The share of French TPE-PMEs with a website decreased from 70% in 2024 to 61% in 2025 according to the Afnic barometer “Succeeding with the web”. Their presence on social media followed the same trajectory, dropping from 75% to 64% over the same period.
The prevailing discourse on accelerated digitalization masks a concrete decline in the online visibility of small structures. In this context, the role of a web agency specialized in digital communication is no longer limited to creating a website or posting on social media: it is about compensating for a structural deficit that many companies still do not measure.
Decline in online presence of TPE-PMEs: what the 2025 barometers document
The France Num 2025 barometer, led by the General Directorate for Enterprises, indicates that 84% of TPE-PMEs have at least one online visibility solution. This figure seems reassuring. In practice, this presence often boils down to a Google Business listing or a profile on a social network, without a website or structured SEO strategy.
The Afnic study highlights another phenomenon: registrations in online directories and marketplaces are also declining. Small businesses that had multiplied digital contact points during the post-Covid period seem to be reducing their efforts due to a lack of visible results or internal skills to maintain these channels.
A digital communication agency intervenes precisely at this stage, when a company has fragments of online presence without coherence or management. Structures like the one presented on https://zam-creation.fr/ offer support ranging from website creation to natural SEO optimization, integrating content strategy and social media management into a unified plan.
Natural SEO and AI visibility: two areas that web agencies must cover simultaneously
Traditional SEO remains the foundation of any online visibility strategy. Appearing in the top Google results for queries related to one’s activity generates qualified, regular, and less costly traffic than paid advertising in the long term.
Field feedback varies on this point, but several agencies specialized in SEO are beginning to integrate what is called GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). This involves optimizing content so that it is picked up by responses generated by search engines incorporating artificial intelligence, such as Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, or Perplexity.
This dual requirement changes the nature of a web agency’s work. Content optimized for traditional SEO is no longer sufficient if it is not structured in a way that can be understood and cited by generative AI systems. The criteria for selecting a digital communication agency now include its ability to work on these two fronts.
What GEO concretely changes for a company
A well-ranked website on Google may never appear in an AI-generated response if its content lacks structured data, direct answers to user questions, or clearly identified sources. Natural SEO alone no longer guarantees complete online visibility for a company.
Agencies that have integrated this dimension offer combined SEO and GEO audits. They analyze not only the positioning in traditional results but also the frequency with which the site or brand is cited in AI responses. The available data does not yet allow for conclusions on the direct commercial impact of GEO, but the trend is pushing digital marketing professionals to prepare for it.
Legal obligations DSA and DMA: a framework that digital agencies can no longer ignore
The Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) are changing the rules of the game for online advertising and content moderation. These European regulations impose new transparency obligations on platforms, as well as on advertisers and companies that use these platforms for their digital communication.
The DSA requires platforms to make advertising targeting parameters transparent. For a company that entrusts its campaigns to a web agency, this means that targeting strategies on Meta, TikTok, or Google must be documented and compliant. A specialized agency must master these regulatory constraints to avoid sanctions or rejected campaigns.
The DMA, on the other hand, targets “gatekeepers” like Google, Apple, or Meta. It limits certain tracking and cross-targeting practices between services. The consequences for digital marketing strategies are concrete:
- Advertising campaigns on social media must comply with stricter transparency rules regarding targeting and data used
- Landing pages and conversion paths must include updated legal mentions, particularly regarding consent
- Agencies managing SEA or Social Ads campaigns must adapt their reporting practices to document compliance
Criteria for selecting a web agency in digital communication
The market for digital agencies in France is dense. Distinguishing an agency capable of producing measurable results from a generalist provider requires asking the right questions before signing.
- Does the agency offer a documented initial audit (SEO, technical performance, social presence) with quantified data on the starting situation?
- Does it have skills in both natural SEO AND AI visibility, or is it limited to website creation and social media?
- Does it integrate DSA and DMA regulatory constraints into the management of advertising campaigns?
- Is a monthly report with clear performance indicators (organic traffic, positions on target queries, conversion rates) part of the contract?
An agency that only talks about design or “content strategy” without mentioning SEO, regulatory compliance, or result measurement overlooks the levers that truly determine a company’s online visibility.
The question of budget and return on investment
The France Num 2025 Barometer highlights that the lack of budget remains the primary barrier to the digitalization of TPE-PMEs. Entrusting digital communication to a web agency represents a cost, but the absence of a strategy also has a price: that of invisibility on queries captured by better-positioned competitors.
The challenge for a company is not to choose between internalizing or outsourcing, but to identify actions that produce measurable returns. A technically optimized site for SEO, regular content targeting the right queries, and advertising campaigns compliant with new European rules form a foundation that few structures can maintain alone.
The documented decline shown by the 2025 barometers indicates that the online presence of small French businesses is no longer progressing automatically. Specialized web agencies in digital communication have a technical and strategic role to play, provided they integrate the developments in SEO, generative AI, and the European regulatory framework into their services.
