We're excited to share that Marcel Digital has been named a finalist for Agency of the Year - SEO at the 2026 Search Engine Land Awards.
Our submission, From Search Rankings to AI Shortlists: How Marcel Digital Grew Visibility and MQLs for a B2B SaaS Company, was selected from nearly 200 entries submitted by leading digital agencies, in-house marketing teams, and individual search marketers from around the world.
The Search Engine Land Awards are one of the most respected programs in search marketing, and being named a finalist is an honor we don't take lightly.
What Got Us Here
B2B buyers aren’t starting with a page of blue links anymore. More than half now build their vendor shortlists in AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, and 69% have chosen a different vendor based on what they found there. Most brands aren’t ready: the median company appears in just 16% of the AI answers it wants to show up in.
Our submission tells the story of how we helped a B2B SaaS client close that gap. We didn’t treat traditional SEO and AI visibility as separate efforts. We built one strategy that connected them, so our client showed up wherever their buyers were researching, and we turned that visibility into marketing qualified leads.
That’s how we approach search for every client. Rankings still matter, but buyers who research through AI are far more likely to act on what they find, so being part of that answer is now part of the job. Across SEO, AEO, and analytics, we tie search performance back to the outcomes that matter: pipeline and revenue.
“Buyers aren’t just searching anymore, they’re asking. If your brand isn’t part of the answer, you’re not on the shortlist. Our job is to make sure our clients are in both places, and that the visibility shows up in their pipeline.”
Tom Kelly, Chief Operating Officer
The People Behind the Work
A finalist spot in a category this competitive says a lot about the people and partnerships behind it.
We're grateful to work with clients who trust us to test new ideas, dig into the data, and rethink what search success looks like as AI changes how buyers find solutions. And none of this happens without our SEO/AEO team, whose curiosity, expertise, and persistence turn strategy into real results for our clients every day.
Winners of the 2026 Search Engine Land Awards will be announced later this month. Until then, we're celebrating this nomination as part of a big year for Marcel, which has already included wins at the Elevation Awards and Global Agency Awards, shortlist nominations at the Global Digital Excellence Awards and US Agency Awards, and recognition as one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For.
You can view the complete list of 2026 finalists on Search Engine Land.
Thank you to our clients, our team, and the Search Engine Land Awards judges for the recognition.
