- 2,434%rise in referrals from AI tools over Black Friday and Cyber Monday
- 200xmore engagement on four YouTube Shorts made for search, against JBL's 30-day average
What JBL changed
JBL worked with Code and Theory to check how it showed up in search and rethink its website. They also planned stories that work for both people and bots. The stories try to be fun to read and clear about features. They answer everyday questions, like whether a soundbar is really worth buying.
For Black Friday, JBL published a gift guide showing which of its products suit different kinds of gift recipients. The team also studied how people search on YouTube and TikTok. Then it made short videos to match, like a YouTube Short comparing two speakers.
“We wanted to identify what was the best strategy for JBL, and not just a generic strategy for SEO.”
The results
Across Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025, referrals from AI tools were up 2,434%. Four YouTube Shorts made for search got a 2.61% engagement rate per view. The agency says that's 200x JBL's 30-day average of 0.013%.
The agency said the work was slow and steady, not an overnight win. JBL is still working out how to use it in other countries.
“The way that we see it, search is everywhere now. But that doesn't mean that people search the same way on every platform. ”
What other stores can take from this
- Answer the doubts buyers have. JBL writes around everyday questions, like whether a soundbar is worth buying.
- Let your gift guide do the matching. JBL's Black Friday guide said which products suit which kind of recipient.
- Treat it as a long game. JBL's agency calls this slow and steady work, not overnight growth.
Worth knowing: The press article confirms the jump in referrals only. JBL's award entry also claims "10x more revenue than the next highest period". It doesn't say what that money covers, so we don't count it as a sales result.
Source
“'Search is everywhere': How JBL is retooling its search efforts for AI”
Read the original article (opens in a new tab)Also drawn from
JBL is not a FirstPicked customer. This page is our summary of Marketing Brew's reporting. The figures and quotes are theirs.
