When Answer Engines Replace Search Engines: HubSpot Acquires XFunnel

The Digital Marketing Inflection Point

It is no longer just about ranking on Google — it is about protecting your business in the age of Artificial Intelligence, ensuring it appears as a direct answer in AI systems. HubSpot understands this. With the acquisition of XFunnel, the shift to Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) moves from emerging concept to concrete requirement for marketing teams that want to remain relevant.

What’s at stake: AEO, LLMs, and customer discovery

We are seeing three major forces converge:

• The spread of large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, HubSpot x Claude, and Perplexity, which increasingly deliver direct answers instead of long lists of links;
• The shift from classic “search engines” to “answer engines”: users ask an AI system a question, get an answer, and often never leave that environment — making it critical to appear as a cited source;
• The promise of higher-quality leads: according to HubSpot, leads generated via AI-powered channels convert three times better than those from traditional search.

About the acquisition: what HubSpot revealed

On October 31, 2025, HubSpot announced the acquisition of XFunnel. The Israeli startup, founded by Beeri Amiel and Neri Bluman in 2025, focused on monitoring, experimenting, and optimizing this new AI-based discovery layer — helping brands understand how they appear in answer engines and what actions to take.

• XFunnel tracks how a brand appears in AI-generated answers, identifies gaps, and maps opportunities;
• HubSpot will integrate this capability natively into its platform, giving customers access to visibility and metrics that traditional marketing barely touches;
• The move signals that answer engine optimization is now a core part of HubSpot’s strategy — a priority channel, not a side experiment.

What this means for Marketing & RevOps teams

Content built around questions, not just keywords

Optimizing for “keyword + volume” is no longer enough. The focus shifts to: what question does the user ask? what answer does the AI system provide? and how can you ensure that answer is powered by your content?

Content teams must design assets that answer clearly and directly, with logical structure, data, and relevance — in formats that LLMs can easily consume and reuse.

Visibility beyond the website: the AI ecosystem

Brands must be visible not only in traditional search engines, but also inside AI/chat environments, micro discovery moments, and ecosystems that anticipate intent via voice or text.

CRM operations, data architecture, and advanced analytics should fuel this ecosystem: what questions do leads ask? what terms appear in conversations? how can internal models be trained with that data?

More sophisticated conversion metrics

If AI-driven leads convert 3x better, simply measuring “traffic → lead” is no longer sufficient. Teams must understand the full “AI discovery → interaction → conversion” loop.

RevOps teams may need new KPIs: answer engine visibility, share of answer, content gaps for emerging questions, and time-to-conversion from AI-driven interactions.

Agile experimentation and continuous iteration

Following XFunnel’s mindset, experimentation becomes mandatory: testing different answer formats (text, video, audio), tracking how LLMs interpret content, and iterating quickly.

As HubSpot framed it at INBOUND 2025, this is the age of “Loop Marketing” — capture, engage, convert, and evolve in a continuous cycle.

Read also: Automation and AI in HubSpot: 5 Sales Use Cases

Transitioning to AEO/LLMs in the Portuguese market

Language and culture: European Portuguese is still underrepresented in AI environments — which creates a first-mover visibility advantage.

Technical and local content: in technical B2B contexts (HubSpot, CRM, RevOps), producing content that answers specific buyer questions (“How do I optimize my HubSpot pipeline for AI?”, “Which metrics matter in the answer engine era?”) is crucial.

Answer engine visibility audits: even without mature local AEO tools, companies can start mapping: what questions do our leads ask? what answers does our website provide? how do these appear in internal chatbots or virtual assistants?

Training and process change: Marketing and Customer Success teams must understand the new paradigm: question–answer-focused briefs, tighter alignment between content, CRM, and automation, and revised KPIs.

Opportunities and challenges ahead

Despite the buzz around AEO, there are real challenges:

• Answer engines are still early-stage — traditional search remains dominant for much of the audience;
• Measuring visibility in AI environments is harder than tracking Google rankings — much of the data is “black box”; XFunnel’s value lies in bringing transparency;
• The pace of change is relentless: models evolve, new platforms appear, and what works today may not work tomorrow, demanding agility and test culture;
• Many companies still face technical and resource constraints — integrating CRM data, tracking AI visibility, and optimizing content requires investment.

For companies that move now, the competitive advantage can be substantial: being present where customers ask questions, not only where they search. This is not a distant future scenario — it is already happening, and early adopters will strengthen their leadership.

Recommended next steps

• Audit current lead FAQs and assess whether content answers them directly;
• Review the content roadmap for the next 6–12 months with a “question → answer” lens and AI-ready formats (snippets, Q&A, short video);
• Include AI visibility metrics in RevOps dashboards (assistant/chatbot mentions, share of answer, conversion rate of AI-originated leads);
• Train content marketing and CRM teams on new flows: question-based briefing, answer testing, and continuous iteration.

Want to prepare your AEO strategy and strengthen your presence in answer engines? Talk to us and learn how to align content, CRM, and AI to protect and grow your business.