Adobe announced that it will acquire Semrush, one of the leading brand-visibility and SEO intelligence platforms, for US$1.9 billion in an all-cash deal. Adobe will pay US$12 per share, which represents a steep premium (~77.5%) over Semrush's pre-announcement market value.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026, pending the necessary regulatory approvals and a shareholder vote.
Semrush is recognized for its comprehensive suite of SEO capabilities, including competitive research, keyword analytics, site auditing, and brand-visibility tracking. Beyond its established strengths in search intelligence, the company has been pushing into Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).
GEO is a fast-emerging discipline focused on helping brands understand and enhance their appearance within AI-driven environments such as LLM outputs, chatbots, and generative search interfaces.
This shift is attuned to how user discovery evolves in an AI-first world. Semrush's momentum has also been reflected in its performance, which shows a 33% year-over-year ARR growth in its enterprise segment, a sign of rising adoption from larger organizations eyeing deeper data intelligence and visibility tools.
User search habits are changing quickly. They have shifted from traditional search engines to AI-led interfaces, using assistants, chatbots, and zero-click answers. Semrush’s work in search intelligence and AI-based discovery aligns directly with the gap Adobe wants to close within its experience stack.
These are capabilities that Adobe wants within its ecosystem. Adobe, in turn, brings the scale, enterprise reach, and powerful tools such as Firefly, Experience Manager, Analytics, and Target to turn those insights into real, measurable outcomes.
Bill Wagner, Chief Executive Officer of Semrush, said, “Adobe is an industry leader in helping marketers create personalized customer experiences at scale. With the advent of LLMs and AI-driven search, brands need to understand where and how their customers are engaging in these new channels.”
The acquisition is set to be finalized in a $1.9 billion all-cash transaction.
The offer values Semrush at $12.00 per share.
Both boards, Adobe’s and Semrush’s, have formally approved the agreement.
Semrush’s founders and major shareholders, who collectively represent over 75% voting power, have committed to supporting the deal.
Once the deal closes, Adobe will integrate Semrush’s SEO and generative-AI visibility capabilities across Experience Manager, Analytics, and its broader digital experience suite.
For marketers, it represents the beginning of a fundamental shift in how brand visibility will be built over the coming years. With Adobe and Semrush coming together, SEO data, content insights, and AI-driven discovery signals will be integrated more closely with the Adobe tools marketers already rely on, such as Experience Manager, Analytics, Target, and Firefly.
It provides clearer visibility into where your brand shows up across search engines and emerging AI platforms. It means smarter content decisions because analytics, content workflows, and search intelligence will finally live in one connected ecosystem. And it means workflows becoming faster, more automated, and more aligned with how users actually discover products today.
In other words, marketers can look forward to a more integrated, AI-aware Adobe stack that will help them become and remain visible, findable, and competitive in a world where search is no longer just about search engines.
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