The landscape for search and SEO has changed. We all remember the glory days of ranking on the first page of a Google search, not to mention the joys of keyword stuffing and getting those treasured backlinks. But today, consumers aren’t just Googling their questions—they’re seeking answers in Slack channels, watching explainer videos on YouTube, digging into Reddit threads, checking GitHub repos and even asking AI chatbots.
Search has fragmented, and your content strategy needs to adapt to fit this new normal. For B2B marketers, the new challenge is going beyond SEO, by adapting to multichannel search behavior and remaining discoverable everywhere your current and potential customers look. Let’s dive in.
Understanding the new Buyer’s Journey and where search happens
We often talk about the “buyer journey” as if it follows a neat, linear path, but that isn’t the reality anymore. Now, a buyer often visits various touchpoints scattered across platforms that marketers never used to consider “search” destinations. To understand how drastically things have changed, let’s look at where B2B tech buyers are actually searching now.
The new search landscape: Channel-by-channel breakdown
- Search: It still matters, no question. But search engines are just one of many gateways buyers use to find answers. It’s no longer the default destination for every query. Adding to the challenge is that now search is powered by AI (as we’ve all seen with those handy AI overviews), making it harder for organizations to get to the top of the page.
- YouTube: Buyers turn to YouTube to see how products actually work, hear real-user reviews, or learn from peers through tutorials and explainers. It’s an essential part of early-stage discovery, especially for technical tools.
- Reddit & niche forums: When buyers want honest feedback—not marketing copy—they dive into Reddit threads and specialized forums. The conversations here are candid, and the audience expects full transparency. In fact, “49% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.”
- GitHub & Stack Overflow: For technical decision-makers, your product or integration isn’t real until they see it in the wild. GitHub repos and code examples validate your tech, while Stack Overflow threads reveal how the developer community solves real problems with your solution.
- Slack & Discord communities: These aren’t just for internal chats anymore. Buyers rely on curated private groups for fast, trusted recommendations. That one casual comment in a Slack channel might weigh more than your whole homepage.
- AI chatbots (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude): Generative AI tools are becoming default search companions. A buyer might ask ChatGPT to compare your product to a competitor, and the response they get will synthesize your blog posts, support docs, and third-party reviews—if that content is accessible and well-structured.
Why a traditional content strategy won’t work anymore
Buyers no longer search in one place—they search wherever they feel most contextually aligned. According to a recent survey by Omnicom Media Group, “54% of consumers believe no single platform serves all their search needs.” The platform they choose says a lot about what kind of information they’re looking for—and how much they trust your brand to deliver it.
Despite evolving buyer behavior, most content strategies still revolve around blog posts, gated PDFs and landing pages. While these can rank well on Google, they often don’t reach buyers in Slack threads or chatbot summaries.
What does this mean for your marketing campaigns? Currently, content is remaining siloed. And in order to survive, organizations need to move to a syndication mindset.
What “everywhere search” optimization looks like
Your buyers are looking in a dozen different places before they ever land on your website. For a brand to survive, they need to adopt an “everywhere search” optimization strategy. It’s not just about showing up—it’s about showing up the right way in each environment. Let’s break it down.
Platform-native content strategy. Each platform has its own rhythm, expectations and unspoken rules. If you want your content to resonate, you can’t just copy and paste your blog post everywhere. You need to meet each audience on their terms, for example:
- Reddit: Users smell marketing from a mile away. Here, you need to sound like a peer, not a brand. Share stories, answer questions authentically and always add value. The goal is to be part of the conversation, not to control it.
- YouTube: This is where buyers go to see your product in action. Think beyond polished sizzle reels. The value comes from demos, tutorials and comparison videos—and don’t forget SEO-friendly transcripts and descriptions to help with discoverability.
- Chatbots (like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity): These tools don’t just search—they summarize. That means your content needs to be structured clearly. Articles should use headers, lists, and direct language so AI can easily pull the right snippets and cite your work correctly.
Structuring content for AI and semantic search. Want AI tools to pull your insights into their responses? Then make it easy for them. Think in terms of structure, not just substance. Use schema markup, FAQs, short-form answers and tightly organized content. It’s about giving machines exactly what they need to parse, contextualize and accurately resurface your knowledge.
Syndication vs duplication. It’s common for brands to think syndication means blasting the same article everywhere. But true syndication is more strategic: it’s about re-packaging your insights for different audiences and formats. That blog post? Turn it into a Reddit AMA, a YouTube explainer and a Slack-ready one-pager. Use tools like Descript, Fathom, and Typefully to speed up your repurposing engine without losing the human touch.
Tactical shifts for B2B content leaders
Rethinking your content strategy might feel overwhelming, and you’re not alone. To ease the transition, we recommend starting with these three shifts to ensure your content is competing in the new search landscape.
1. Rethink your funnel
The old top-middle-bottom model assumes a buyer follows a neat path, but this is not necessarily the case anymore. Someone might start with a YouTube video, then dig into Reddit for unfiltered opinions, and only then visit your website. You need to treat each channel as a potential entry point, not just a step in the journey.
2. New KPIs for decentralized content
Pageviews and bounce rate? Still useful, but not enough. Here’s what modern success looks like:
- Watch time on YouTube videos
- Upvotes and engagement on Reddit posts
- AI chatbots cite your content
- Mentions in community podcasts or private Slack channels
These signals might be harder to track, but they reflect real influence—the kind that drives decisions.
3. Partner with niche influencers and communities
In technical markets, peer trust trumps brand messaging. That’s why partnering with creators who have credibility in specialized spaces can be more effective than big-budget ads. Whether it’s a GitHub contributor, a Reddit mod, or a YouTube educator, these voices move markets—one recommendation at a time.
Future-Proofing: Build a search-ready content engine
To stay relevant as search continues to evolve, you need to think like a knowledge platform, not just a marketing team.
- Centralize your insights in well-organized, accessible formats. Consider building a knowledge hub or documentation center that others (and AI) can reference.
- Standardize your metadata and tagging across content types and platforms. This helps humans and machines alike find what they’re looking for.
- Utilize intelligence tools like SparkToro, Glasp, and GummySearch to map out where your audience hangs out, what they care about and the content that actually moves them.
Not sure where stand? We’ve got you covered with this handy checklist.
💡 Quick Checklist: Are You Optimizing for Fragmented Search?
- Are you reformatting content for Reddit, YouTube, and GitHub?
- Are your insights easily readable (and reusable) by AI tools?
- Are you syndicating with intention, not just duplicating?
- Are your experts active in communities beyond LinkedIn?
It’s time to break that Google habit
Today’s B2B buyer is making decisions based on insights they find everywhere. And if your content is still living in just one or two places, it’s likely missing most of the action.
Winning in this fragmented landscape means content decentralization. Start treating YouTube, Reddit, Slack and even ChatGPT as key channels in your distribution strategy. Syndicate smartly, structuring for machines, and showing up where your buyers already are.
The brands that thrive now aren’t just chasing rankings—they’re building presence across ecosystems. If you aren’t sure how to get started or just want some support along the way, we are always here to help. Reach out today to get started on your new Buyer’s Journey content strategy.