HubSpot moved its Inbound conference to San Francisco amid rapid changes in marketing driven by AI and large-language-model search tools. Early in 2025 a Google algorithm update and rising LLM-driven queries reduced organic traffic to HubSpot's blog and other marketers' sites, cutting referral clicks as answers with citations increased. Customers report that prior content strategies no longer perform and seek help adopting AI and reassuring teams. Many marketing teams remain focused on automation minutiae, neglecting brand and storytelling. AI-powered search is shifting funnel dynamics toward hourglass shapes and elevating top-of-funnel influence.
HubSpot knows firsthand the upheaval of the old marketing playbook caused by AI and the rise of LLM search tools. Early in 2025, HubSpot saw its widely admired (and successful) content marketing strategy take a hit when a Google algorithm update reduced traffic to the company's popular blog. As 2025 went on, marketers on and off the HubSpot platform also saw their organic traffic decline. Consumers increasingly searched with LLMs, causing a drop in referral clicks as answers with citations grew.
Marketing teams using HubSpot and other platforms to provide marketing automation and email are often mired in the minutiae of nurture sequences and email automations. DeFranco said an unintended consequence is a lack of attention to brand and storytelling. But now, with brand marketing returning thanks to AI-powered search, some marketing teams need to do a little soul searching. The inverted pyramid funnels, which showed a big group of top-of-funnel leads narrowing to a few conversions, are going away, replaced by hourglass-shaped funnels.
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