What percentage of B2B buyers use AI during their buying process?

94% of B2B buyers use AI in their buying process according to Forrester's 2025 Buyers' Journey Survey of 17,500 global buyers. 47% of enterprise buyers now start vendor research with AI tools ahead of Google (Treble/Censuswide, 300 CxOs).

How different are AI search results from Google for B2B buying queries?

Only 14% of URLs cited by Google AI Mode rank in Google's traditional top 10 organic results (SE Ranking, 2025). 40% of AI Overview citations come from pages ranking outside Google's top 10. GTM Signal Studio's research found that 44% of enterprise companies and 52% of UK law firms are invisible to AI recommendations despite having strong web presence.

Does AI visibility actually affect B2B sales?

Yes. 95% of winning vendors were on the buyer's Day 1 shortlist (6sense, 4,000 buyers), and the top-ranked vendor wins 77-80% of the time. AI search traffic converts at 14.2% compared to 2.8% for Google organic — 5x higher (Warmly/Yotpo, 2026). If AI platforms form the initial shortlist and you're not on it, you rarely win the deal.

What is the AI Visibility Framework?

The AI Visibility Framework is a 4-dimension scoring system developed by GTM Signal Studio that measures how visible a company is to AI search platforms. The four dimensions are: Citation Presence (does AI recommend you by name?), Entity Recognition (does AI know what you do?), Content Structure (can AI extract answers from your site?), and Citation Breadth (how many independent sources mention you?). Each is scored 0-25 for a total of 0-100.

Which age group uses AI most for B2B purchasing?

85% of 25-34 year olds use AI for supplier research compared to just 23% of 55-64 year olds (Magenta Associates, 300 UK decision-makers, 2025). This generational gap means AI-driven buying behaviour will only accelerate as younger professionals move into senior buying roles.

← Research

RESEARCH DATA

AI Visibility & B2B Buyer Behaviour Stats

Name: AI Visibility & B2B Buyer Behaviour Statistics
Creator: GTM Signal Studio

Citable stats on how AI is changing B2B vendor discovery. Original research from GTM Signal Studio plus verified external data. Each stat links to its source. Updated regularly.

36+

Citable Stats

100+

Companies Scanned

20+

Sources

Original Research AI Adoption in B2B Buying How AI Changes the Buying Journey AI vs Google: The Divergence Trust in AI Recommendations AI Search Traffic & Conversion

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

GTM Signal Studio Original Research

Original data from GSS benchmark studies. 150+ companies scanned across multiple sectors using the AI Visibility Framework (4 dimensions, scored 0-100). Updated monthly.

81%

of 150 B2B companies score 0-5 on AI citation presence — invisible to AI recommendations

AI Visibility Benchmark April 2026 — GTM Signal Studio (2026)Sample: 150 companies, 5 sectors

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28.7

average AI visibility score across 150 companies (out of 100) — down from 82.2 at N=50

AI Visibility Benchmark April 2026 — GTM Signal Studio (2026)Sample: 150 companies, 5 sectors

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10/10

bottom 10 companies in the 150-company benchmark are all IT Services firms scoring 2/100

AI Visibility Benchmark April 2026 — GTM Signal Studio (2026)Sample: 150 companies, 5 sectors

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44%

of enterprise B2B companies score 2/25 on AI citation presence

AI Visibility Benchmark March 2026 — GTM Signal Studio (2026)Sample: 50 companies, 5 sectors

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52%

of UK law firms score 2/25 on AI citation presence — invisible to AI recommendations

AI Visibility: UK Law Firms 2026 — GTM Signal Studio (2026)Sample: 50 UK law firms

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citation gap between SaaS (24.4/25) and IT Services (8.0/25) on AI citation presence

AI Visibility Benchmark 2026 — GTM Signal Studio (2026)Sample: 50 companies, 5 sectors

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23.4/25

average Entity Recognition — AI knows who companies are but does not recommend them

AI Visibility Benchmark 2026 — GTM Signal Studio (2026)Sample: 50 companies

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law firms scored in the 6-20 range on citation — the split is binary: cited or invisible

AI Visibility: UK Law Firms 2026 — GTM Signal Studio (2026)Sample: 50 UK law firms

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21 pts

gap between cited (92.1) and uncited (70.7) law firms — driven entirely by citation presence

AI Visibility: UK Law Firms 2026 — GTM Signal Studio (2026)Sample: 50 UK law firms

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93.5 vs 72.3

specialist law firms outperform generalists on AI visibility — clear positioning wins

AI Visibility: UK Law Firms 2026 — GTM Signal Studio (2026)Sample: 50 UK law firms

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22.9 vs 21.6

uncited firms score HIGHER on content structure — proving site quality alone does not drive AI citation

AI Visibility: UK Law Firms 2026 — GTM Signal Studio (2026)Sample: 50 UK law firms

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EXTERNAL DATA

AI Adoption in B2B Buying

How many B2B buyers are using AI during their purchasing process.

94%

of B2B buyers use AI in their buying process

Forrester Buyers' Journey Survey (2025)Sample: 17,500 global buyers

View source ↗

47%

of enterprise buyers now start vendor research with AI tools — ahead of Google (43%)

Treble / Censuswide (2025)Sample: 300 CIOs, CISOs, CTOs, VPs

View source ↗

67%

of B2B buyers use AI search tools during purchase research — up from 24% in early 2024

KnewSearch (2026)

View source ↗

93%

of enterprise buyers use AI to summarise or compare vendors during evaluation

Treble / Censuswide (2025)Sample: 300 enterprise tech buyers

View source ↗

66%

of UK senior decision-makers use AI tools for supplier research

Magenta Associates (2025)Sample: 300 UK senior professionals

EXTERNAL DATA

How AI Changes the Buying Journey

Shortlists form faster, decisions happen earlier, and AI shapes who buyers consider.

95%

of winning vendors were already on the buyer's Day 1 shortlist

6sense Buyer Experience Report (2025)Sample: 4,000 B2B buyers

View source ↗

77-80%

win rate for the top-ranked vendor on the initial shortlist

6sense / Corporate Visions (2025)Sample: 4,000 B2B buyers

View source ↗

4 of 5

shortlist spots are filled on Day 1 — before any vendor contact

6sense Buyer Experience Report (2025)Sample: 4,000 B2B buyers

View source ↗

57%

of B2B buyers consider more or different vendors because of AI

Forrester Buyers' Journey Survey (2025)Sample: 17,500 global buyers

View source ↗

10.1 mo

average B2B buying cycle — down from 11.3 months year-over-year

6sense Buyer Experience Report (2025)Sample: 4,000 B2B buyers

View source ↗

67%

of B2B buyers prefer a rep-free buying experience

Gartner B2B Buyer Survey (2025)Sample: 646 buyers

View source ↗

EXTERNAL DATA

AI vs Google: The Divergence

AI platforms recommend different companies than Google. The overlap is smaller than most teams assume.

14%

URL overlap between AI Mode and Google's top 10 organic results

SE Ranking (2025)

View source ↗

40%

of AI Overview citations come from pages ranking OUTSIDE Google's top 10

Exposure Ninja (2025)

View source ↗

3.2x

more likely to be shortlisted if mentioned across all major AI platforms

KnewSearch (2026)

View source ↗

37%

of consumers now start searches with AI instead of Google

Search Engine Land / Yext (2026)

View source ↗

6.5x

more likely to be cited through third-party sources than your own domain

Position Digital (2026)

View source ↗

EXTERNAL DATA

Trust in AI Recommendations

Buyers trust AI but still verify. AI is a filter, not a closer.

90%

of B2B buyers who use AI trust the recommendations it provides

Magenta Associates (2025)Sample: 300 UK decision-makers

85%

of buyers still double-check AI answers elsewhere — Google (68%) is the primary validation channel

Yext / Search Engine Land (2026)

View source ↗

as many buyers named GenAI as a more meaningful source than ANY other source type

Forrester Buyers' Journey Survey (2025)Sample: 17,500 global buyers

View source ↗

60%

say AI delivers better, clearer answers than traditional search

Search Engine Land / Yext (2026)

View source ↗

EXTERNAL DATA

AI Search Traffic & Conversion

AI traffic is small but growing fast — and converts at 5x the rate of Google organic.

527%

year-over-year growth in AI search traffic

Previsible AI Traffic Report (2025)Sample: 19 GA4 properties

View source ↗

14.2% vs 2.8%

AI search traffic converts at 5x the rate of Google organic

Warmly / Yotpo (2026)

View source ↗

68%

more time spent on websites by AI-referred visitors vs traditional organic

SE Ranking / PassionFruit (2025)

View source ↗

5% → 30%

AI went from 5% to 30% of inbound demo requests in 2 months at one B2B company

Warmly (first-party data) (2026)

View source ↗

85%

of 25-34 year olds use AI for supplier research vs 23% of 55-64 year olds

Magenta Associates (2025)Sample: 300 UK decision-makers

METHODOLOGY

How we collect and verify this data

Original research: GSS stats come from our AI Visibility Framework — a 4-dimension scoring system (Citation Presence, Entity Recognition, Content Structure, Citation Breadth) applied using our multi-API scanner across Google AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other AI platforms. Full methodology is published with every study.

External data: Every external stat includes its source, year, and sample size where available. We link directly to the original source. We do not include stats from secondary compilations unless we can verify the original study.

Updates: This page is updated as we publish new benchmark studies and as significant new external research becomes available. Last updated March 2026.

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