B2B marketing in 2026: Why AI search engines are taking over the research phase of buying

Anyone deciding on a B2B software or services purchase in 2026 goes through a different buying process than they did three years ago.

It's not about channels. It's about where the vendor shortlist takes shape - and that has changed dramatically.

The research phase: where the biggest shift is happening

The classic B2B buying cycle looked like this: procurement intent → Google search → website visits → demo request → decision.

In 2026, this phase increasingly looks different: procurement intent → AI chatbot query "what are the best [category] tools for [context]?" → shortlist from the AI → visits to 2-3 websites from that shortlist → decision.

The data behind this shift is unambiguous:

G2 found that 51% of software buyers start their product research in AI chatbots — up from 29% a year earlier (G2, The Answer Economy, April 2026). McKinsey reports a 7x increase in professional AI queries over the past two years.

And an even stronger number: 94% of B2B buyers actively use AI tools during the research phase of a purchase (6sense, B2B Buyer Experience Report 2025, a survey of 4,000+ buyers).

What this means for shortlisting

In the traditional model, the shortlist went to the company with good SEO, a presence on Capterra or G2, and a sufficient marketing budget for brand awareness.

In the AI model, the shortlist goes to the company that the AI system identifies as a relevant entity for the given context.

This is a fundamental difference: SEO affects visibility to the customer; GEO affects visibility to the AI that makes recommendations to the customer.

A company with perfect SEO that is missing from AI answers won't make the shortlist of customers who started their research in ChatGPT. And there are more of them every day.

Conversion rates of AI-acquired leads

Why is AI-referred traffic so valuable? Because a customer who lands on your website based on an AI recommendation is pre-qualified.

The AI didn't tell them "company X exists". The AI told them "for your need Y, I recommend company X". That is a categorically different intent.

The data confirms it: AI-referred visitors convert 4.4x better than organic Google traffic (Semrush, 2025). Concrete numbers: 14.2% vs. 2.8% (Opollo, 2026). Average order value is 23% higher.

This effect is more pronounced in B2B than in B2C - AI recommendations carry more credibility in a professional context than in the consumer segment.

Three types of B2B queries in AI chatbots

For a GEO strategy, it's important to understand what kinds of questions customers ask AI:

Category queries: "What are the best tools for [category]?" or "Who offers [type of service] in [location]?" - the AI generates a shortlist from the entities it knows.

Comparison queries: "How does [company A] differ from [company B]?" or "What is the advantage of X over Y?" - the AI compares entities based on what it knows about each of them.

Validation queries: "Is [company] trustworthy?" or "What do customers think of [company]?" - the AI evaluates the reputation and authority of the entity.

Your GEO strategy has to cover all three types. It's not enough for the AI to know you - it has to know you as a good answer to each of these queries.

The role of content in B2B AI visibility

BrightEdge found that 32.5% of AI citations come from comparison articles and overviews. For B2B GEO, this has concrete implications:

Companies that write content in the format "The X best tools for Y" or "How to choose a [category] solution" get more out of AI than those who write only about their own products. Why? Because AI prefers to cite sources that educate, not ones that only sell.

This is a key GEO tactic that seems counterintuitive: writing educational content about your entire category - not just about yourself - raises your brand's authority in AI systems.

What to do: practical steps for B2B companies

Step 1: Find out where you stand. Test AI answers to category queries in your industry. Are you mentioned? If so, how? If not, who is?

Step 2: Optimize entity recognition. Organization schema markup with knowsAbout for your specialization, consistent company information across all platforms, and an llms.txt file with a precise description.

Step 3: Build content for AI citations. Comparison guides, industry definitions, FAQs with specific answers, statistical overviews with citations.

Step 4: Open the door to AI crawlers. A robots.txt with explicit permissions for GPTBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot.

Step 5: Measure. Track AI-referred traffic in Google Analytics (labeled as perplexity.ai, chatgpt.com, claude.ai). Watch the trends - they are signals of GEO performance.

The first-mover advantage in the Czech market

GEO adoption in the Czech Republic is significantly lower than in English-speaking markets. That is an opportunity: companies that start working systematically on their AI visibility now are building a position while their competitors are still hesitating.

AI markets in the Czech Republic are establishing themselves with less lag behind the global trend than before - the window of opportunity is shorter than it was, for example, with mobile SEO.

Frequently asked questions

Why is AI visibility more important for B2B than B2C? B2B purchases have a longer research phase — and that's exactly what is moving into AI: 51% of software buyers start their research in chatbots (G2, 2026). AI also assembles vendor shortlists, and an invisible company never makes it onto them.

What does shortlisting in AI mean? A buyer asks the AI for a narrowed-down selection: "recommend 3 providers of [service] for a company our size". The AI picks from companies it knows and trusts — whoever is missing from the answer often never even hears about the deal.

What questions do B2B buyers ask AI? Three types: educational ("how to solve X"), comparative ("A vs. B") and recommendation queries ("who to pick for X"). Each type calls for different content — educational articles, comparisons, and clear service descriptions with references.

How should a B2B company get started? Test all three query types for your industry in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity and record who shows up. Then address the gaps: citable content, entity signals, technical access. A GEO audit covers this in a structured way.

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