Winning B2B Consideration

B2B buyers can form opinions about a company long before they make a formal search or speak to a sales team.

This early stage is sometimes described as Day Zero. It covers everything potential buyers learn about a brand before the official research process begins.

The rise of AI search is making this stage even more important. Buyers can now use tools such as ChatGPT and other large language models to research markets, compare providers and narrow down their options before contacting a company.

For B2B businesses, this means being visible in search is no longer enough. A brand also needs to be recognised and trusted before buyers start actively comparing suppliers.

AI Is Changing the B2B Research Process

Traditional search still plays an important role in B2B research, but buyers are increasingly using AI tools alongside it.

Research from 6sense found that 94% of B2B buyers use large language models during their research.

AI can make it much quicker to move from identifying a problem to creating a shortlist of potential suppliers. Instead of visiting dozens of websites, buyers can ask an AI tool to summarise the market and suggest suitable options.

B2B decisions also rarely involve one person.

Different members of a buying group may research the same solution independently. A finance team may focus on costs and return on investment, while IT looks at security and integration. The people who will actually use the product may be more interested in practical performance.

Each person can therefore develop an opinion before the group officially discusses its options.

Day Zero Can Shape the Shortlist

The information a buyer encounters before formal research can influence which companies eventually make the shortlist.

This could include previous experiences, industry research, recommendations from colleagues, vendor content, product information and information found through AI tools.

By the time a buying group starts its tracked buyer journey, some members may already have preferred suppliers in mind.

Research cited in the original analysis suggests that 95% of deals go to a vendor that was already included on the initial shortlist.

This makes early brand visibility particularly important.

A company that only starts focusing on AI search visibility once a buyer is actively researching may already be competing for a position that has effectively been decided.

Why AEO Is Only Part of the Picture

Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) is becoming an important part of digital marketing as more people use AI to find information.

However, AEO has limitations.

AI systems need to understand and accurately describe a company before they can recommend it. This means content needs to contain clear information about what a business does, who it serves and how its products or services differ.

Google has also stated that its generative search features are built on its existing search ranking and quality systems. This means traditional SEO fundamentals still matter.

Clear content, useful information and consistent descriptions remain important even when the final search experience looks very different.

AEO itself is also still developing. Techniques that appear to work today may change as AI platforms update their systems.

That makes it risky to rely entirely on one particular optimisation tactic.

Three Ways to Build Day Zero Visibility

There are three areas businesses can focus on when trying to influence buyers before formal research begins.

1. Create Content Around Buyer Questions

Strong brand authority starts with content that genuinely helps potential customers.

Rather than creating articles purely around keywords, businesses can focus on the questions and problems their buyers actually face.

Useful content might include original research, practical guides, industry analysis, data-led reports and detailed answers to common questions.

This type of content can help establish a business as a knowledgeable source within its industry.

It can also give AI systems useful information to draw from when answering related questions.

The quality of the content matters. It should provide original information, clear explanations and practical value rather than simply repeating material already available elsewhere.

Useful measures include:

Repeat visitors and time on page: Returning readers and longer engagement can indicate that people are finding the content useful.
Branded searches: An increase in searches for the company’s name can indicate growing awareness.

2. Build Trust Across the Buying Group

Reaching one person within a target company is not necessarily enough.

Different stakeholders need different types of evidence before they are comfortable supporting a purchase.

For example, a finance director may want pricing information and evidence of return on investment. An IT manager may need security documentation and technical specifications. An operational team may want to see how the product works in real-world situations.

Creating one generic piece of content for everyone can leave important questions unanswered.

Instead, businesses should identify the concerns of each stakeholder involved in the buying decision and provide specific information for those needs.

The aim is not simply to produce more content. It is to create useful resources that different members of a buying group can use when assessing the company.

Useful measures include:

Number of roles reached within an account: This can show whether content is reaching several stakeholders or just one contact.
Repeat engagement from the same company: Multiple people or repeated visits from the same organisation can indicate continued interest during the research process.

3. Make Your Brand Easy for AI to Understand

An AI system needs enough reliable information to explain what a company does.

One practical way to test this is to ask AI tools the same questions that potential customers might ask.

For example, a business selling manufacturing software could test questions such as:

“What are the best predictive maintenance tools for manufacturers?”

or:

“How can manufacturers reduce unplanned downtime?”

Businesses should record whether their brand appears, how it is described and which competitors are mentioned instead.

This can reveal two important problems.

The first is that the company may not appear at all.

The second is that the AI may mention the company but describe its products or services incorrectly.

Incorrect descriptions should be addressed quickly because they can influence how potential customers understand the brand.

Businesses can review their own website, particularly important product, service and pricing pages, to make sure the information is clear and consistent.

Structured data can also help search systems understand important details about a website.

Useful measures include:

AI share of voice: Track how frequently the brand appears when a consistent set of buyer questions is tested.
Citation accuracy: Check whether AI tools describe the company’s products and capabilities correctly.

Day Zero Starts Before the Search

The biggest change brought by AI search is not simply another place for businesses to appear.

It is the fact that buyers can form opinions before companies know they are being considered.

Traditional analytics can show website visits, search traffic and enquiries. They do not necessarily show every conversation happening inside an AI tool or every discussion taking place between members of a buying group.

This makes brand authority and useful content increasingly important.

A company that is already recognised and trusted has a stronger foundation when formal research begins.

AEO Should Support the Wider Strategy

AEO can help determine how a company appears when buyers use AI search tools.

But being mentioned in an AI answer is only one part of the process.

Businesses also need to think about what buyers already know about them, whether the information available online is accurate and whether different stakeholders can find the evidence they need.

The goal should therefore be broader than simply securing AI citations.

Companies should build a consistent presence across their website, industry publications, review platforms and other sources that potential buyers may use before making a decision.

Key Takeaways

The B2B buying journey increasingly starts before the first formal search.

AI tools are helping buyers research markets more quickly, while buying groups allow several stakeholders to form opinions independently.

For businesses, this creates three clear priorities:

Build authority early: Create original and useful content that answers genuine buyer questions.
Reach the whole buying group: Give different stakeholders the specific evidence they need to evaluate a solution.
Improve AI visibility: Regularly check how AI tools describe the brand and correct inaccurate or missing information.

AEO can help a business appear in AI-generated answers, but the groundwork starts much earlier. The brands that build awareness and trust before buyers begin their formal research are better positioned to be considered when the shortlist is created.