Your next client may have shortlisted you before they ever visit your website. More buyers now ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Google's AI Mode for recommendations, and AI search for B2B purchases is quickly becoming the first step rather than an afterthought. If those tools cannot find clear, consistent facts about you, you will not make the list.
The new shortlist: AI search for B2B buyers
The old route was a Google search, ten blue links and a few website visits. The new route is often a conversation: "Which IT support companies in Essex work with manufacturers of around 50 staff?" followed by "Which of those have good reviews?"
The data points the same way. In G2's survey of 1,076 B2B software buyers, published in April 2026, 51% said they now start research with an AI chatbot more often than with Google, up from 29% the year before. 69% said they had chosen a different vendor than planned because of a chatbot's recommendation, and G2 found AI chatbots had become the top source influencing shortlists. That research covers software buyers rather than UK services specifically, but the direction of travel is hard to ignore.
Google is moving the same way. AI Mode launched in the UK in July 2025, and Google said in May 2026 that it had passed one billion monthly users worldwide.
What AI tools look for
AI assistants do not "rank" you in the way a traditional search engine does. They pull together what is said about you across the web and summarise it. Three things make that summary work in your favour.
Consistent facts
Your company name, address, phone number, services and sectors should match everywhere: your website, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn, Companies House and directories. Conflicting details make you look less certain, to people and machines alike.
Third-party reviews
What others say about you carries more weight than what you say about yourself. Google reviews, sector directories and mentions on partner or client websites all count. Make sure any reviews you collect are genuine and fairly presented; our article on fake reviews and the DMCC Act explains the rules.
Specific proof
"We deliver results" gives an AI nothing to repeat. A line such as "Cut quote turnaround from five days to one for a 40-person engineering firm" does. Specific sectors, locations, timescales and outcomes are what get quoted.
Five fixes to get on the AI shortlist
- Make your name, address and phone number consistent, and complete your Google Business Profile. Choose your services and categories carefully, add photos, write a clear description and keep opening hours up to date. Google's own guidance on AI features asks businesses to keep this information current.
- Create one service page per offer. A single "Services" page listing everything is hard for anyone to summarise. Give each core service its own page that explains who it is for, what is included, how it works and what it typically costs or how pricing is set.
- Add FAQs that match real buyer questions. Ask your sales team for the ten questions they hear most. Answer each in two or three sentences on the relevant service page. This is the format AI tools find easiest to lift.
- Publish case studies with numbers. Name the sector, the problem, what you did and the measurable outcome. Get client sign-off and, ideally, a quote. See case studies that sell for a simple structure.
- Add accurate schema markup. Organisation, local business, service and FAQ markup help search engines understand your pages. Google says no special schema is needed for its AI features, so keep it accurate and matched to what is visible on the page rather than treating it as a trick.
None of this is new. It is simply good website practice that now pays off twice: once with human visitors and once with the tools that brief them. If your website makes these fixes hard, it may be time for a rebuild; see our website design service.
Measure it
AI tools rarely send tidy referral data, so you need to look at a few signals together:
- Branded search. In Google Search Console, track searches that include your company name. If more people are hearing about you elsewhere, this tends to rise.
- Direct traffic and AI referrals. In your analytics, watch direct visits and any referrals from chatgpt.com, gemini.google.com or perplexity.ai.
- "How did you hear about us?" Add this as a required field on your enquiry form, with an option for "AI assistant (ChatGPT, Gemini etc.)". Ask it on discovery calls too and record the answer in your CRM.
Review these monthly. Over a quarter, you will get a clear sense of whether your visibility in AI answers is growing.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find out if ChatGPT recommends my business?
Ask it the questions your buyers would ask, such as "best [service] providers in [area] for [sector]", in a fresh chat. Try the same in Gemini and Google's AI Mode. Note who appears and what is said, and repeat monthly.
Is AI search optimisation different from SEO?
Mostly not. Clear service pages, consistent business details, reviews and specific proof help both. The main shift is that third-party mentions and quotable facts matter even more.
How long does it take to show up in AI answers?
There is no fixed timescale. Fixes to your own website can be picked up as soon as pages are recrawled, while reviews and third-party mentions build over months.
Find out what AI tools see
Start with a free website audit. We will check your service pages, business details, proof points and structured data, and show you what to fix first so buyers and AI tools can see why you belong on the shortlist.
