B2B brands lose visibility in AI‑driven search answers

A Forrester‑cited study shows that 94 % of B2B decision‑makers now use AI systems such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot to source suppliers. When queried, these models mention only a handful of brands, leaving many manufacturers invisible to potential buyers.

The research tested 62 industrial firms with 12 250 AI‑generated answers to neutral category questions. Across the responses, the average share of voice for a brand was just 6.6 %, with the top performer reaching only 17.2 %. Typically, an answer lists about nine brands, of which three to five appear in the tighter selection. The study also found that competitors often dominate a company's own query results, and that AI answers draw from third‑party sources rather than the queried company's website.

The findings highlight a new marketing challenge: firms must make product data, catalogs and documentation machine‑readable and accessible online so AI can retrieve and cite them. Improving AI visibility is now a critical lever for B2B manufacturers seeking early engagement in the procurement process.