HubSpot is one of the largest marketing platforms in the world.
They have a team of SEO specialists, millions of dollars in content investment, and some of the most-linked-to marketing content on the internet.
And they lost an estimated 70 to 80% of their organic search traffic because of Google's AI changes.
They're not alone. CNN dropped between 27 and 38%. Publisher traffic from Google fell 33% globally. These aren't small businesses with neglected websites. These are organisations with dedicated teams and massive budgets.
So what does that mean for a small business with a five-page website that hasn't been touched since 2022?
What happened to HubSpot
HubSpot built their business on content marketing. They published thousands of blog posts targeting common marketing, sales, and business questions. For years, they ranked on page one for nearly everything, and that traffic fed their lead generation engine.
Then Google's AI Overviews started answering those questions directly on the search results page. The person who used to click through to HubSpot's blog post to learn "what is a sales funnel" now gets the answer from Google's AI without ever leaving the search page.
The traffic that used to flow to HubSpot's site now stops at Google. HubSpot's content is still there, still well-written, still well-optimised. But the traffic is gone because Google is answering the question itself.
Source: Semrush AI Overview displacement analysis, 2026. Specific, structured, local content is far less affected than broad informational content.
Why small businesses actually have an advantage
This sounds like a disaster, and for content-heavy publishers like HubSpot, it is. But for small, niche businesses that serve specific local markets, the dynamics are actually different.
Google's AI doesn't do a great job with hyper-local, hyper-specific queries. "Who's the best custom web designer in Queensland" or "interior designer specialising in heritage homes in Melbourne" still requires Google to reference specific businesses. And for those queries, AI Overviews cite local businesses with strong, relevant content.
"We offer professional services to clients across Australia." AI can't cite you because there's nothing specific to cite. You're invisible to traditional search AND AI search.
Deep content that articulates what you do, who you do it for, and what makes you different. AI tools can extract and cite that specificity. Generic marketing copy gets ignored.
The lesson from HubSpot's loss
The takeaway isn't that SEO is dead. It's that the kind of content that used to drive traffic has changed. Broad, informational content that answers generic questions is being absorbed by AI. Specific, authoritative, structured content that addresses niche questions is becoming more valuable.
For a small business, this means:
- Your website needs to answer the specific questions your customers ask, not describe services in general terms
- Your content needs structure: FAQ schema, service-specific pages, and detailed project descriptions give AI systems something to cite
- Your Google Business Profile needs to be complete and consistent with your website
- Your site needs to be built with AI readability in mind from the ground up
The window of opportunity
Most small businesses haven't made any of these changes. They're still running on websites built before AI Overviews existed, with content strategies designed for a search landscape that no longer applies.
If HubSpot, with all their resources, wasn't prepared for this change, it's worth asking: is your website ready for how people search today?
Sources
- Press Gazette / Reuters Institute: Publisher traffic impact data (2025-2026)
- Chartbeat: News publisher traffic analysis (2026)
- Semrush: AI Overview traffic displacement (2026)
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