In keeping with the G2 2026 AI Search Perception Report, 51% of B2B software program consumers now begin their analysis with an AI chatbot extra usually than with Google. Seven months in the past, that quantity was 36%. It is nonetheless climbing.
That is how the software program purchaser’s journey begins, and it occurs in actual time throughout 1000’s of prompts operating via ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Perplexity, and Gemini, daily.
One other stat that ought to make each advertising chief cease scrolling: 69% of B2B software program consumers ended up selecting a distinct vendor than they initially anticipated. And 33% bought from a model they’d by no means even heard of — due to what an AI chatbot really useful.
The shopping for journey hasn’t simply shifted. It is forked. And most manufacturers have not seen which fork their consumers took. We analyzed our Profound MCP and G2 MCP knowledge to assist software program sellers get a whole image of the client journey and the indicators software program consumers belief. This is what the info reveals — and what it means for each software program vendor attempting to point out up earlier than the shortlist is about.
TL;DR
- AI has quietly changed Google as the primary cease within the B2B software program shopping for journey and the manufacturers exhibiting up aren’t those with the largest budgets.
- The belief sign that makes or breaks your AI visibility is not what most advertising groups are centered on proper now.
- G2’s knowledge throughout three software program classes reveals a sample that adjustments how you must take into consideration your evaluate technique.
The entrance door for software program shopping for and promoting simply modified
In 2025, AI search was shrinking the shortlist. However now, it is writing it earlier than your gross sales crew ever enters the room.
In the present day, a advertising chief varieties a immediate into ChatGPT: “finest [your category] software program for enterprise groups.” Your model would not seem, however a competitor’s may. What consumers are doing inside these chat home windows issues as a lot as the truth that they’re there. They don’t seem to be shopping. They arrive with intent:
- 33% of consumers open with class comparability queries — “finest CRM for enterprise” or “high advertising automation instruments”
- 31% begin with competitor-based prompts — they’re already naming names
- 8 in 10 say AI accelerated their buying determination
[Source: G2 2026 AI Search Insight Report]
The shortlist is forming earlier than your web site even hundreds.
The place G2 will get cited throughout greater than 115 million software program class searches in AI, March–June 2026.
Google AI Mode leads. ChatGPT ranks fourth. The invention floor is wider — and much much less ChatGPT-centric — than most manufacturers assume.
Supply: G2 inside knowledge by way of Profound, March–June 2026
Supply: G2 inside knowledge by way of Profound, March–June 2026
That is what makes it pressing for advertising leaders particularly: Your model’s first impression, its aggressive positioning, the way it stacks up towards alternate options — all of it’s more and more being fashioned inside an AI reply. Not in your web site. Not in a gross sales deck.
See additionally: MQLs Are Lifeless: Why AI Search Simply Killed Your Previous Funnel
AI would not suggest — It cites
The rationale one model seems and one other would not don’t have anything to do with beneficiant show advert spends and keyword-heavy content material, or as a result of they constructed a polished-looking web site. AI chatbots suggest what third-party, authoritative sources already vouch for. And within the B2B software program business, that belief layer runs overwhelmingly via peer evaluations.
In keeping with G2’s 2026 AI Search Perception Report, 45% of software program consumers say a quotation from a evaluate website is the one most confidence-inspiring sign in an AI reply. Evaluate websites rank because the no. 2 supply influencing purchaser shortlists total, sitting simply behind AI chatbots themselves.
And in relation to which evaluate platform AI trusts most in software program, the info is obvious. G2 is probably the most cited B2B software program platform in AI search, with 22.4% affect on software-related queries throughout ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Mode — primarily based on an unbiased evaluation of 30,000 AI citations by Kevin Indig, progress advisor at G2.
💡 Do you know?
G2 receives a median of 1.53 million each day AI citations throughout software program class searches — an almost 3x enhance in point out quantity since March 2026. The manufacturers showing in these citations are those with the deepest peer evaluate foundations of their classes.
Supply: G2 inside knowledge by way of Profound, monitoring quotation quantity throughout 1,668 software program classes, March–June 2026
We have been monitoring this shift for some time. After we first analyzed how G2 itself will get ranked in AI LLM search, the sample was already forming. The information has since confirmed that the platforms AI trusts most aren’t those with the largest budgets behind them. They’re those with the deepest, most verified peer indicators, and people indicators are constructed evaluate by evaluate.
We needed to see what that appears like in follow, so we pulled class degree knowledge.
The sample we seen throughout three classes
We needed to see if the info held past principle. So we checked out three software program classes on G2 — Reply Engine Optimization, search engine marketing Instruments, and Advertising and marketing — and in contrast the manufacturers, their evaluate counts, their rankings, and the way G2 confirmed up in AI search when consumers searched in these classes.
To place it to the check, we pulled G2 and Profound MCP knowledge throughout three software program classes — Reply Engine Optimization, search engine marketing Instruments, and Advertising and marketing — and measured evaluate quantity, star rankings, and G2’s AI visibility rating for every. The query: does a deeper evaluate basis truly transfer the needle on AI visibility?
Observe: This evaluation attracts on G2’s product catalog knowledge and G2’s AI search quotation monitoring throughout 1,668 software program classes by way of Profound, March 1–June 3, 2026. AI visibility scores mirror G2’s quotation prominence when consumers search these classes throughout AI platforms. (Supply: G2 inside knowledge by way of Profound)
Reply Engine Optimization (AEO) G2’s AI search visibility rating (consumers looking out this class in ChatGPT): 8.53 (Supply: G2 inside knowledge by way of Profound, March–June 2026)
|
Product |
G2 Opinions |
Star Score |
|---|---|---|
|
Semrush |
3,878 |
★ 4.5 |
|
Similarweb |
1,167 |
★ 4.4 |
|
Profound |
959 |
★ 4.5 |
|
AirOps |
122 |
★ 4.6 |
|
Visby AI |
96 |
★ 4.8 |
Supply: G2 product catalog knowledge by way of G2 MCP
The very best-rated product on this class has 40 occasions fewer evaluations than probably the most reviewed one. In a class the place G2’s AI visibility rating is 8.53 out of 10, the evaluate hole between merchandise is hanging — and per G2’s evaluation of 30,000 AI citations, evaluate quantity is among the strongest predictors of how confidently AI recommends a product.
Seems that the manufacturers consumers love most of their evaluations aren’t at all times those exhibiting up when somebody asks an AI chatbot for a advice.
search engine marketing Instruments G2’s AI search visibility rating (consumers looking out this class in ChatGPT): 7.58 (Supply: G2 inside knowledge by way of Profound, March–June 2026)
|
Product |
G2 Opinions |
Star Score |
|---|---|---|
|
Birdeye |
4,065 |
★ 4.7 |
|
Semrush |
3,878 |
★ 4.5 |
|
SE Rating |
1,562 |
★ 4.8 |
|
BrightEdge |
818 |
★ 4.4 |
|
Conductor |
773 |
★ 4.5 |
Supply: G2 product catalog knowledge by way of G2 MCP
SE Rating, for instance, carries the very best star ranking on this group and fewer than half the evaluations of the 2 leaders. In a class as established and aggressive as search engine marketing instruments, what does it truly take to maneuver from being well-reviewed to being well-represented in AI solutions?
The information would not inform us how any particular person product seems in AI solutions. However throughout 500 G2 classes, the sample is constant: Classes and merchandise with deeper evaluate foundations get cited extra usually. Star ranking alone would not transfer that needle.
Advertising and marketing (Advertising and marketing Automation, Analytics, and Technique) G2’s AI search visibility rating (consumers looking out this class in ChatGPT): 8.92, the very best of the three (Supply: G2 inside knowledge by way of Profound, March–June 2026)
Advertising and marketing generated extra AI search mentions than the opposite two classes mixed — greater than 32,000 ChatGPT mentions tracked in the identical window. [Source: G2 internal data via Profound] It is probably the most lively class for AI-driven software program discovery proper now, which makes it probably the most aggressive for any model attempting to point out up.
Throughout three classes, the identical query stored surfacing: Does an ideal star ranking translate to AI visibility? Or does one thing else drive it? Kevin Indig’s evaluation of 30,000 AI citations throughout 500 G2 classes provides a transparent reply — classes with 10% extra evaluations see roughly 2% extra AI citations, which is a compounding benefit.
Star rankings inform consumers how good a product is. Evaluate quantity tells AI how trusted a product is in addition to how confidently to suggest it. These aren’t the identical sign. Proper now, most manufacturers are optimizing for the flawed one.
Evaluate indicators drive discovery. However there is a second downside: AI is not at all times proper, and consumers understand it.
64% of consumers encounter AI errors: This is their security internet
AEO is the extra intentional cousin of search engine marketing, and belief is earned, not manufactured. AI search is not infallible, and consumers understand it. However the place do they search for belief when AI fails them?
64% of B2B software program consumers encounter AI inaccuracies continuously — weekly or extra. [Source: G2 2026 AI Search Insight Report] When an AI chatbot leaves out a model they belief or will get one thing flawed about one they’re evaluating, their intuition is not to simply accept the reply. It is to confirm it. And the go-to verification supply? Peer evaluations — each time.
Evan Reiss, Vice President of Advertising and marketing at Foxit, put it plainly: “Advocacy is fashionable search engine marketing — it defines how AI sees your model. G2 provides us the platform to show that advocacy into actual visibility the place it issues.”
Consumers additionally cross-check throughout instruments. If ChatGPT and Gemini describe your model otherwise, that inconsistency registers as a pink flag. The manufacturers which have probably the most to lose right here aren’t those with unhealthy merchandise. They’re those with skinny evaluate profiles — manufacturers the AI would not have sufficient sign on to signify precisely.
A powerful evaluate presence is not only a discovery play. It is your model’s protection towards being misrepresented, incomplete, or absent within the solutions that matter most.
Your evaluate technique is your AI technique
When boardroom discussions kick off with questions like, “What are we doing for AI visibility?”, the stakes are excessive, and CMOs want to point out up ready.
The manufacturers profitable in AI search aren’t operating a separate AI visibility program. They’re operating a robust evaluate program that is doing double obligation.
G2 profiles with robust evaluate foundations present up 5 occasions extra usually in AI search solutions.
From immediate to pipeline
Step again for a second and contemplate what this knowledge is definitely exhibiting.
Consumers aren’t ready in your subsequent marketing campaign. They’re opening AI chatbots, typing class queries and competitor comparisons, and strolling away with a shortlist, weeks earlier than your gross sales crew enters the image. 69% of them ended up selecting a distinct vendor than anticipated. A 3rd purchased from a model they’d by no means heard of earlier than that search.
The manufacturers exhibiting up in these solutions aren’t there due to larger budgets or higher advert focusing on. They’re there as a result of AI has sufficient verified, particular, present peer proof to confidently suggest them.
Evaluate quantity. Recency. Class readability. That is the belief stack AI is drawing from, and it is constructed on G2.
The manufacturers profitable aren’t outspending anybody. They’re out-trusted by the verified, present, particular peer proof that AI reaches for when a purchaser varieties their first immediate.
That is the brand new job of selling management, and it begins with a easy query price sitting with: If a purchaser typed your class into ChatGPT proper now, what would come again? Would your model be in that reply? Wouldn’t it be represented precisely? Wouldn’t it even present up?
If you happen to’re unsure, that is price understanding.
Incessantly Requested Questions
What makes a software program vendor present up in AI search suggestions?
Three issues drive it: the amount and recency of verified peer evaluations on platforms AI trusts, how utterly and precisely a model is positioned inside its class, and constant third-party validation throughout authoritative sources. AI would not decide manufacturers at random — it surfaces those that unbiased, verified communities have already endorsed at scale. The manufacturers with the deepest evaluate foundations on platforms like G2 have a structural, compounding benefit in each AI-generated shortlist.
Can I belief what AI says about software program distributors?
AI is a strong start line, however not an ideal one. In keeping with G2’s 2026 AI Search Perception Report, 64% of B2B software program consumers encounter AI inaccuracies continuously. That is precisely why peer evaluate websites stay the go-to verification layer, even for AI-fluent consumers. When AI will get it flawed, consumers cross-check towards peer evaluations. Manufacturers with a robust G2 presence present up at each touchpoints — within the AI reply and within the verification step that follows.
How do I enhance my firm’s visibility in AI solutions?
Begin with the inspiration: construct evaluate quantity and recency on the platforms AI trusts most. G2 is the most cited B2B software program supply in AI search. Getting your product well-represented there may be the highest-leverage start line. Optimize your G2 profile with particular, category-clear positioning. And use an AEO instrument to measure the way you’re showing throughout ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Mode — as a result of 78% of selling groups say their present method to measuring AI visibility is inaccurate. Measurement is the first step.
Edited by Supanna Das
DATA AND METHODOLOGY
This text attracts on the next sources:
- G2 2026 AI Search Perception Report — Survey of 1,076 B2B software program consumers and decision-makers, March 2026, world respondents throughout North America, EMEA and APAC.
- G2 AI search quotation knowledge — G2’s monitoring of quotation quantity and visibility scores throughout 1,668 software program classes by way of Profound, March 1–June 3, 2026. Displays G2’s quotation prominence throughout ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews, Google Gemini, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Grok and Meta AI.
- G2 product catalog knowledge — Evaluate counts and star rankings sourced from G2’s stay product database at time of publication.
- Kevin Indig correlation evaluation — “Do Extra G2 Opinions Imply Extra AI Visibility?” Evaluation of 30,000 AI citations throughout 500 G2 software program classes by way of Profound, revealed October 2025 on G2 Study.
