Generative AI is no longer a novelty. With Gemini pitching in on Google searches and Copilot tidying up the Office Suite, the robots have officially slid right into the mainstream. And AI’s not clocking out at 5 pm. It’s behind the wheel in autonomous car rides, helping banks spot fraud, showing you the new shoes you want before you even realize you want new shoes.
At this point, ignoring AI is an active decision — and the wrong one if you’re a B2B marketer.
Instead of relying on the digital marketing KPIs (key performance indicators) we have grown comfortable with, generative AI is an opportunity for us to think differently about how we capture and report success for clients, brands, and teams.
Here are three ways generative AI is changing how we identify the best marketing KPIs and build effective marketing strategies.
Simply spending a hefty budget on Google Ads no longer guarantees first-come, first-served visibility. While our budgets used to talk, AI is changing how Google prioritizes content through Google AI Overviews (AIO).
AIO has dethroned first page search results as king. In fact, click through rates (CTRs) have reportedly dropped by 34.5% for results on the first page of Google Search since Gemini took over.
Strategically use keywords in your content, not just in your Google Ad strategy. Ask yourself: Why would my audience search for this? Then write as if you’re having a conversation with another person. Generative AI is trained to speak and act like a human. Give it a conversation it can cling to.
ESSENTIAL KPIs TO TRACK: When it comes to measuring your search engine optimization (SEO) success, expand beyond impressions and engagement. Core to success today are data points such as AI Visibility Score, Zero-Click Value, and AI Referral Traffic.
Google now measures quality content marketing based on four key components: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. AIO is trained to prioritize sources that follow these principles, giving a “very high level” quality rating to content that shows “evidence of a high level of effort, originality, talent, or skill,” according to Digital Marketing Institute.
In other words, no one finds AI work slop appetizing. Not even AIO. Lean on your experts to write content and use AI resources for support, not the other way around.
ESSENTIAL KPIs to TRACK: Measuring the success of your articles using the E-E-A-T system is crucial to learning how AI values your content. Page views will always be useful but begin tracking Engaged Sessions and Google Events, specifically when analyzing your AI referral traffic.
Other digital advertising channels like LinkedIn and Meta are also releasing AI models to better support their platforms. To avoid losing traction, marketers should learn how these predictive and generative models function.
LinkedIn Advertising AI tools are designed to handle tasks that were once manual, such as audience identification, copywriting, building predictive audiences, and even creating the campaign structure itself.
Meta AI tools in its advertising platform were also built to take away some of the manual work, such as real-time optimization of ad campaigns, targeting, and creative allocation. These tools are effective, generating ~5% more ad conversions on Instagram and ~3% more conversions on Facebook, according to Meta’s Q2 2025 results call.
Be warned, though (we have to say it): While using LinkedIn and Meta AI tools, it’s essential to have skilled humans guide and gut-check their work, especially when launching campaigns with new creative and targeting that your AI friend hasn’t seen before.
ESSENTIAL KPIs TO TRACK: A/B Test AI-supported campaigns to manually built ones. Compare Impressions, Engagements, and Post Clicks to gain a clear idea of the impact and fine-tune a strategy that works best for you.
As AI becomes the unseen engine behind search, content, and social performance, digital marketing leaders in this new landscape will be the ones willing to adapt. Experiment with fresh KPIs. Track AI-driven behaviors. Pair intelligent tools with human judgment. By reevaluating your benchmarks, the era of generative AI will sharpen your path to meaningful, measurable results.
Download our one-page checklist for a breakdown of the top KPIs to track for successful digital marketing in the era of generative AI.