Q3 Digital Marketing Report: AEO, LinkedIn Shifts, and the Rise of High-Trust B2B Channels

Another quarter, another wave of digital change. While "AI" and "algorithm" dominate the headlines, the real story of Q3 2025 is a fundamental correction in the market: Quality, trust, and measurable expertise are officially the new currency of digital marketing.

From Google's crackdown on low-quality content to LinkedIn's push for deeper engagement, the platforms are rewarding brands that invest in genuine authority.

We've distilled the most critical updates from the last three months into actionable intelligence. In this article, we’ll break down:

• The rise of Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and why E-E-A-T is now a baseline requirement.
• The strategic shifts on LinkedIn that favor "save-worthy" content and precise ABM.
• How leading B2B brands are gaining momentum by focusing on high-impact, trust-building channels.

Let's unpack what your marketing team needs to know to stay competitive and drive measurable results.

🤖 AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)

Q3 has been a rollercoaster for SEO and AEO. Google’s August 2025 spam update has finished rolling out, cracking down on low-quality content and spammy SEO practices. This signals a renewed focus on editorial quality, so it’s more important than ever to strengthen your E-E-A-T signals (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) with expert bylines and credible sources.

But that's not all... Google also launched a "Preferred Sources" algorithm update for news and informational content. This means the algorithm is no longer just prioritizing freshness; it's now rewarding content based on editorial authority and trust. This is great news for brands that have invested in a journalistic approach to their content and have a dedicated readership they can ask to use the feature.

The fundamentals are still your foundation...

40% of Google's AI Overviews pull from traditional top-10 organic results, so SEO isn’t dead, it's the essential groundwork for your AEO. Here’s your updated playbook for AEO success:

• Focus on E-E-A-T more than ever. The August and Q3 updates have made this a non-negotiable for organic visibility, especially for thought leadership content.
  
  
• Create content for discoverability, not just visibility. AEO is about ensuring your brand is not only seen in traditional search but also cited and surfaced by generative AI. You can test your content's discoverability by asking AI chatbots (like ChatGPT and Gemini) for information on your brand and your industry to see if your content appears.
  
  
• Embrace a hybrid SEO approach. The most successful strategies now combine traditional SEO tactics (like core web vitals and technical health) with AI-optimized content that is conversational, structured, and user-focused.

To get a quick sense of how brands are showing up, you can test content discoverability by asking AI chatbots (like ChatGPT and Gemini) for information on companies in an industry to see if their content appears.

Additionally, don't forget about RG Digital's AEO Audit services, which utilize advanced tools to conduct in-depth analysis. We uncover discoverability, top-performing content, and the needle-moving prompts that drive results.

💬 Social Media

While social media is a jam-packed world of updates, Q3 was particularly busy for LinkedIn. The platform is not only rolling out new ad products but is also making significant updates to its algorithm and data transparency.

LinkedIn Updates & Best Practices

LinkedIn’s Q3 algorithm updates are placing greater emphasis on dwell time, rewarding posts that generate meaningful comments and longer viewing sessions. This means that while traditional engagement metrics such as likes and reactions still matter, the algorithm is prioritizing the quality and depth of interaction. To maximize your reach, focus on sparking conversation and creating "save-worthy" content.

• First Impression Ads: LinkedIn recently launched a new full-screen, vertical video ad format called First Impression Ads. These ads are designed for single-day campaigns and are guaranteed to be the very first ad a user sees when they open the LinkedIn app. This is an ideal, high-impact ad format for product launches, major announcements, or time-sensitive awareness campaigns.
  
  
• Company Intelligence API: The new Company Intelligence API provides company-level touchpoints, giving you direct access to LinkedIn’s account-level engagement data. This allows for enhanced cross-channel measurement and improved ABM strategies. Several attribution partners, including Dreamdata, Channel 99, and Factors.ai, can now integrate this data directly. Companies that leveraged the API in a recent beta saw a +96% increase in SQLs and a -43% decrease in cost per acquisition, thanks to more precise company-level data that helped refine tactics.
  
  
• CTV Ad Cost Reduction: LinkedIn has lowered its CTV Ad CPMs by 30% from six months ago, bringing the average CPM down to $27. This is a direct response to client feedback on cost and ROI and makes CTV advertising more accessible for B2B marketers.
  
  
• BrandLink Performance: For brands with a focus on awareness, LinkedIn’s premium video solution, BrandLink, is a compelling option. Beta testing found that members exposed to BrandLink ads were 18% more likely to become a lead, and these ads had 23% higher view rates and 130% higher completion rates than standard in-feed video ads.

💸 Go To Market

The focus in B2B is no longer just on lead volume; it’s expanding to pipeline influence, high-value accounts, and audience ownership. While digital ad spend continues to rise—with two in five new ad dollars going to a social platform and one in five to search—the most effective B2B strategies are moving beyond simple ad buys to prioritize channels that build trust and demonstrate expertise.

What's gaining momentum in B2B:

• High-Impact Organic Channels: Speaking engagements, thought leadership content, and webinars are top-ranking channels for ROI in 2025. They are highly effective for building authority and educating a captive audience of decision-makers. B2B marketers are increasingly creating content hubs and newsletters to own their audience and reduce reliance on "rented" platforms.
  
  
• Video Content for B2B: Video is no longer just a B2C tool. Short-form, authentic video is gaining significant traction on platforms like LinkedIn, where it's used to share expertise, show behind-the-scenes glimpses, and connect directly with B2B buyers.
  
  
• Connected TV (CTV): CTV is rapidly gaining favor as a high-impact channel for B2B. It’s proving to be a highly effective way to reach decision-makers who are also cord-cutters and streamers. In some recent cases, CTV has shown to be 4x more effective at reaching B2B audiences than linear TV.
  
  
• Account-Based Marketing (ABM): ABM has shifted from a niche strategy to a critical B2B growth driver. Successful strategies now focus on full-funnel revenue metrics by combining AI, hyper-personalization, and team alignment to target high-value accounts and drive pipeline growth.

The key takeaway is that while brands are still pouring money into the Google/Meta duopoly, the smartest B2B marketers are also exploring and investing in more high-growth, high-trust channels to diversify their reach and drive measurable pipeline growth.

🚧 MarOps

As the digital marketing landscape evolves, so do the technologies that power it. The focus in Q3 was on a move towards hyper-personalization and AI-powered automation.

• AI has moved from a marketing buzzword to a marketing asset. 88% of digital marketers use AI in their day-to-day tasks, and 50% of leading performance agencies that leverage AI have been able to reallocate 30% of their time to more strategic activities. Check out more trending stats around AI adoption here.
  
  
• Automation is key to remaining competitive. 96% of marketers have used automation platforms, with 80% reporting an increase in leads.
  
  
• Attribution is still messy, but the focus has shifted away from simple last-touch models to multi-touch attribution, which is now used by over 75% of companies. This reflects the reality of the B2B buyer’s journey, which involves multiple touchpoints across various channels before a deal is closed.

🛠️ Tool Time

New tools to keep an eye on:

• GWI Spark: An AI-driven consumer insights tool that uses a chat-based interface to help marketers ask complex questions and receive actionable insights in real time.
  
  
• Lumen5: An AI-powered video creation platform that turns written content (like blog posts) into engaging videos with ease.
  
  
• Adobe Experience Platform (AEP): An AI-driven data management platform that unifies customer data from multiple sources to enable real-time, hyper-personalized experiences.

The Essential Takeaway: Own Your Audience, Build Your Authority

As Q4 ramps up, the path forward is clearly defined. Success in the modern B2B landscape is less about renting attention and more about owning your audience through high-quality, authoritative content. The new algorithm updates and channel opportunities all point toward a single goal: Be the trusted source in your industry.

This means auditing your AEO strategy, adapting to LinkedIn’s emphasis on dwell time, and prioritizing channels that build genuine trust with decision-makers.

Questions about integrating AEO, leveraging the new LinkedIn API, or shifting your B2B spend to high-impact channels? Connect with RG today.