• by Laurie Sullivan , 2 hours ago

Adobe this morning announced a definitive agreement to acquire Semrush Holdings in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.9 billion.

Adobe's acquisition of Semrush, a company that helps brands optimize organic and paid media, comes as both companies are accelerating this use of large language models (LLMs) to improve the optimization of content and websites to ensure brands remain visible to consumers.

“Brand visibility is being reshaped by generative AI, and brands that don’t embrace this new opportunity risk losing relevance and revenue,” stated Anil Chakravarthy, president of Adobe Digital Experience Business.

Chakravarthy believes that with with the acquisition of Semrush, Adobe will support generative engine optimization (GEO) for marketers as a new growth channel alongside SEO to drive more visibility, customer engagement and conversions across the ecosystem. 

Semrush, a publicly traded company since 2021, provides tools for search engine optimization (SEO), GEO, competitive research, content creation, social media management, traffic analysis, advertising, and AI to help businesses grow their online presence. The company reported $376.8 million, up 22% year-over-year in revenue last year.

Data from Adobe Analytics showed that traffic from generative AI sources to U.S. retail sites rose by 1,200% year-over-year in October.

Brands cannot ignore visibility online for their products and services. Consumers spent $88.7 billion online in October 2025 -- up 8.2% year-over-year -- with AI-powered shopping continuing to rise, according to Adobe Digital.

With the acquisition, Adobe addresses key challenges faced by brands adopting agentic AI through products like Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), Adobe Analytics, and the newly launched Adobe Brand Concierge.

By acquiring Semrush, Adobe will offer marketers technology tools to run SEO and paid media that provides a complete view of their brand's presence across owned platforms, LLMs, traditional search engines, and the entire web.

Sergei Rogulin, Semrush head of organic & AI visibility, provided an example of LLM visibility described in a blog post posted last week. He described how Semrush launched two new tools. Despite the recent launch, LLMs did not index information on the tools. The LLMs “had no idea we existed in this space.”

“This disconnect between citations and actual influence forced us to rethink everything,” Rogulin wrote. He did find a solution, and in one month tripled the company’s visibility on LLMs, which makes it clear why Adobe acquired the company.

It is not clear whether Bill Wagner, chief executive officer of Semrush, will remain with the company or whether Semrush will retain its name and independence, meaning whether it will be integrated into Adobe.

The transaction has been approved by the Board of Directors of both Adobe and Semrush, and is expected to close in the first half of 2026, subject to the receipt of required regulatory approvals.

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz served as legal advisor to Adobe in connection with the transaction. Centerview Partners LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to Semrush, and Davis Polk & Wardwell served as legal advisor to Semrush, in connection with the transaction.