As some media publishers rush to court AI algorithms and companies, one niche B2B publisher is doubling down on search engine optimization (SEO). Capital Business Media, home to titles such as Business Matters and EV Powered, has seen its revenue jump to £5.2 million ($6.9 million) in 2025 from £2.9 million ($3.9 million) in 2023, with an increase in referral traffic coming from Google powered by the publisher’s in-house SEO optimization tool.
## SEO Authority
Despite calling AI scraping “commercially bad” for business, Capital Business Media’s founder, Richard Alvin, has broken with peers by continuing to allow AI scrapers rather than blocking them. AI currently accounts for around 1% of overall traffic for Business Matters, Alvin said. The company’s not doing much out of the ordinary in terms of SEO – it leverages AI and Google best practices to suggest strong titles, slugs, and descriptions to use in articles, as well as internal and external links.
Nonetheless, its SEO authority is high, and the boost that comes from that association has driven a demand for sponsored content, now the company’s fastest growing revenue stream, Alvin said. Sponsored content made up around half of the £1.6 million ($2.15 million) in online advertising revenue for 2025.
## Delicious!
Capital Business Media also has rapid expansion plans. Late last year, it launched Not Limited, a publication focused on self-employed workers. Using best practices of SEO, it has secured around 5,000 unique visitors a day and a main authority score in excess of 65, Alvin said. From its founding, in 2004 when Alvin bought Business Matters from Emap for £170,000 ($228,282), Capital Business Media has built out a portfolio of 11 niche media titles. Another three or four additional titles could come this year, with work already underway on a digital and print food magazine Nourish.
