The Risk That Built Botify: Why Betting on Organic Search Paid Off

The Risk That Built Botify: Why Betting on Organic Search Paid Off

When Facebook was the darling of digital marketing, betting on SEO seemed quaint, even backwards. But in a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Botify CEO Adrien Menard revealed how their conviction in organic search’s fundamentals built a global enterprise serving Nike, L’Oreal, and the New York Times.

Seeing the Invisible Opportunity

“I can remember when I was presenting Botify to VCs or partners or Adrien, but why aren’t you funding a company in the social media space?” Adrien recalls. The prevailing wisdom was clear: SEO was dying, and social media was the future.

But the founders saw something others missed. As SEO practitioners, they discovered that “50% of the content of a website is actually not indexed by search engines.” This wasn’t just a technical problem – it represented millions in lost revenue for enterprises whose content never had a chance to reach their audience.

The Internet’s Original Promise

“When you think about it, I think it’s the true promise of the Internet,” Adrien explains. “Originally when it was about, okay, you can run a business and you can probably meet or speak with potential prospects or clients from all over the world without paying for advertising.”

This vision of organic, sustainable growth stood in stark contrast to the paid acquisition arms race happening in social media. While others chased viral moments, Botify focused on the fundamental connection between businesses and customers through search.

The COVID-19 Validation

The pandemic proved their thesis. “Early March 2020 when suddenly there was a massive acceleration of the digital transformation of some companies, many more advertisers, and logically the cost of advertising, I mean, overnight doubled or tripled depending on the industries,” Adrien recalls.

Companies suddenly realized that “if I stop advertising, I’m going to disappear from the surface of the Internet if my organic marketing is not solid.” The value of sustainable, organic visibility became crystal clear.

Search’s Staying Power

Adrien points to a simple test of search’s endurance: “When was the last time you did Google or Bing search?” For most people, it was minutes ago. “When was the last time you connected to Facebook?” Often, months.

“We are searching the web all the time from anywhere and this is not going to end anytime soon,” Adrien explains. “There is a strong human desire to find answers to questions… this will never end.”

Building for the Conversational Future

Rather than defending search’s past, Botify is betting on its evolution. “We are moving away from a keyword approach to a conversational approach,” Adrien notes. This shift creates new opportunities to connect businesses with customers through organic search.

Today, with 300+ employees globally and 70% of revenue from North America, that early bet on search has paid off dramatically. But the mission remains the same: fulfilling the internet’s original promise of connecting businesses with customers organically.

The lesson for founders? Sometimes the biggest opportunities come not from chasing trends, but from solving fundamental problems that others overlook. As Adrien puts it, they’re “really connecting human being with information.” In an age of viral hype cycles, that’s a mission built to last.