European businesses are finding it harder than ever to reach customers online and facing a lack of clarity about what is driving growth, according to the first annual State of European Business report by digital ecosystem provider team.blue.
The study, conducted among more than 10,000 companies in 32 countries, warns of the emergence of a “Visibility Gap” for European companies: a growing disconnect between their online presence and their ability to understand, influence and measure how customers discover them.
The way customers discover brands is changing faster than most companies are able to adapt; Nearly one in three businesses (30.6%) report that reaching customers online has become more difficult over the past two years. The discovery landscape is richer and more fragmented than ever, a dynamic that team.blue has called the “visibility economy.”
In Spain, this trend is notably accentuated. 37.1% of Spanish companies say that reaching customers online has become more difficult in the last two years, a figure that exceeds the European average (30.6%) by more than six points. The fragmentation of the discovery landscape is also especially pronounced in the Spanish market, where 63.8% of companies have suffered disruptions caused by platform changes (such as algorithm updates or account access issues).
This figure is almost double the pan-European average (39.6%), reflecting a particularly high dependence on social networks. At the same time, Spain is the most advanced European market in the use of AI tools as a discovery channel, with 14.3% of companies that already cite them as a source to attract new customers, compared to 8.7% of the European average.
Companies lose confidence in how customers find them
When asked about the biggest challenges affecting their ability to reach customers online, companies cited changes in algorithms (38.8%), increased advertising costs (37.2%) and increased competition (35.2%) as the main barriers. Together, these challenges make reaching customers online less predictable, leaving many businesses experiencing “AI Fog” – uncertainty about which channels and activities will drive growth.
Spain is the most advanced European market in the use of AI tools as a discovery channel
This uncertainty becomes especially relevant when it comes to how companies understand their own online visibility. Only 5.5% of businesses say they feel completely in control of how customers discover them online, while more than a third (37.7%) feel little or no control at all.
In this sense, Manuela Becerra, Country Manager of team.blue Spain, explains “Spain has firmly opted for digitalization in recent years. In fact, our market is already one of the European leaders in the use of online reviews and ratings as a trusted source when searching for and interacting with all types of companies.
It also stands out in the adoption of artificial intelligence to search for companies, services or suppliers. However, this evolution has given rise to an increasingly frequent phenomenon: the so-called ‘AI Fog’, which causes companies to lose visibility about the origin of their customers. This has important consequences, because when a company does not know where its customers come from, it is much more difficult for it to make good decisions and grow effectively.
The AI readiness gap grows
The challenge for businesses is not only to navigate today’s competitive digital environment, but to prepare for how AI could reshape the way customers find products, services and brands in the coming years. Three quarters (75.2%) of European businesses agree that AI will change the way customers discover businesses online. However, less than one in three (29.6%) consider themselves prepared for these changes.
This readiness gap is particularly noticeable among smaller companies, which represent 99% of all EU companies and employ almost half (48%) of the region’s workforce, according to Eurostat. Companies with fewer than 50 employees are twice as likely (30.7%) as larger companies (13.7%) to say they are not ready for AI-driven change.
The data for Spain point, however, in a more optimistic direction. 76.5% of Spanish companies share the conviction that AI will transform the way in which customers discover businesses online, a percentage in line with the European average (75.2%). However, the difference lies in the ability to translate that conviction into action. In this sense, 48.7% of Spanish companies consider themselves prepared to face this change, compared to the 29.6% average in Europe. With only 13.6% claiming to be unprepared (the lowest rate of all markets analyzed) and a readiness gap of 27.8 percentage points, Spain leads with the transition from AI awareness to actual readiness.
The contrast with other European markets is significant, countries such as Belgium (53.1 pp), Slovakia (58.8 pp) or Italy (48.5 pp) present considerably larger gaps, which shows that recognizing the impact of AI does not guarantee being ready to take advantage of it.
“We are experiencing a period of significant change in the way businesses are discovered online. Customers find companies through more channels than ever, while AI is reshaping the way information is recommended or surfaced. Many companies recognize that this change is occurring, but our report shows that they do not always feel prepared for what comes next,” explains Claudio Corbetta, CEO of team.blue. “The challenge is not simply to keep up with change, but to build the trust and visibility necessary to grow in a more complex digital environment.”
“As AI becomes a bigger part of how customers discover companies, it’s getting harder to understand what drives visibility and growth. Businesses need a clear digital foundation that they can control and build on. The opportunity is not to chase every new AI tool or platform; It’s about making sure the information customers and AI systems depend on is accurate, reliable and easy to find. That’s why a strong website remains one of the most important assets a company can have,” says Bilal Ahmed, Chief AI & Data Officer at team.blue.
Visibility starts with your own channels
As businesses navigate ever-changing digital channels, many are underutilizing one of the few digital assets they directly control: their website.
Although 86.5% of European companies have a website, only 9.7% accurately track how website visitors become potential customers or buyers. More than half (50.9%) do not carry out any follow-up in this regard. This represents a significant opportunity for companies to improve visibility into the channels that drive growth and better understand how customers move from discovery to purchase.
