HubSpot experimenting with content gating while maintaining search engine and AI bot visibility

Other Questions HubSpot
1

I noticed that HubSpot started doing something interesting on their blog about a month back. They’re running what looks like a major experiment that could change how content marketing works.

What I think HubSpot is trying to do:

They probably realized that blog traffic will drop big time because of AI chatbots and Google’s AI features. Maybe 30-50% less visitors coming to their site.

But they figured out that just blocking AI bots completely would be even worse. Then nobody would find their content at all.

So instead they put up email gates that hide some content from human visitors but keep it visible in the page code. This way AI tools can still read everything and mention their articles.

Their bet is that when people see HubSpot content mentioned in AI responses, they’ll still click through to get the full article. And since the content seems valuable, more people will give their email to read it.

Why this matters so much:

If this works for HubSpot, other companies will copy this approach. It might change how we all use the internet.

People might start subscribing to way more email lists and reading newsletters instead of just googling everything.

I’m wondering if this could actually work. What do you think about this strategy?

2

I’ve been watching similar experiments at different SaaS companies and HubSpot’s move feels calculated, not desperate. They’re treating AI bots as a distribution channel instead of a threat - smart move while most companies are still deciding whether to block or embrace AI crawlers. The real test? Conversion rates. If their email signups stay quality and actually convert to customers, the strategy works. But there’s timing risk here. If Google calls this cloaking and tweaks their algorithms, HubSpot could get hit with serious organic traffic penalties. Success comes down to execution and whether users see enough value to hand over their email.

3

interesting point, but hubspot’s playing with fire here. ppl hate email gates - this could backfire hard if users just bounce instead of signing up. plus search engines might penalize this cloaking behavior later.