion, diminished trust, and lost conversions. Unlike human-curated content, AI Overviews do not prioritize brand intent, which means that businesses risk losing control over how they are perceived in search results.

Here’s an example of how AI summaries can cause problems: In February 2025, Google’s AI chatbot, Gemini AI, falsely claimed in a Super Bowl ad that Gouda cheese accounts for “50-60% of the world’s cheese consumption.” This faulty statistic sparked social media backlash and led Google to quietly edit the ad to remove the incorrect information. The incident underscored how AI-generated content can disseminate false information, potentially misleading audiences and harming brand credibility.

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How to maintain control over your brand message

While businesses cannot directly control AI-generated summaries, they can take proactive steps to influence how AI interprets their content. The key is to structure content in a way that reinforces brand messaging and ensures that AI pulls the most relevant details.

• Structure content with AI-friendly summaries: Since AI prioritizes content that is easy to extract and summarize, brands should create clearly defined sections that highlight key takeaways.
  • “Think of AI Overviews like citations: Write your content as if it’s the perfect key takeaway someone would highlight in an article. AI Overviews prioritize clear, helpful information, so focus on easy-to-understand definitions, examples, and explanations without burying them in long paragraphs or filler. Formatting matters too. Based on my experience, AI Overviews rely on header hierarchy to extract key information,” said Rease Rios, Senior Content Marketing Manager at Postman.

• Use structured data to reinforce key information: “Formatting matters too. Based on my experience, AI Overviews rely on header hierarchy to extract key information,” Rease adds.
  • Schema markup helps search engines understand a page’s content more accurately. Businesses can reduce the risk of AI misinterpretation by adding structured data that defines brand values, product benefits, and unique selling propositions.
• Ensure brand values and USPs appear early in the content: AI often pulls information from the beginning of an article or webpage. Placing a company’s mission, differentiators, and core value propositions within the first few sentences increases the chances that AI will include them in its summary.
• Publish authoritative content across multiple trusted sources: Since AI gathers information from a variety of sources, businesses can reinforce their messaging by ensuring consistency across multiple platforms. Guest posts, PR mentions, and collaborations with authoritative industry websites can help shape the data AI pulls when generating summaries.

Need help creating your unique value proposition? Get the guide >> How to Create a Unique Value Proposition From the Ground Up

3. Authority signals matter more than ever

“Authority matters because internet users get savvier every day,” Rease said.

Google recognizes that, so its AI Overviews tend to prioritize content from authoritative sources, making it significantly harder for smaller or newer websites to gain visibility.

Since AI-generated summaries pull information from sources deemed trustworthy by Google, businesses without an established online reputation risk being overshadowed by industry giants.

Google’s Search Quality Guidelines emphasize the importance of Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (EEAT) in ranking content. AI Overviews follow these same principles, favoring information from well-recognized publishers, government websites, and established industry leaders.

Studies by Ahrefs have also shown that websites with a strong backlink profile—particularly those with links from reputable domains—are far more likely to appear in AI-curated search results. This means that without a strong foundation of credibility and authority, smaller businesses may struggle to compete.

How to establish authority and improve AI visibility

For businesses looking to improve their chances of being featured in AI Overviews, the key is to build credibility through strategic content efforts and high-quality backlinks. Here’s how to do it effectively:

• Secure backlinks from trusted industry websites: AI places a heavy emphasis on authority, and backlinks from reputable sources act as endorsements of a site’s credibility. Focus on earning links from well-respected industry blogs, major publications, and educational institutions by publishing valuable content that others want to reference.
• Publish thought leadership content featuring expert insights: AI Overviews favor content written by recognized experts in their fields. Businesses can increase their perceived authority by producing in-depth articles, whitepapers, and research-backed reports featuring insights from industry professionals. Including author bios that highlight credentials can further strengthen credibility.
• Collaborate with established industry leaders: Partnering with recognized experts through guest posts, interviews, and co-authored content can enhance a brand’s authority. Being cited or featured in reputable sources also increases the likelihood that AI will consider a website trustworthy enough to pull information from.
• Regularly update content with fresh data and authoritative references: AI favors content that is both relevant and well-supported by reliable sources. Regularly updating blog posts, case studies, and research articles with the latest statistics, reports, and citations from trusted organizations ensures that content remains competitive in AI-driven search results.

4. Long-tail and niche keywords are growing in importance

AI Overviews are optimized for broad, high-volume search queries but often struggle to provide relevant answers for specific, nuanced searches. This presents an opportunity for businesses to target long-tail and niche keywords, capturing high-intent traffic that AI may overlook.

Because AI-generated summaries pull generalized information from authoritative sources, they tend to offer one-size-fits-all responses. However, when users search for highly specific queries, such as industry-specific recommendations or in-depth comparisons, AI often fails to deliver personalized insights.

Postman is a great example: The company is shown twice in AI Overviews and once in the feature snippet for the keyword “soap api.”

How to capitalize on AI’s weaknesses

To compete effectively, businesses should focus on keywords that require depth, expertise, and niche-specific knowledge. Here’s how to identify and optimize for these opportunities:

• Use keyword tools to find AI-resistant queries: AI struggles with highly detailed, less frequently searched queries. Tools like AlsoAsked, AnswerThePublic, and Google’s ‘People Also Ask’ can reveal questions AI may not answer well, giving businesses the chance to create content that fills those gaps. (You can also try WordStream’s Free Keyword Tool to help here!)
• Create in-depth, industry-specific content: Generic AI summaries cannot match content that provides specialized insights. Businesses should focus on producing articles that incorporate expert perspectives, detailed comparisons, and real-world applications relevant to a specific audience.

Looking for more ways to drive people to your site? Free guide >> 25 Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Website

5. Visual and video content is gaining ground

As AI Overviews evolve, they increasingly prioritize video and visual content over traditional text-based answers. This shift gives an advantage to businesses investing in multimedia, particularly video tutorials, product demonstrations, and visually engaging content.

• 91% of businesses say video marketing has increased their traffic, according to Wyzowl’s Video Marketing Report.
• Google’s AI favors video-based tutorials and product demos because they provide a more engaging and practical way to answer user queries.

With AI Overviews now embedding video content directly in search results, businesses that leverage multimedia effectively can gain an edge over competitors relying solely on written content.

How to optimize for AI-driven video search

To increase visibility in AI-powered search, brands must ensure their video content is both high-quality and optimized for discovery. Here’s how:

• Create video content designed for search: Videos should target specific search queries, with keyword-rich titles, detailed descriptions, and timestamps that help Google understand their content. AI favors well-structured videos that clearly answer user intent.

• Embed videos in blog posts and landing pages: Businesses should integrate videos into existing web pages rather than rely on video content alone. Relevant tutorials or demonstrations can boost on-page engagement and improve rankings in AI-driven search.
• Leverage YouTube SEO to drive traffic: Since Google prioritizes YouTube content in AI Overviews, optimizing for YouTube search is crucial. This includes writing detailed descriptions, adding relevant tags, and using engaging thumbnails to improve click-through rates.

Strategies to future-proof your SEO approach

As AI Overviews continue to reshape search results, businesses must adapt their SEO strategies to stay competitive. The key is to create content that AI struggles to replicate, optimize for structured visibility, and build brand authority across multiple platforms.

1. Develop “AI-resistant” content

“The best way to make your content AI-resistant isn’t to fight the algorithm. It’s to be irreplaceable. That means leaning into your brand voice and using authentic storytelling. When your content has personality and a perspective that AI can’t replicate, it naturally stands out. The content game is still about quality,” said Oskar Duberg, a freelance content specialist.

“AI-generated content is elevator music. Bland, forgettable, and very easy to tune out. To really stand out, your content needs a pulse. A beat. That means authentic storytelling, a clear perspective, and insights that come from personal experience, not just data,” Oskar said.

AI is excellent at summarizing widely available information, but it struggles with content that requires original thought, deep storytelling, and expert analysis. To ensure your content remains valuable and difficult for AI to replace, focus on:

• Publishing proprietary research that AI cannot replicate: Conduct original studies, run surveys, and publish unique data that adds fresh insights to your industry. AI cannot generate or summarize data that does not already exist.
• Interviewing industry experts for firsthand insights: AI pulls from existing sources, but expert interviews introduce fresh perspectives and nuanced opinions that AI cannot fabricate.

• Creating in-depth product comparisons that require subjective judgment: AI can summarize feature lists, but it struggles with subjective opinions, detailed comparisons, and personal recommendations that involve human decision-making.
• Writing case studies with real-world applications: AI cannot replicate real customer experiences, success stories, or business challenges. Detailed case studies with tangible results make your content irreplaceable.

By focusing on unique, high-value content that AI cannot easily summarize, businesses can safeguard their SEO performance despite AI-driven changes.

2. Optimize for “snippet-worthy” formatting

AI Overviews are drawn to well-structured content that’s easy to extract and display. If you want to increase your chances of showing up in AI-generated search results, optimizing for featured snippets and AI-friendly formatting is essential.

Stephanie Yoder, Director of Content at Rebrandly, puts it best: “To make your content AI-friendly, use clear headers (H2, H3) with relevant keywords. AI scans these headings to get a sense of your content, so optimized headers are key to boosting visibility.

Bullet points and numbered lists are also crucial because AI prefers concise, scannable information, and lists make it easier for the algorithm to pull your key takeaways. Lastly, structuring your content in a Q&A or FAQ format is a game-changer. AI loves pulling from Q&A sections, so answering common industry questions increases your odds of getting featured in snippets.”

By following these best practices, you’re not just improving your AI visibility; you’re also ensuring your content stands out in organic search.

3. Strengthen brand authority

“With AI prioritizing trusted sources, building authority across multiple platforms is more critical than ever. Google’s AI is more likely to reference brands that have a strong digital presence and recognized expertise,” Stephanie said.

To establish authority:

• Earn mentions in high-authority industry publications: AI Overviews rely on information from trusted sources. Getting featured in top-tier publications and respected industry blogs improves credibility.
• Publish content on third-party platforms like LinkedIn and Medium: AI pulls from multiple sources, not just your website. Expanding your content distribution to high-authority platforms increases visibility.
• Actively engage in digital PR and guest posting: AI favors well-known thought leaders. Writing guest posts, contributing to industry discussions, and securing media coverage strengthen brand recognition.

“I like to think of AI Overviews as being cited as a source. You may not always get the traffic, but you will get the brand recognition and authority from being a trusted source” Rease said.

Stay ahead of the AI Overviews game

The rise of AI Overviews marks a fundamental shift in how search engines deliver information. As traditional SEO strategies evolve, businesses must embrace original research, optimize for structured visibility, and build brand authority to maintain their competitive edge.

Those who adapt to AI-driven changes—by creating high-value, AI-resistant content and strengthening their digital presence across authoritative platforms—will not only survive but thrive in the evolving world of search.

For support continuing to drive traffic in the world of AI, see how our solutions can help.

Search advertising still reigns as one of the most popular digital marketing channels for small businesses in 2025. In fact, according to our recent marketing trends survey, 76% of small businesses report being satisfied with their search advertising tactics, and almost half of SMBs are planning to invest more in search advertising this year.

But where does your business land—are you ready to increase your investment, or still questioning the effectiveness of your existing search ad campaigns? With increasing changes to the search engine results page, like AI Overviews and the potential for multiple ads from the same brand, coupled with increasing advertising costs year over year, it can be tough to know. However, it’s important to understand how your search ads are performing compared to competitors in your industry so you can make informed decisions about how to optimize your campaigns.

Luckily, it’s that time of year once again for our annual search ads benchmarks! We analyzed over 16,000 campaigns running from April 2024 through March 2025 to create an easy-to-use report that paints a picture of how businesses in your industry are performing on Google Ads and Microsoft Ads.

We’re also including thorough analyses, expert advice, and actionable tips to help you take control of your accounts and maximize your search ads strategy.

On the go? Take this data with you! We wrapped our 2025 Google Ads benchmarks report into a free, downloadable guide here.

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Key search ads trends: The big picture

Search advertising costs have been increasing year over year for the last five years, and our latest data shows this trend continuing. However, cost per lead did not increase as drastically in 2025 as it did from 2023 to 2024, suggesting a little more stability in the paid ad space (after an extremely volatile year for organic rankings).

Let’s take a look at the big picture of this benchmark data before we get into the metric-by-metric details.

• Overall, average click-through rate (CTR) increased slightly, by 3.74%, but when broken down by industry, just over half of the industries saw a decrease in CTR YoY, while 48% saw either stable or increased CTRs. This is a departure from our findings over the last two years, where CTR increased pretty significantly for many industries. Google and other search engines have continuously optimized ad placements to better blend in with organic results, but they may have done all of the optimizations they can do (for now), which speaks to increased costs and lower click-through rates (for 52% of industries).
• Cost per click increased for 87% of industries. Some industries, like Education & Instruction and Beauty & Personal Care, saw substantial increases (over 40%). This is in line with our data last year, where we saw cost per click (CPC) increase for 86% of industries. The continuing increase in costs is likely due to crowded and unstable SERP conditions, plus increased competition.
• Conversion rate increased for 65% of industries. It’s not all bad news! 15 out of 23 of the industries we looked at saw increases in conversion rate (CVR) YoY. This comes after a decrease for most industries last year. Some industries, like Sports & Recreation and Education & Instruction, saw large increases (over 40%). It’s encouraging to know that despite rising costs, search ads are still effective at driving leads for businesses. This could be due to a more stable economy throughout 2024.
• Cost per lead increased for 13 out of 23 industries, although the average increase was only around 5% YoY, noticeably lower than last year’s 25% average increase. However, some industries did see significant decreases, including Career & Employment (46.74%) and Arts & Entertainment (32.28%). An increase in cost per lead (CPL) isn’t surprising given lower CTRs in those industries and increased CPC.

Although costs have gone up, so have click-through rates and conversion rates, indicating generally better performance for advertisers as a whole.

According to Cliff Sizemore, Senior Marketing Manager at LocaliQ, “Costs are rising, but so is performance—65% of industries saw better conversion rates in 2025. The main takeaway here is that a smart strategy beats cheap clicks.”

Microsoft and Google Ads benchmarks for every industry

Ready to dig into the latest PPC trends? Check out the Microsoft and Google Ads benchmarks across all metrics and industries for 2025 below.

Want the full data breakdown straight to your inbox? Download our free 2025 Google Ads benchmarks guide!

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Average click-through rate in search ads

While click-through rate isn’t necessarily a “money metric” that ties back directly to your spend, it’s still important to your overall campaign health and ROI. It tells you how clickable your ads are, which you want to prioritize when trying to pull potential customers from the busy SERP.

The average click-through rate in Google Ads in 2025 is 6.66%.

Business Category	Average CTR
Animals & Pets	6.58%
Apparel / Fashion & Jewelry	6.77%
Arts & Entertainment	13.10%
Attorneys & Legal Services	5.97%
Automotive — For Sale	8.29%
Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts	5.56%
Beauty & Personal Care	5.71%
Business Services	5.65%
Career & Employment	6.57%
Dentists & Dental Services	5.44%
Education & Instruction	5.74%
Finance & Insurance	8.33%
Furniture	6.11%
Health & Fitness	7.18%
Home & Home Improvement	6.37%
Industrial & Commercial	6.23%
Personal Services	7.69%
Physicians & Surgeons	6.73%
Real Estate	8.43%
Restaurants & Food	7.58%
Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts	8.92%
Sports & Recreation	9.19%
Travel	8.73%

 

The industries with the highest average click-through rates were Arts & Entertainment at 13.10%, Sports & Recreation at 9.19%, and Shopping, Collectibles, & Gifts at 8.92%.

The industries with the lowest average click-through rates were Dentists & Dental Services at 5.44%, Automotive—Repair, Services, & Parts at 5.56%, as well as Business Services at 5.56%.

Average click-through rate: YoY

While the overall average click-through rate increased year over year, the industries that saw the biggest decreases year over year were Beauty & Personal Care (down 15.41%), Travel (down 14.07%), and Restaurants & Food (down 12.67%).

In contrast, the industries with the highest increases year over year included Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts up 14.07%, Home & Home Improvement up 13.95%, and Attorneys & Legal Services up 12.64%.

The overall average click-through rate across all industries increased 3.74% year over year. We think there could be a few SERP factors at play as to why average click-through rate increased.

“CTRs have been increasing YoY for five years, largely driven by new ad features and SERP changes, including larger ads, more ads above the fold, and ads that blend in more with organic results,” said Elisa Gabbert, Director of Content Marketing at LocaliQ.

Ads now look more like organic results than ever before, so users may be more likely to click on them. In the example below, aside from the “sponsored” flag at the top of these ads, there is not much that differentiates them from the typical organic result.

This layout has certainly come a long way from the old Google Ads formats from years ago that had the yellow “Ad” flag.

Throwback to when ads looked like this!

We suspect that Beauty & Personal Care saw the biggest decline in average CTR year over year because competition has significantly increased in that industry. Thanks to the emergence of online shopping platforms like TikTok Shops and Amazon, it’s easier than ever for new beauty brands to pop up.

In fact, social and ecommerce sales drive more than 50% of overall beauty sales globally. Although potential shoppers may not be clicking as frequently on a beauty brand’s search ads, businesses in this industry should run Google Ads that build brand awareness and drive users to their online shops.

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How to improve your search ads click-through rate

There are two core problems likely at the root of any low click-through rate: targeting and ad copy or creative.

To start, if you’re not hitting the right audience members at the right time, they’ll be less likely to click on your ad. It’s important to review your keyword lists often to ensure you’re hitting high-intent, transactional terms.

As for creating compelling ads, be sure you’re taking advantage of ad assets, like sitelinks or image assets, to make your ads more clickable and enticing. If you don’t have the bandwidth to refresh your ads often, try leaning into AI tools to help you whip up new lines of ad copy or unique creative assets. Just be sure to double-check any AI-generated ad elements before you set them live. Check out this resource for more ways to improve your click-through rate.

Try the new, free AI copy tool from our friends at LocaliQ for instant copy-and-paste headlines and descriptions!

Average cost per click in search ads

Click-through rate and cost per click go hand-in-hand in Google Ads. If you’re getting a high click-through rate and high costs per click, you’ll spend your budget faster. That’s why CPC is so dependent on factors such as your bidding strategy, industry competition, and more.

The average cost per click in Google Ads in 2025 is $5.26.

Business Category	Average CPC
Animals & Pets	$3.97
Apparel / Fashion & Jewelry	$4.31
Arts & Entertainment	$1.60
Attorneys & Legal Services	$8.58
Automotive — For Sale	$2.41
Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts	$3.90
Beauty & Personal Care	$5.70
Business Services	$5.58
Career & Employment	$5.16
Dentists & Dental Services	$7.85
Education & Instruction	$6.23
Finance & Insurance	$3.46
Furniture	$3.86
Health & Fitness	$5.00
Home & Home Improvement	$7.85
Industrial & Commercial	$5.70
Personal Services	$5.81
Physicians & Surgeons	$5.00
Real Estate	$2.53
Restaurants & Food	$2.05
Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts	$3.49
Sports & Recreation	$2.64
Travel	$2.12

Industries that saw the lowest average cost per click included Arts & Entertainment ($1.60), Restaurants & Food ($2.05), and Travel ($2.12).

Meanwhile, the industries with the highest average cost per click included Attorneys & Legal Services ($8.58), Dentists & Dental Services and Home & Home Improvement (both at $7.85), and Education & Instruction ($6.23). It’s not surprising to see these industries on the higher end of the CPC spectrum; they typically have high-competition keywords, and clicks can yield higher purchase values for these types of businesses.

However, the economic landscape likely has an impact on industries with high average CPCs as well, like the Home & Home Improvement category.

“One of the most notable trends in the advertising landscape is the rising costs associated with Home & Home Improvement services, which are now closely following the traditionally high costs of attorney and legal services,” said Navah Hopkins, Brand Evangelist at Optmyzr.

Average cost per click: YoY

The industries with the biggest decreases in cost per click were Arts & Entertainment—down 6.98%, then Restaurants & Food—down 5.96%, and Attorneys & Legal Services—down 4.03%.

On the other end, Beauty & Personal Care average cost per click was up 60.11%, followed by Education & Instruction up 41.91%, and Shopping, Collectibles, & Gifts up 33.72%.

The overall average cost per click in Google Ads across all industries increased by 12.88%.

Education & Instruction, seeing one of the biggest increases in cost per click year over year, could indicate a general lull in the industry.

For example, many educational institutions—including both higher education and K-12 schools—are bracing for a looming enrollment cliff. It’s projected that the average number of high school graduates per year will decrease by 10.7% by 2037, plus over a third of US adults report having little to no confidence in higher education.

Of course, there will always be opportunities for education-based businesses and organizations to tap into their markets via search ads. However, these trends may indicate that hard-to-come-by clicks will be of higher value and come with higher associated costs.

How to lower cost per click

You always want to keep your Google Ads costs low. The lower your cost per click, the better, since that means you’re spending less overall and can inherently lower your cost per lead.

While we share plenty of ideas to lower your cost per click in Google Ads here, keep in mind factors that may be out of your control, like industry competition. For example, Google Ads recently updated its unfair advantage policy to now allow the same brand to serve multiple ads in different locations on the SERP, which could drive up costs. In this case, it’s best to master campaign basics to ensure your landing pages, keywords, and ads are tightly aligned to increase Quality Score and, in turn, lower your cost per click.

Additionally, your bidding strategy could have an impact on your cost per click. For example, if you choose an automated smart bidding strategy that’s optimizing for conversions over clicks, Google’s machine learning might bid higher for queries more likely to convert—even if they’re more competitive and expensive.

According to Katia Hausman, Vice President of Product at LocaliQ, “The rate of CPC increases varies depending on optimization type, but we’ve seen sharper increases on campaigns with smart bidding, which is likely expected since Google has direct control over these CPCs.”

Want to lower your costs fast? Download our free guide to 6 easy ways to save big in Google Ads now!

Average conversion rate in search ads

Conversion rate is a crucial PPC metric when it comes to gauging your search ad performance, because it proves how well your ads are equating to real sales or leads.

A high conversion rate indicates that your ads are showing to interested potential customers with ad copy and creative that’s compelling enough to hook them in and that your landing page is optimized for the buyer’s journey.

The average conversion rate in Google Ads in 2025 is 7.52%.

Business Category	Average CVR
Animals & Pets	13.07%
Apparel / Fashion & Jewelry	3.99%
Arts & Entertainment	4.84%
Attorneys & Legal Services	5.09%
Automotive — For Sale	7.76%
Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts	14.67%
Beauty & Personal Care	7.82%
Business Services	5.14%
Career & Employment	4.33%
Dentists & Dental Services	9.08%
Education & Instruction	11.38%
Finance & Insurance	2.55%
Furniture	2.73%
Health & Fitness	6.80%
Home & Home Improvement	7.33%
Industrial & Commercial	7.17%
Personal Services	9.74%
Physicians & Surgeons	11.62%
Real Estate	3.28%
Restaurants & Food	7.09%
Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts	3.83%
Sports & Recreation	7.62%
Travel	5.75%

 

The industries with the best average conversion rates were Automotive—Repair, Services, & Parts at 14.67%, Animals & Pets at 13.07%, and Physicians & Surgeons at 11.62%.

In contrast, industries with the lowest average conversion rates were Finance & Insurance at 2.55%, Furniture at 2.73%, and Real Estate at 3.28%.

Average conversion rate: YoY

The industries that saw the biggest increases in conversion rates were Education & Instruction (up 43.87%), Sports & Recreation (up 42.43%), and Apparel, Fashion & Jewelry (up 14.69%).

Meanwhile, the industries that saw the biggest drops in CVR year over year were Career & Employment (down 23.09%), Restaurants & Food (down 18.69%), and Home & Home Improvement (down 14.97%).

Despite rising costs, the average conversion rate increased by 6.84% year over year, which reinforces the effectiveness of search ads in driving leads for businesses. Although this could also be the result of a more stable economy and cooling inflation over the last year, market uncertainty has returned, so we’re curious how conversion rates will change throughout the year.

How to improve conversion rate

It might seem counterintuitive at first, but to address a low conversion rate, you’ll have to first address your CTRs and CPCs. For instance, if you’re getting less clicks at higher costs, it’ll be more difficult to maintain a high conversion rate as your budget stretches to cover what are likely lower-intent clicks. Remember, a click is half the battle when securing a conversion.

“Rising CPCs are one of the only constants in Google Ads, so it’s refreshing to see advertisers focusing on what they can control in response: conversion rates,” said Jyll Saskin Gales, Google Ads Coach.

If you find you want to squeeze more out of your conversion rate and your CTRs and CPCs are already maximized, you may want to consider new conversion actions to test on your landing pages to make it easier for visitors to take action on your site.

“Everything comes down to your landing page offer in combination with your ad. If your focus area was on making your ad and landing page as conversion-friendly as possible, then CVR will improve as well,” said Brett McHale, Founder of Empiric Marketing.

“Landing page optimization, compelling creative, offline conversion tracking—these are some of the tools we have to increase conversion rate and keep ROI in line. 65% of industries saw increases in average conversion rates this year, a promising trend to counteract rising costs,” Jyll said.

Other marketing channels can also help support your Google Ads conversion rate optimization efforts, as your social media accounts might inspire potential customers to search for your business online, and so on.

Be sure to check out this resource for more conversion rate optimization tips.

Get ideas to optimize your campaigns and increase conversion rates fast with a free, instant account report from our Google Ads Grader!

Average cost per lead in search ads

While you want to consider all your available metrics when evaluating your PPC reporting and performance, cost per lead is one that usually gets special attention. It’s the “money metric” for many advertisers because it defines the bang for your buck.

Cost per lead (also referred to as cost per conversion, cost per action, or cost per acquisition) can indicate how effective your campaigns are at delivering marketing ROI, since it calculates how much you’re spending for a conversion on average.

“Ultimately, cost per lead, when used in tandem with lead value tracking, is the most important PPC metric because it directly reflects the value generated from advertising efforts, which is why tactics like call scoring and value-based bidding are so important,” Katia said.

The average cost per lead in Google Ads in 2025 is $70.11.

Business Category	Average CPL
Animals & Pets	$31.82
Apparel / Fashion & Jewelry	$101.49
Arts & Entertainment	$30.27
Attorneys & Legal Services	$131.63
Automotive — For Sale	$38.86
Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts	$28.50
Beauty & Personal Care	$60.34
Business Services	$103.54
Career & Employment	$62.80
Dentists & Dental Services	$83.93
Education & Instruction	$90.02
Finance & Insurance	$83.93
Furniture	$121.51
Health & Fitness	$62.80
Home & Home Improvement	$90.92
Industrial & Commercial	$85.63
Personal Services	$53.52
Physicians & Surgeons	$56.83
Real Estate	$100.48
Restaurants & Food	$30.27
Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts	$47.94
Sports & Recreation	$47.47
Travel	$73.70

 

The industry with the lowest average cost per lead was Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts with an average CPL of $28.50. This industry was followed by Restaurants & Food and Arts & Entertainment, both with a CPL of $30.27, and Animals & Pets with a CPL of $31.82.

The industries with the highest average costs per lead were Attorneys & Legal Services at $131.63, Furniture at $121.51, and Business Services at $103.54. While these CPLs are on the higher end compared to all the industries we looked at, it’s important to keep in mind the value of a lead for these types of businesses. For example, a Business Services lead could equate to a larger, higher value purchase as the lead moves through the B2B sales cycle.

Average cost per lead: YoY

The industries that saw the steepest drops in average cost per lead year over year were Career & Employment (down 46.74%), Arts & Entertainment (down 32.28%), and Animals & Pets (down 8.9%).

On the opposite end, Education & Instruction saw the biggest increase in CPL year over year as its average rose by 25.87%. This industry was followed by Beauty & Personal Care, which increased by 24.62%, along with Apparel, Fashion & Jewelry, which increased by 23.36%.

The overall average cost per lead in Google Ads across all industries went from $66.69 in 2024 to $70.11 in 2025, indicating a 5.13% increase. This year-over-year increase is much more mellow compared to the 25% average increase we saw last year when comparing 2024 to 2023. After are large increase in CPL last year, it’s good to see this metric leveling off a bit.

How to lower cost per lead

If you’re feeling like your average cost per lead isn’t up to par with your industry average, there are countless options for how you can work to lower it. Keep in mind, too, that fluctuations and variations in average cost per lead are completely normal. Not only that, but your cost per lead data will be dependent on how you track and assign values to your conversion actions. Plus, you may need to consider your lead quality when evaluating your cost per lead.

“Cost per lead is an essential metric, but measuring lead quality and value is just as important today. Advertisers need to track the real business impact of those leads. Feeding platforms actual conversion value signals, like scored call data, improves CPL over time,” said Alessandro Colarossi, Director of Account Management at SearchKings.

“In industries like Home & Home Improvement, where the average CPL is already $90.92, focusing on better lead quality over sheer quantity is critical,” Alessandro said.

It also may be beneficial to evaluate your other marketing platforms in tandem with your search ads cost per lead to see how you could bring down costs across the board to work towards your business’s bottom line.

An example of marketing channels that could complement your search ad strategy and help you bring down costs overall.

What these search ad benchmarks mean for your business

Regardless of how your current PPC results align with your industry’s averages, there are always ways you can improve and optimize your campaigns!

“Cost per lead is either increasing at a slower pace or decreasing altogether for many industries, mostly due to improving conversion rates. This suggests ads, keywords, and landing pages are becoming more relevant, leading to a higher percentage of website visitors contacting the business,” Katia said.

To help you make smart PPC strategy decisions, here’s what to know about the key trends and takeaways from these Google Ads benchmarks.

1. Keeping an eye on SERP changes is hugely important

Google has already been looking for additional ways to squeeze money out of the SERP, like reversing a long-held rule keeping businesses from running multiple ads on the same SERP. We expect Google to also introduce more ad options within AI Overviews to further monetize the search results page.

There are ads for JustAnswer in the top ad spot and then again further down the page in this SERP example, proving how Google’s recent updates are changing the ad landscape.

2. Diversifying your search ad strategy is key

As we’ve seen potential ad placements expand and become more streamlined with campaign types like Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns, it’s more important than ever to take advantage of all the options Google has available to reach your audience.

You might not be able to rely solely on search ad placements and could expand to other strategies like Shopping Ads or Local Services Ads to supplement your search campaigns and improve your overall account health.

More campaign variety could also lead to lower CPCs in general. For example, industries that rely heavily on visuals to showcase their offerings are generally seeing lower costs as they move towards media-rich, feed-based campaign types.

“It is intriguing to observe how inexpensive categories such as Real Estate have become. The affordability of Real Estate is particularly surprising, as one would expect the CPCs in this sector to be more competitive,” Navah said.

“This raises questions about whether the introduction of Performance Max campaigns is contributing to the lower average CPCs, as more Real Estate marketers adopt this feed-based campaign type,” Navah said.

You should also consider all your search ad platform options. For example, you can replicate your Google Ads success on Microsoft Ads for typically a lower cost.

“Diversifying your advertising spend across different platforms can help offset rising costs on any single platform. This allows you to reach different audiences while reallocating budgets to the ad publishers that deliver the best conversions,” Katia said.

3. Account structure can make or break your experience in the ad auction

How you break out your campaigns and segment your target audiences has a huge impact on performance. It’s important to consider your account structure when evaluating costs, as auctions for certain campaign types or audience segments may be more competitive than others. This means your different campaigns may require variations in keyword lists, budget, bidding strategy, and more.

Map out your account for success now using our free guide to the perfect Google Ads account structure!

“It is essential to pay close attention to auction prices. If there are significant variations across different regions or business segments—where some areas are costly while others are more affordable—it is crucial to manage these differences effectively,” Navah said.

“Keeping these variations in separate campaigns allows for more efficient budgeting and resource allocation,” she added. “Ultimately, it is vital to align your campaigns with the revenue generated from sales, regardless of whether the transaction is immediate or part of a lead generation process.”

4. Fine-tuned targeting is a must

The right account structure can also help you target more effectively.

“A big tip I have for improving search ad results would be to know your audience and optimize your campaign to that audience. The more tailored your ads can be for the audience most likely to convert, the better,” said Stephanie Scanlan, Vice President of Client Success at LocaliQ.

“Use tools, such as settings by demographics, to make sure your ad spend is going towards people who would use the product or service you’re selling. Add in audiences to help your ads show for people who have engaged with similar businesses or industries recently. Know your audience well and maximize your reach to them,” Stephanie said.

In this instance, your PPC goals can be a guiding light for your campaign structure and targeting strategy.

“Build campaigns that are hyper-focused on the goal that you are trying to achieve. Google Ads (and nearly every other ad platform) is heavily pushing broad ‘AI-enhanced’ targeting. While this can be helpful, you still want to maintain as much control over targeting as possible. Don’t always opt for the easiest campaign setup with Performance Max or other AI features. Instead, test AI-powered capabilities first and use them strategically,” Brett said.

From there, you can create ads that are tightly aligned to your campaign’s audience segments.

“Always focus on creative and messaging. Once targeting is optimized, your best strategy is to heavily focus on where folks are landing from your ads and what is going to draw them there to convert. Conversions start at the ad level and work their way down. Make that process as seamless as possible,” Brett said.

5. Focusing on overall ROI throughout the year should be a priority

While it can be easy to get bogged down with one specific metric, try to think about how these key Google Ads metrics play into your business’s overall bottom line. While it’s important to track individual performance metrics within Google Ads, you should find ways to uncover your search ads ROI as a whole, too.

“At the end of the day, with PPC it is about the ROI. Is your PPC campaign putting money back into your business and helping it grow? For a business owner, it is important to continually optimize your PPC campaigns for what is generating ROI at that moment in time,” Stephanie said.

Your PPC ROI may be subject to seasonality as well. So, be ready to shift your strategy as needed throughout the year to maintain an effective, always-on approach to your campaigns.

“Industries see shifts throughout the year, and what was giving you the best ROI in April won’t necessarily be the same services or products giving you the best ROI in October. Your PPC campaign needs to be adjusted along with this to ensure you’re maximizing your best ROI,” Stephanie said.

6. Don’t be surprised if industry competition continues to increase

With the current state of search advertising, it’s inevitable that competition is only going to increase for most industries. To combat this and stay ahead, lean into first-party data and value-based campaign tracking and bidding.

“Advertisers seeing the strongest long-term results despite rising competition are the ones strengthening their first-party data foundations. For instance, using customer match for prospecting, GA4 audiences for smarter targeting, and securing conversion durability through enhanced conversions and GA4 user-provided data,” Alessandro said.

“The widening gap between CPC and CPL across industries really stands out to me. While some categories like Automotive—Repair, Service & Parts show a manageable cost per click of $3.90, the cost per lead still stretches to $28.50,” Alessandro said.

“On the higher end, Attorneys & Legal Services has a CPC of $8.58 but a much higher CPL of $131.63. This shows that even when clicks are reasonably priced, competition for meaningful conversions can drive lead costs significantly higher. It highlights the growing need for advertisers to track and value their conversions carefully as acquisition costs continue to rise.”

The value a search ad lead brings to your business can make dealing with high costs and competition well worth it.

“The ultimate measure of success is the value of the leads generated. It’s acceptable for CPC to rise if CPL is falling and conversion rates are improving. Therefore, it’s important to invest in tools that allow you to understand the true value of your leads to get a complete picture of performance,” Katia said.

7. Auditing your PPC accounts regularly is crucial

As the overall averages for CTR, CPC, CVR, and CPL have fluctuated in recent years, you’ll want to stay ahead of any potential changes to your account performance. Auditing your PPC accounts regularly can help you understand how your campaigns are performing against benchmarks in your industry.

Try finding an easy-to-follow audit structure that works best for you and your team. For example, many advertisers use the SWOT analysis exercise (which looks at their account’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) to track, benchmark, and optimize their performance.

Or, you could try following a checklist, like the example below, to be sure you’re covering all your performance tracking bases.

Want a true read of your Google Ads campaign performance? Try our free Google Ads Grader for an instant account report!

Google Ads benchmarks 2025: How to take action in your account now

Remember, no two Google Ads accounts are exactly the same. While these benchmarks can be a guiding light when measuring PPC performance, what might work for one advertiser may not work for another. So, use this data as a reference point for which direction to take your account optimization strategy according to your business’s unique needs.

Search ads campaigns are flexible, and you can use data like the averages in this report to pivot your strategy when it matters most. The sooner you start tracking your performance alongside industry benchmarks, the better. For more help making the most of your search ads, see how our solutions can maximize your campaign strategy!

About the data

This report is based on a sample of 16,446 US-based search advertising campaigns running between April 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025. Each category includes at minimum 64 unique active campaigns. “Averages” are technically median figures to account for outliers. All currency values are posted in USD.

Who doesn’t love summer? School’s out, vacation plans abound, and there are ample opportunities to get our vitamin D levels up.

Summer is also a time to engage in some seasonal marketing. We’ve talked before about the benefits of seasonal messaging and campaigns. You can employ summer marketing ideas on any of your channels, and Instagram is no exception.

Summer Instagram captions are a great way to capitalize on the excitement around the season. And they can support you in any marketing goal, whether you’re promoting an upcoming sale, touting your newest offerings, or encouraging your audience to book services.

So what goes into crafting an effective summer Instagram caption? And what should you write to catch your audience’s eye? We’ve got you covered.

Contents

What to include in your Instagram captions for summer

Instagram is a visual platform first. It’s where you share photos and videos with your audience. You can even go live and provide real-time video updates. But alongside this visual content, there is space to caption your work.

Cloudless skies, big smiles, and a caption that leans into those summer holiday vibes.

As on all social platforms, take advantage of all the features — an empty or underutilized caption is a missed opportunity!

When crafting your summer Instagram captions (or, really, any Instagram captions), these tips can help you appeal to readers and even boost your reach and engagement.

Download our free 2025 social media calendar for more caption, hashtag, and post ideas to last you all year long!

Summer Instagram caption do’s and don’ts

Let’s start with some “dos:”

• DO use hashtags. Research has found that posts with 11 or more hashtags see the highest engagement on Instagram.
• DO watch your caption length. Captions with fewer than 30 words typically perform best.
• DO try emojis. These little characters can add some visual interest to your caption. Including one or two lends your post levity and whimsy. Don’t overdo it, though. A caption that treats emojis as hieroglyphs can be hard to understand.
• DO include a CTA, where appropriate. Not all of your Instagram content needs to drive audience action. But when a post aims to achieve a specific marketing goal (e.g., “We want to encourage more sign-ups for our upcoming event”), then include a CTA that asks your audience to take action (e.g., “Follow the link in bio to register!”).

This short caption sets a scene and has readers envisioning a day-to-evening look for summer.

Just as important are the “don’ts:”

• DON’T be inauthentic. Stay true to your brand voice. Don’t adopt a cooler or younger persona just because you’re on a social platform.
• DON’T forget about your audience. Social media is a place for you to build your brand, increase awareness, and establish yourself as a trustworthy presence in your industry. You can only do those things if you keep your audience — their needs and pain points — in mind as you draft your content.
• DON’T skew to sales-focused messaging. Because social media is a “top of the funnel” channel, it’s not a place for the hard sell. If you have a specific goal in mind (e.g, promoting an upcoming sale), then you can include more overt sales language. But mostly, Instagram is a place to build awareness and interest.

54 fun summer Instagram captions to heat up your posts

Now that you know what goes into creating an interesting summer Instagram caption, are you ready to draft your own? If you’re looking for a little extra inspiration, read on.

We’ve got real-world examples, and some suggested creative summer Instagram captions you can tailor to fit your brand.

Make a plan to grow your Instagram account this summer with our free, easy-to-use growth strategy guide!

Summer Instagram captions for retailers

Many retail brands can cut loose and have fun in their seasonal marketing messaging. If you’re selling summer gear of any kind—whether that’s shorts and flip-flops or cleaning chemicals for the pool—there’s a built-in link between the season and your offering.

Keeping your captions light and airy aligns with the season. And adding related hashtags, including local hashtags, can help you appear in relevant searches and feeds on the app.

This stars and stripes quilting kit is the perfect item to promote ahead of Memorial Day and July 4th.

Here are some short and breezy caption ideas to spark your creativity:

• In-store deals are heating up! Stop by for 20% off all [product categories], all weekend long. #SummerSale
• Temps are rising, but we’ve got the coolest new items in stock. Visit us from 9-5 to see for yourself (and enjoy our A/C). #NewArrivals
• Your go-to for summer essentials.
• Summer style.
• Cool for the summer.
• Summer vibes.
• Summer fashion.
• It’s time for a summer shopping spree.
• Long days, hot drops. #NewArrivals
• Get stocked for summer. #SummerEssentials
• Keep things fresh this summer. Shop our new arrivals.

Summer Instagram captions for home services

When summer rolls around, there’s plenty for homeowners to do. Regular lawn mowing, pool prep, and cleaning ahead of backyard parties—home services businesses have options when invoking seasonal messages in their summer Instagram captions.

Source

Try these captions for your home services business this summer:

• A/C troubles? In this weather!? We don’t think so. Our team is on call 24/7 for emergency service. Link in bio to schedule a visit. #HVACRepair #StayCool
• Don’t sweat the housework this summer. Give us a call. #CleaningPros #HomeCleaning
• Summer service slots are going fast! Book yours now.
• Transform your backyard into *the* place to chill this summer.
• Get your pool summer-ready! Book your seasonal opening service today. #PoolCleaning #SummersHere
• Handyman services to get your home in tip-top shape for the season.

Summer Instagram captions for travel, hospitality, and event businesses

With kids out on summer break and adults requesting vacation time, the summer is typically a busy season for those in travel, hospitality, and events.

Lean on seasonal themes to help people find your business as they look for the perfect location for their summer getaway or date night out.

Source

Here are some fun and enticing Instagram captions you can use to accompany your summer photos and videos:

• Your perfect summer vacation awaits.
• The [great outdoors/beach/lake/city] is calling. #SummerTravel #MakeItCount
• Effortless summer travel.
• Where to next this summer?
• This is your sign to book the tickets.
• Get your next summer adventure on the books.
• Summer sips #DrinkSpecials #SeasonalCocktails
• Summer is better spent poolside.
• We’re making the most of local produce. Stop in for seasonal specials. #EatLocal #SummerProduce #StrawberrySeason
• Enjoy your summer Fridays. Join us for happy hour, starting at 4 p.m. #HappyHour

Summer Instagram captions for healthcare

Caring for your mind and body never takes a vacation! Those in the healthcare space can craft timely messaging to encourage followers to tend to themselves during the summer months.

Whether that’s reminders about sunscreen usage or healthy recipes using fresh local produce, there are plenty of ways for healthcare businesses to lean into seasonal themes.

Source

Try these summer Instagram captions for your healthcare business:

• Wellness doesn’t take a vacation.
• This is your reminder to reapply your sunscreen!
• Swimming, biking, pickleball—what’s your favorite way to stay active in the summer? #SummerSports
• Healthy skin tomorrow starts with sunscreen today.
• Summer colds are no fun! We’re here to get you better and back out to the beach.
• School’s almost back in session. Schedule your required vaccinations today. #BackToSchool
• Shining sun, glowing smile. Book a teeth-whitening session at the link in bio. #Dentist #Smile
• Beat the heat! Follow the link in our bio for tips to stay safe, cool, and hydrated during the upcoming heatwave.

Summer Instagram captions for automotive businesses

Summer is a season of road trips and family travel—perfect messages for those in the automotive industry to lean into. Whether you run a dealership, body shop, or detailing business, there’s a lot for you to talk about during the summer.

Source

Here are some Instagram caption ideas to get you started:

• It’s road trip season.
• Cruising into summer like
• It’s a windows down, stereo up kinda day.
• New season, new ride.
• Keep your ride looking fresh, all season long. #Detailing
• Hit the road with confidence this summer. Book a tune-up ahead of your next family car trip.

Summer Instagram captions for education

School may not be in session during the summer, but that doesn’t mean education businesses go into hibernation. Whether you’re hosting a summer camp or running tutoring sessions to get kids ready for the grade ahead, there are plenty of things you can talk about on your Instagram throughout the season.

Source

Try these caption ideas throughout the summer to keep your Instagram page lively:

• Hit the beach, then hit the books.
• School’s out for summer. But that doesn’t mean learning stops! Spots in our 4-week group tutoring sessions are now open. #Tutoring #BookToday
• A smarter summer starts here.
• Summer brain drain? We don’t think so! Sharpen your skills in our math bootcamp.
• A little studying now → a successful start to the school year.
• Summer camp is in session! Last-minute slots still available. #SummerCamp

Summer Instagram captions for professional services

As colleagues and clients alike enjoy summer vacation plans, work can slow down around the office. That makes it the perfect time for professional services brands to lean into seasonal marketing and stay top-of-mind.

Some prospects might want to tackle a big project during the quieter summer months, while others might look ahead to hiring help for Q4. Regardless, maintaining a consistent presence on Instagram throughout the summer can keep your business in the mix.

Source

Here are some summer Instagram captions to try throughout the season:

• School’s out for summer, but we’re not!
• Take that summer vacation. We’ll be here, helping your business grow while you’re OOO. #SummerVacation #[IndustrySpecificHashtag]
• Supercharge your strategy this summer.
• Make summer work for you.
• Let’s get you in tip-top shape for Q3. Link in bio to book your free discovery call.
• Make the most of the summer quiet. Book a session with us in August, and enjoy a 10% discount. #BookToday #[IndustrySpecificHashtag]
• We sweat your success.

Try seasonal summer Instagram captions to brighten up your page

Regardless of your industry or target audience, seasonal messaging can help reinvigorate your copy and recapture your followers’ attention. This summer, try sprinkling in some seasonal posts alongside your regular ones. You just might notice that readers are extra excited to see content that aligns with the vibes of the season.

For more help with your summer Instagram captions, see how our solutions can maximize your social presence this season and beyond!

OpenAI launched ChatGPT in late 2022, and AI has dominated marketing headlines and online discussions ever since. All that attention makes it increasingly clear that leveraging AI tools is essential for building a marketing strategy and growing a business today.

But where do you start when there are so many AI platforms to choose from?

To help you answer that question, we compiled a list of some of the biggest, most popular AI tools for marketers and small business owners available today. For each, we’ve outlined what the tool is and how it’s useful for you. We also included pros and cons with special attention to the practicalities, including the tech’s capabilities and the learning curve to get it running.

Let’s get to it.

Contents

Best AI tools for content creation

Content creation and copywriting are probably the most talked-about marketing jobs AI can do for you. While some of the tools on this list are multi-purpose, they’re also great writing partners for your blog posts and Google Ads.

1. Copy.ai

Copy.ai is an AI-powered content generation tool that helps with anything copy-related—taglines for ads, captions for social media posts, promotional emails, and more. Copy.ai also assists with longer-form content like content briefs and transcripts.

CopyAI’s simple UI.

The tool also offers features like AI-powered lead processing, forecasting, and account-based marketing for more robust go-to-market support. However, Copy.ai is still best known by marketers as a copy and content generation tool.

Pros:

• Quick generation.
• Intuitive interface.
• Freemium version allows for 2,000+ words per month.
• Template library with more than 90 options.

Cons:

• All output still needs editing for tone and style.
• Long-form pieces are not as strong as brief copy and often require restructuring and content editing.
• Users report glitches during peak use.

Want an AI boost? Get The Emergency Guide to AI in Marketing

2. ChatGPT

ChatGPT is an AI language model developed by OpenAI. The tool functions like a chatbot, generating text based on prompts (get 20 awesome ChatGPT prompt ideas here). It’s useful for many things in a small business’s day-to-day operations, especially when it comes to marketing.

One common way ChatGPT can help is by drafting content—from brainstorming to title workshopping to getting you started on your long-form content—as well as customer service automation scripts, research, email drafts, summaries of documents, and more.



ChatGPT can be great for giving you a starting place for ad copy.

Pros:

• Incredibly versatile content generation, assisting with everything from captions to blog posts.
• Close to instant results.

Cons:

• ChatGPT isn’t infallible, so you’ll need lots of human oversight to review, edit, and refine any output.
• Getting the hang of prompts to create the right output takes time.

3. LocaliQ’s Free AI Copy Tool for Google Ads

Google Ads is a fantastic option for generating leads fast. But they’re also getting more and more competitive. LocaliQ’s Google Ads AI Copy Tool gives you a leg up by automatically producing Google Ads headlines and ad descriptions based on the information you provide.

The Google Ads Copy Tool will spin up 10 headline and description options for each request so you can pick and choose which to use. You can even fine-tune the results by adding a little more detail. Read more about how the tool works here.



LocaliQ’s Google Ads AI Copy Tool lets you create and fine-tune 10 Google Ads headlines and descriptions with each request.

Pros:

• Automatically creates 10 variations of Google Ads headlines and descriptions for every request.
• It’s super easy to use, so there’s no lengthy learning curve.
• It’s free!

Cons:

• Only for use with Google Ads (it won’t write your next viral social media post).
• Like most AI tools, great output depends on good input.

Want to make sure your AI-generated Google Ads are working? Run them through our Free Google Ads Performance Grader and find out!

4. Jasper

Jasper is an AI writing assistant that generates high-quality long-form content such as blog posts and short-form ad copy, allowing users to customize tone and style. Compared to other AI-powered writing tools, Jasper is tailored to marketers and can create channel-specific content, maintain brand voice, and ensure consistency throughout all the writing.

For example, Jasper features an AI style guide. This allows you to set overarching rules for your content, like whether you use contractions in your writing or if you use title case for all of your headings. That’ll keep everything consistent and save you time correcting or checking the same things over and over again.



Jasper has a large library of content templates.

Pros:

• Jasper generates long and short-form content.
• The platform allows you to customize tone and style to maintain your brand voice and identity—a huge plus for marketers.

Cons:

• Pricing can be high, especially for small businesses.
• Like all AI writing tools, you will need to edit for accuracy.

5. Grammarly

Grammarly is an AI-powered writing assistant. The tool checks for grammar, punctuation, tone, clarity, and style to not only catch any embarrassing mistakes but also make your communication more effective.

Grammarly makes these suggestions while you’re drafting or once completed during a review. Even better, you can also prompt Grammarly to make specific changes. For example, make your copy for an event description sound punchier or take the tone of your marketing plan and dial the authority way up.



An excellent suggestion.

Pros

• Improves grammar, tone, and readability.
• Offers real-time suggestions while you’re drafting.
• Reasonably priced premium subscriptions that offer unlimited AI prompts.
• Plug-ins make the tool super easy to apply to any project.

Cons:

• Overcorrection is common.
• Free version has limited AI prompts at 100 per month.

Best AI tools for email marketing and social media

Email marketing delivers one of the biggest bangs for your marketing buck, and social media is a critical growth platform for most businesses. These AI tools help you scale your strategy for these channels.

6. Mailchimp

Mailchimp is an automation platform primarily for email marketing. It’s another tech stack staple that has added a ton of AI functionality. For example, Mailchimp uses AI to make your email marketing more effective by analyzing performance and suggesting optimal send times, segmenting audiences, and providing in-depth performance analytics.



Some Mailchimp AI-powered copy suggestions for email subject lines and preview text. 

Pros:

• AI tools are embedded within the standard platform, so there’s no extra layer to find or figure out.
• Mailchimp does have a free tier.
• AI-powered email optimization is effective.

Cons:

• Customer support for Mailchimp is super slow, which can be frustrating when you’re testing out new AI capabilities.
• AI-powered email copy suggestions don’t take your brand voice into account.

Here’s another free resource to help you crush your email marketing goals. Download The Complete Email Marketing Toolkit.

7. Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media management tool that allows you to schedule posts, track social conversations, and generate reports. The platform uses AI to optimize engagement and recommend content, helping you build out an effective social media strategy without as much trial and error. Plus, Hootsuite leverages AI for social listening so that you can stay on top of brand mentions, product reviews, and customer conversations that you need to be aware of.



Hootsuite has plenty of AI capability baked into its social media management platform.

Pros:

• Manage all social accounts, performance, and topic tracking in one place.
• Hootsuite’s AI-driven analytics and recommendations help you improve your social strategy without a huge time investment.
• Free tools include a social media caption generator.

Cons:

• Leaning too heavily on AI-generated social media copy can lead to generic and forgettable posts.
• Most AI tools are available only with premium subscriptions.

Best AI tools for marketing operations

All the repetitive tasks and organizational duties of running a marketing program can drain your resources (and drive you a little batty). These AI tools take on those tasks so you can focus on more creative endeavors.

8. Otter.ai

Otter.ai is an AI-powered transcription tool that automatically records speech from meetings, interviews, and lectures into text—an amazing resource for case study creation and meeting management. The tool can provide full transcripts, summaries of key points, and even action items for follow-up after the meeting. The sales-specific offering can even automatically draft follow-up emails after listening to your demo calls and other conversations with prospects.



Otter.ai example from a review by CNET. 

A key differentiator is that Otter.ai creates the transcript and takes notes in real time so that you can make adjustments during the call if needed.

Pros:

• Provides accurate transcriptions.
• The tool’s real-time collaboration features make it useful for meetings.
• Integrates with tons of marketing apps.
• There are affordable options, with pro plans starting at less than $10 per month.

Cons:

• Like other talk-to-text tools, Otter.ai can misinterpret audio with background noise.
• Premium features do require a paid subscription.

9. Notion

Notion is an AI-enhanced workspace tool. The platform integrates note-taking, task management, and project collaboration with AI suggestions to help users streamline workflows.

Tons of companies and their marketing teams use Notion as the platform for the single source of truth for documentation, as well. With the embedded AI functionality, Notion can help you generate ideas, suggest next steps in a proposal, or get your copy drafted, all without leaving the project management doc.



Notion offers easy ways to add different types of content, like graphs, to your notes.

Pros:

• Notion helps manage tasks, organize content, and create documents with AI-powered suggestions.
• If your team is already using Notion, leveraging the AI features is a no-brainer.
• Allows for collaboration with teammates, business partners, or marketing consultants—whoever is helping you grow your business.

Cons:

• Notion can be really overwhelming for new users.
• There is an inherent risk in using a third-party tool to house all of your tracking and documentation.
• Limited offline functionality.

10. Zapier

Zapier is a workflow automation tool that is great for organizing your business updates and keeping data consistent across platforms. Zapier offers integrations with over 5,000 apps, and you can create triggers and actions between them.

For example, you can automatically send new leads from event registration to your CRM or automatically update your CRM with email engagement stats so your sales team knows who is reading and clicking your newsletters.

This is where Zapier’s excellent chat-based AI comes in: You can use this feature to type out the type of workflow you’re looking for, and Zapier will build it for you.



An example workflow in Zapier.

Pros:

• Integrations with more than 5,000+ apps.
• Workflows are straightforward to build.
• Pre-built workflow templates offer a solid foundation for getting started.
• Chat-based AI workflow building takes you further.

Cons:

• Free plans offer extremely limited functionality.
• Other apps may require subscriptions to integrate with Zapier.
• Troubleshooting errors in complicated workflows can be tricky.

Best AI tools for SEO and competitive research

SEO takes a lot of data collection and analysis to do well. AI tools, like the ones here, help surface insights that will help you rank higher on results pages.

11. Frase

Frase is an AI tool for content research and SEO. The tool helps users find topics, generate content outlines, and optimize their writing for search engines by analyzing the top-ranking posts and making strategic recommendations.



The Frase workspace

Pros:

• Content research is fast, efficient, and dependable, especially for creating outlines based on high-ranking content.
• Helps create content briefs in a fraction of the time.
• The platform is set up for collaboration, which is great if you have a team or a freelance writer that you’re working closely with.

Cons:

• The basic plan has limited in-depth features.
• Subscriptions are expensive, especially for beginners.
• Like most AI writing generators, Frase’s output often has inaccuracies and requires human oversight and editing.

12. SurferSEO

SurferSEO is an AI-powered tool for on-page SEO optimization and content strategy. You can use SurferSEO to help generate optimized content from the start or to improve content you’ve drafted elsewhere. This includes applying opportunities for SEO optimization and embedding links, as well as detecting AI-generated content and making it sound more human.

The platform also helps improve content ranking by analyzing competitors and recommending tactics based on real-time data, in addition to streamlined keyword research and content plans.



SurferSEO’s workspace

Pros:

• Comprehensive SEO analysis.
• AI-driven content optimization.
• Detecting content that may be AI-generated is a really helpful tool that will only continue to become more important.

Cons:

• An expensive subscription with the lowest plan starting at $79/month.
• The suite of tools has a steep learning curve for beginners.
• Not a full SEO solution, as it only supports on-page optimization.

13. Perplexity AI

Perplexity AI is an AI-powered search engine that generates accurate, concise, and relevant answers to user queries. This might seem, well, not that exciting compared to some of the other tools on this list. However, Perplexity combines Google’s search functionality with the contextual responses of tools like ChatGPT to provide an elevated research experience.

This is incredibly helpful when you’re digging deep for facts that tell a story, which is a big part of marketing for your business. Whether you’re creating content, launching a new marketing channel, or developing a marketing strategy, Perplexity can be your research assistant.

(Here are some tips to get your business listed in Perplexity and other AI search engine results.)



Perplexity results page.

Pros: 

• Delivers well-organized, relevant answers, great for research.
• Includes multiple, clear links to source material.
• Applicable to tons of areas in marketing in business.
• Free to use.

Cons:

• Perplexity is still improving in accuracy and relevance, especially compared to search engines like Google.
• This isn’t strictly a generative solution, so it’ll save time but not complete any tasks for you.

Best AI tools for video and images

Visuals help make marketing materials more engaging, attractive, and relatable. You can use these AI tools to create and enhance your marketing images and videos.

14. Canva

Canva is a graphic design tool that offers AI-powered features, including image editing, automatic resizing for social media posts, content suggestions, and templates for easy design creation.



Prompting image generation takes a few tries to get some good options. 

Pros:

• The Canva platform, including its AI tools, is super easy to use.
• AI image resizing and AI suggestions for content are quick to reply.
• The AI-powered graphics library allows anyone to create quick, customized visuals for marketing content.

Cons:

• Advanced design features are limited.
• The template library is limited.
• AI image and graphics generation leaves a lot to be desired.
• Access to Canva’s premium features requires a subscription, but it’s reasonable at $12.99/month.

15. Lumen5

Lumen5 is an AI video creation tool that converts text (think blog posts, how-to guides, or scripts) into engaging video content. After you paste your content into the tool, Lumen5 will automatically generate a script (if you didn’t start there), map out the video content, and select visuals and transitions. Plus, you can still customize at every stage, whether it’s tweaking the script or adjusting the design elements, including the images as well as the video’s theme.



Lumen5 lets you turn text into graphics.

Pros:

• Converts blog posts or scripts into videos within minutes.
• Allows for some customization throughout the process.
• The Lumen5 platform is straightforward and easy to use.
• Extends the life of your content without additional investment.
• Ideal for social content.

Cons:

• If you’re looking to really customize your content, you might find Lumen5 options limited.
• The video formats are standard, which can look generic.
• The free plan only allows for five videos per month.

16. Vance AI

Vance is an AI editing tool for images and videos. It makes enhancing, editing, and retouching photos and videos easier with AI-powered tools, so there’s no need to spend a bunch of time editing manually. Vance AI’s capabilities include background removal, photo enhancing, denoising, re-coloring, and more.



Vance AI shows off its capabilities.

Pros: 

• Vance AI lets you quickly enhance image quality, which is great for social media, ad creative, and even website design.
• Capabilities, including background removal and retouching, make this great for ecommerce product photos.
• The tool is easy to use, especially for non-designers.

Cons:

• Free access is available but extremely limited.
• AI will not be as precise or dependable as manual editing with a tool like Photoshop.
• Users familiar with Photoshop and other similar tools might find the manual options in Vance AI wanting.
• As with other image tools, uploading images raises some privacy concerns.

17. 4o Image Generation

GPT-4o image generation is another AI-powered tool by OpenAI just launched at the end of March. GPT-4o creates high-quality images from text descriptions you prompt it with (these AI Image tool prompts will help get you started). That means quick creative and custom graphics for ads, social media, websites, and more without relying on stock images. You can also use the image generation tool for mockups, product creation, and sketching out design concepts, even if you don’t have a background in design.



Purr-lock Holmes is on the case.

Pros:

• The content you’re creating is unique, so you avoid the skippable stock photos and graphics.
• Quickly generate multiple versions of the same creative, which is perfect for A/B testing in ads, product pages, or emails.
• Great for social media and presentation visuals, especially.

Cons:

• Like other OpenAI tools, getting the prompts to generate what you’re looking for takes some trial and error.
• Using AI-generated images raises some ethical concerns, especially in certain industries.
• You can only generate a few images for free each day, so you need a premium subscription.

The best AI tools for growing your business

Okay, we just went through a lot of information. But don’t be too overwhelmed. Many of these big AI tools cover similar activities and campaigns to help you grow your business. The key to success is to simply play with each tool to get a feel for how it works and what it’ll do for you.

Ready for more? Here are some additional resources to help you on your AI journey: