How AI Has Radically Changed the Competitiveness of Agencies in Search Marketing

Intro

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed search marketing, fundamentally altering the competitive landscape. What used to require large teams and agency retainers can now be managed by a single specialist with the right tools.

AI has made big agencies less relevant in search marketing and empowered individual specialists to outperform for a fraction of the cost.

If you're a leader in marketing or owner of a company this post is for you to understand what's changed and how you can adapt.

What's changed in the search marketing space:

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Automation

‍One of the biggest advantages AI brings to search marketing is automation. Tasks that once took hours—like keyword research, bid adjustments, and A/B testing—can now be handled by AI-driven platforms. Agencies have traditionally charged premium rates for managing these activities, often deploying teams of experts. But with AI, a solo marketing specialist can leverage advanced tools like Google’s Smart Bidding, ChatGPT for content generation, and AI-powered SEO platforms like Clearscope or Surfer SEO to automate much of this work.

Google Ads and other search engines have been using machine learning for years. In a recent blog post I discussed the impact of AI on Search Advertising and quoted:

"Ai will created less jobs for mindless doers. And the increase in value of strategic thinkers.

We no longer will need people to do repetitive tasks online. Or answer basic questions and do simple tasks. There will be an AI for that.

We no longer need big teams to support accounts. *Which also means you do not need huge teams to work on your account (in the search advertising field). You need one or two experts in the search field to run campaigns that leverage AI technology.

If you did not know, Google released its machine learning (a type of AI) for Google Ads as early as 2018 (here's an article I found) dating back to then.

After more than 6 years of learning, Google Ads machine learning is quite advanced. Automated bidding and ad copy testing is ultimately handled by machines. What your PPC managers should be doing is guiding the machines and giving it quality inputs!"

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The shift allows individual specialists to manage larger accounts with greater efficiency, making the high overhead of agency services seem less justifiable.

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Personalized, Agile Campaigns

‍Large agencies often have rigid structures and standardized approaches to search marketing. They may not always adapt quickly to new trends or the specific needs of a client. In contrast, an individual specialist, armed with AI tools, can create highly personalized and agile campaigns. AI-driven analytics platforms provide real-time data insights that allow specialists to fine-tune their strategies on the fly, responding instantly to shifts in market conditions or customer behavior.

This adaptability means that solo operators can often deliver more customized and responsive campaigns than agencies bogged down by internal processes.

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Cost Efficiency

‍Agencies come with significant overhead—salaries, offices, and sometimes redundant layers of personnel. These costs are passed on to clients, which makes large agency retainers steep. However, an individual specialist using AI can scale operations with minimal additional costs. Whether it’s managing multiple accounts or increasing the complexity of campaigns, AI allows specialists to get more done in less time without adding to their price tag.

Many specialist work from home and don't have big expensive CEOs to pay off from a percentage of your ad spend.

With AI doing much of the heavy lifting, the specialist doesn’t need a large team to deliver sophisticated campaigns—resulting in more competitive pricing for clients.

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Access to Enterprise-Level Tools‍

In the past, agencies often had a competitive advantage because they could afford access to expensive, enterprise-level tools that individual marketers couldn’t. Today, many of these tools, like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or AI-driven ad platforms, have become accessible to small teams or individual specialists at reasonable costs. Additionally, free AI tools like ChatGPT and Google’s built-in ad automations mean that even one-person teams can leverage cutting-edge technology that was once exclusive to agencies.

The democratization of these tools has leveled the playing field, allowing specialists to compete directly with big agencies on performance and sophistication.

Now, what's extremely important is finding a specialist with a data-driven approach and ability to leverage other smart people.

What do I mean by this?

For large accounts, your specialist does not need to be able to handle scripts, API calls and some highly technical tracking abilities. But they should have the confidence to guide and work with your internal team or other freelancers to get this req completed when necessary.

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Agility,  Focus and Drive to Succeed

‍Big agencies handle numerous clients, which often leads to a dilution of focus. In contrast, a solo specialist can dedicate focused attention to fewer clients, delivering a more hands-on, personalized experience. AI tools enable this focus by eliminating the time-intensive tasks that previously required more manpower.

Smaller teams or solo operators can pivot strategies quickly, continuously optimize, and stay ahead of algorithm changes—something that’s harder for large agencies with bureaucratic layers to do at speed.

Individual specialists are often hungry and driven to succeed. Rather, than a team of employees there to get their paycheck.

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How to adapt to these changes?

It's time to zoom out.  Leaders in marketing or owners of a company can start by conducting a cost analysis themselves or hiring an outside company to do this form them. How much are you paying your current agency? What's the size of their team? How much are you paying for tools? What are they doing that an individual specialist might not be able to do? It's time to rethink and readjust.

Start by interviewing individual SEM specialists and consultants. This allows businesses to find highly skilled professionals who might be able to delier  the same—or better—results and learn what their costs are, how they work and what their approach is.

By adapting to AI-driven changes, companies can maintain a competitive edge while optimizing their marketing spend.

To conclude.....

AI has fundamentally reshaped the search marketing landscape, shifting the balance of power away from large agencies. Today, one-person specialists can harness the full potential of AI to deliver top-tier results at a fraction of the cost, while offering a more agile, personalized, and responsive service. As AI continues to evolve, the gap between large agencies and individual specialists will likely only widen, giving the latter a distinct competitive advantage.

For mid-market and enterprise companies looking to stay ahead in search marketing, the future is not in the hands of big agencies but in the nimble, AI-empowered specialists who can deliver more for less.

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