Here's my take on what happened, with an example: "best endpoint detection and response software"
1. Users prefer "hand crafted" editorial review content instead of programmatic database pages.
2. The top page from eSecurity Planet is very strong, and presumably written by someone with credibility in enterprise security. Their domain surely has far more topical strength as well.
3. Gartner is the king of programmatic B2B review SEO. Buyers still believe that Gartner is the most credible source. Gartner is also the strongest domain in the software review space. People view their magic quadrants as the Gospel of SaaS reviews. Despite mostly programmatic content, Gartner is still winning.
4. AI Overviews. Based on what I have seen, G2 is not appearing much in AI snippets. This makes sense because they don't have much "real content" on their pages. Basically, AI doesn't have much to extract... this only further increases their traffic erosion.
5. The rise of Reddit, Inc. is undeniable. Whether we like it or not, Reddit appears in the top ranking positions for 95% of software review queries.
6. Software review queries have become significantly more competitive. 10 years ago you didn't see as many affiliates and vendors trying to rank for X Best [INSERT SOFTWARE KEYWORD] Reviews, so you could also say that G2 once enjoyed the 'ol glory days when SEO was a lot easier and competition was much weaker.
7. Software product rankings on G2 pages are sorted by "G2" score. But they are not very transparent about how that score is calculated, nor why the top listed softwares deserve to be ranked higher than others. I feel this creates friction and increases skepticism of buyers.
8. Personal anecdote, but it seems G2 has lost credibility among software buyers. This is hard to quantify, but most people I talk to don't take them seriously anymore. Maybe just backyard barbecue chatter, but I think word of mouth matters.
SEO winter has finally come for G2. And I only see this blizzard getting worse. It's gonna be cold for a long time...
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