Another priority for marketing teams is managing the transition from traditional search to customers and prospects using AI to conduct research. While SEO is always important, it is important that your product appears in AI search summaries and chatbot responses.
Marketers are bombarded with advice and recommendations on how to run organic search engine optimization (GEO) campaigns. Some of this advice is good, but other recommendations are just snake oil. We decided to conduct a study to find out what really affects whether a B2B product emerges from productive AI solutions.
How we analyzed the visibility of B2B AI
Our research used one of the leading GEO tools, Brandi, to analyze mentions and website citations in AI responses. The analysis was extensive, tracking over 1,000 data across 29 brands using four AI engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Grok and Google AI Mode/Gemini).
We analyzed a mix of B2B technology companies, including electronic components, semiconductors, industrial automation, software, logistics, electrical installation and engineering. There was a mix of company sizes, although we focused mainly on corporate and mid-sized companies.
The information is generated by Brandi’s intelligence engine based on the key topics and questions that each brand feels should be organized.
All analyzes used English language prompts and responses.
That’s 1,000 facts that tell us about the visibility of B2B AI
Here’s what the data revealed about how B2B brands respond – or fail to respond – to AI-generated responses.
Most B2B brands are less visible
The visibility of the AI is usually the symbol quoted in response to a set of commands, expressed as a percentage. Our research showed that only one in five (21%) of the brands that appeared in more than 25% of the quick responses were important to them. One third of the products appeared under AI responses of less than 5%.
This is not due to research focusing on companies with low GEO. Two-thirds of the time, the top product in the B2B category we analyzed had less than 25% visibility, and nearly one in five (17%) of the most visible products appeared under less than 10% AI responses.
This is about transparency. Today, B2B brands are not exposed to AI solutions at the levels used by their customers and prospects. As B2B customers move from traditional search to AI chatbots, the visibility of many suppliers will decrease.
Having the right content on your website is an important factor in ensuring your brand is seen. Brands whose domain was in the top 10 cited by AI responded to an average of 25% visibility, while those outside the top 10 seen in AI responded only 7.6% of the time on average.
Interestingly, there were diminishing returns when the domain was cited the most: brands whose domain received the most citations achieved an average visibility of only 31% – only a small improvement in the top 10 brands – which shows that you cannot build a GEO strategy only on managed content.
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Wikipedia and Reddit are not as important as you think
Despite the accepted wisdom that Wikipedia and Reddit are the biggest defenders of GEO visibility, for B2B brands, they have limited impact. In 60% of the products, Wikipedia did not make the top 25 websites cited, and in 30% it was not mentioned in any of the answers to the information created. This could change as brands invest time and money in influencing Wikipedia content. And it suggests that creating content for other platforms may be more important.
Reddit was not as strong and was absent from the 25 identified domains in more than four-fifths (83%) of the brands analyzed. This likely reflects the nature of B2B tech products, which tend not to be discussed on Reddit as much as consumer products.
Due to commercial programs, ChatGPT has exclusive access to Reddit. If this AI model is important to you, you should still consider a Reddit strategy – although you should have products or services that the Reddit community will engage with and discuss.
Getting visibility into AI responses isn’t just about written content
Video should be an important part of any GEO strategy, as platforms like YouTube are heavily used by AI models. About 75% of brands had YouTube among the top 25 domains identified in the AI responses.
It’s no surprise that Google’s Gemini model — which includes AI answers at the top of search pages — is more likely to cite a YouTube video. However, all AI models use video, which means that written content alone is not enough to ensure strong AI visibility.
The return of the LinkedIn title?
LinkedIn has been incredibly influential, appearing in the top 25 domain citations for 37% of brands. LinkedIn articles – even some posted a few years ago – appear in AI answers, despite LinkedIn itself apparently losing interest in the format. A strong LinkedIn presence is therefore essential for B2B brands, and writing long-form articles on the platform is a logical GEO strategy.
Managed media trumps earned
In addition to the leaders of large AI companies promoting the authority of earned media, we found that owned media is important in determining what types of B2B technologies arise from AI solutions. Most of the websites that are owned twice are cited as earned media sites. While many managed sites will be competitors, B2B brands must create content for their own website, channel partners and other partner brands in the ecosystem if they want to be seen in AI responses.
Interestingly, earned media affecting AI responses are often different from a brand’s “top-level” media list. Often, a small number of articles drive many citations in trade publications, and sometimes publications dismissed by PR professionals due to the perceived lack of a product’s audience to have a significant impact on the responses the audience will receive when using AI.
Given the interpretation of the importance of earned media by the leaders of AI companies, we can expect that the balance between owned and earned media will become more favorable in the future.
What does this mean for your GEO strategy
Ensuring that your B2B product is reflected in the AI responses provided by your customers and prospects is critical to long-term success. However, many responses do not mention the leading brand, and many companies are only visible in a small percentage of AI responses. Building an effective GEO strategy, however, is not straightforward. The data does not support much of the received wisdom promoted by GEO gurus.
To be successful, B2B companies must conduct a detailed analysis of their market to understand the factors that influence the main AI models. This data-driven approach is important, as this research highlights that conventional wisdom is rarely wrong.
