Half of B2B software buyers now start vendor research in AI chatbots more often than on Google. G2's survey of 1,076 B2B decision-makers across North America, EMEA and APAC, released in April, puts the figure at 51%, up from 29% only eleven months earlier. MarketScale reported on July 9 that the shift has now reached the middle of the sales funnel, where vendor comparisons happen inside AI tools instead of on vendor websites.
The numbers behind the shift
The G2 data describes a buying process that has quietly moved surfaces:
- 71% of buyers rely on AI chatbots for software research
- ChatGPT dominates with 63% of that usage
- 69% chose a different vendor than they initially planned because of AI guidance
- 33% bought from a vendor they had never heard of before the AI surfaced it
- 45% say review citations give them the most confidence in an AI recommendation
MarketScale adds figures from 6sense's Buyer Experience Report: 94% of B2B buyers use large language models somewhere in the purchase process, and 80% of technology buyers use generative AI as much as or more than traditional search.
G2 chief innovation officer Tim Sanders describes the change as a move "from reference to inference": buyers no longer gather sources and synthesize them, they ask the chatbot for the shortlist.
Why it matters
The shortlist is being written before you ever see the buyer. When 69% of buyers change direction based on AI guidance and a third buy from vendors they did not previously know, absence from AI answers is not a visibility problem, it is a revenue problem. The old playbook assumed buyers would find your comparison page. The new one requires the AI engines to know you exist and have something citable to say about you.
What to do about it
Start by asking ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini the questions your buyers ask, and note who gets named. If it is not you, the fix is a distribution problem: AI engines cite sources, so you need to be present on the pages they pull from, from review platforms to industry listicles. We wrote a step-by-step guide on how to get AI to recommend your business, and our roundup of the best AI SEO tools covers what to automate first. The 45% confidence number also means your review profiles are now sales assets, keep them current.