Over the past two years, the digital environment has undergone a major transformation. The rise of generative artificial intelligence (such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude) is profoundly changing how people search online. While Google historically represented the almost exclusive entry point for traffic, part of the audience is now turning to these new conversational tools. This inevitably impacts the organic traffic (SEO) to our marketplaces.
Despite the overall market trend, our traffic has remained remarkably stable in 2025, with more than 7.5 million monthly visitors. This is even more noteworthy given Gartner’s forecast of a 25% drop in traffic from search engines. Our performance demonstrates the strength of our SEO and our international positioning.
Traffic driven by generative AIs (also called LLMs for Large Language Models) already ranks among our top five acquisition channels and shows the best conversion rates. This clearly proves that artificial intelligence does not replace but effectively complements the user journey to our marketplaces and, ultimately, to your brands.
We are here to guide you through this change and will explain how.
Our Commitment to Supporting Client Visibility
In response to these changes, VirtualExpo is intensifying its efforts to maintain and grow manufacturers’ visibility:
AI Innovation:
We are embedding artificial intelligence at the core of our tools and services to improve content relevance, lead quality, and campaign performance. Examples of projects in beta testing include:
- An intelligent assistant to help pre-qualify leads and boost your sales efficiency.
- AI onboarding to help you create higher-quality product pages faster and more easily.
- Content optimization to improve your SEO.
Continuous optimization and adaptation to Generative Engine Optimization (GEO):
We continually refine our SEO approach to stay aligned with Google’s evolving algorithms, Core Updates, and the growing role of AI in search results. We also actively explore opportunities offered by generative AIs to strengthen your brand presence in large language models such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude — improving their understanding of your offer and increasing your chances of appearing in AI-generated answers.
The Importance of EEAT and Online Credibility
Google now emphasizes EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). For manufacturers, being present on a recognized international marketplace like ours is a major asset:
- It strengthens credibility and authority with both Google and buyers (notably through valuable backlinks that are crucial for SEO).
- It multiplies touchpoints to appear in search results.
- It increases chances of being indexed in databases used by generative AIs and future search engines.
With 26 years of experience (yes, we are nearly as old as Google!), VirtualExpo marketplaces have built solid authority with search engines. This is thanks to numerous collaborations with leading companies in the manufacturing, design, marine, medical, agricultural, and aerospace industries.
A Very Competitive Customer Acquisition Cost (CPA)
Beyond visibility, we know economic efficiency is a priority for our clients. That’s why we closely track performance metrics such as CPA (Cost per Acquisition).
According to 2025 benchmarks from WordStream and HubSpot, the average CPA for B2B digital campaigns is between €90 and €100. At VirtualExpo, thanks to our specialized marketplace model and lead-generation strategy, we achieve a CPA of around €24 — nearly four times lower than the industry average.
👉 In practical terms, this means our clients acquire more prospects for the same marketing budget, driving a higher ROI.
Our mission is therefore not only to provide visibility but also to guarantee tangible, measurable, and sustainable economic performance.
VirtualExpo remains true to its mission: offering thousands of manufacturers the best marketing tools to grow their international visibility. In a rapidly changing digital world, our role is to stay ahead, invest in the right technologies, and guarantee our clients sustainable and credible visibility.
We do all this without ever compromising our DNA, which has always set us apart: quality control by people, not machines, and the availability of a dedicated support service. We will continue to innovate, strengthen our multichannel presence, and put artificial intelligence at the service of our clients’ growth.
