AI is transforming B2B research. Will your brand make the shortlist?

The B2B buying journey has never been linear. It’s long been characterised by large buying committees, multiple stages and weeks or months of independent research. But now , AI discovery has created yet another challenge for companies trying to map out and understand this journey. 

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66% of B2B professionals now regularly use AI tools to research vendors and solutions. This means their shortlists are created long before they ever visit your website. So the question vendors are asking themselves is: how do we make sure we show up in AI answers? 

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In his latest article for The Drum, titled Is your brand part of the answer? Why AI visibility is about more than showing up, Propeller Group Chief Growth Officer Jody Osman addresses this topic, digging into why supplier brands need to create content that doesn’t just feed AI answers, but gets them named in them. 

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The difference between citations and mentions 

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The goal for most brands is to show up in AI answers. But it’s important to note that this can manifest itself in two distinct ways: as a citation or as a mention. Both put your brand in the answer; however they create different business value. 

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A citation: When AI draws on your content as evidence for its answers, typically including a clickable link. 

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Citations can drive referral traffic and also build your topical authority and credibility. When AI cites your website or content, it indicates a level of credibility. 

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A mention: When your company is named in the answer. 

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Mentions signal that AI recognises your company as relevant to a topic, and can help build consideration and contribute towards direct branded traffic. Mentions largely come from two sources - the model’s training data and third-party publications. 

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You can be cited without being mentioned and vice versa. Therefore, the ultimate goal is to achieve both. 

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How do you shape the story AI tells? 

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Showing up in AI answers is only valuable if you’re being accurately described and categorised. The onus is therefore on businesses to make it easy for AI to understand what you do. 

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You can influence this through owned content. Optimising website pages to clearly present facts about your businesses, writing blogs in a way that’s easy for AI to lift for use in answers and reinforcing key messages across social media channels are some of the recommended ways you can approach this to strengthen your authority.

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However, you also need to consider the role of earned media and credible third-party sources. These drive 84% of all citations and are incredibly important for influencing mentions. 

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This is because AI won’t just take your word for what you say you do on your website; it will look for other authoritative sources to corroborate these facts. If it can’t find the sources to do so, it will likely leave you out of the answer completely. That’s why a strong PR strategy is essential in today’s age of search. 

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Ultimately, making sure your business is visible in the new B2B buying journey means using owned and earned media to create a clear, consistent narrative about your business, so it’s not just a source of information for answers, but is clearly named in them. 

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To find out more about how we’re approaching AI visibility at Propeller, read the full article in The Drum here. 

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