The AI Disruption to Search: What It Means for B2B Marketing

The AI Disruption to Search: What It Means for B2B Marketing

Raise your hand if ChatGPT is now running your life.

Same here. I use it all the time: at work, to plan meals, even to help my 6th grader with math homework. But I still use Google, too. I’m probably 50/50 right now. The balance is shifting fast though, and AI is set to take over traditional search by the end of the year.

That raises a big question: What does this really mean for B2B marketing?

Why this matters in B2B

Here’s the truth: In our world, search has never been the main growth engine. Most B2B companies don’t see a steady stream of qualified leads from organic traffic. Instead, the pipeline comes from account-based marketing, paid campaigns, and direct outreach.

Websites still matter. A lot. They’re where buyers go to check your credibility, confirm you’re legitimate, and evaluate your expertise. But they haven’t been the first touchpoint for generating revenue.

That’s why the “SEO is dead” headlines feel a little dramatic. What’s really happening is this: You now need to make sure your content is easy for both people and machines to understand.

How websites need to adapt

If you’re building or refreshing a site, you should be thinking about AI from day one. That means:

• Adding schema markup so engines like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot can parse your content
• Making sure bots like GPTBot and PerplexityBot can crawl the right pages
• Using Q&A blocks and pull quotes since AI tools love citing them

The goal isn’t to outsmart AI. It’s to make sure when a buyer asks a question, your expertise is structured in a way that gets surfaced in the answer.

Writing for two audiences

The new reality is that content has to work for both humans and machines.

For humans, that means stories, context, and emotional connection. Think case studies, examples, and thought-leadership pieces that buyers actually want to read.

For machines, that means structure. Short sections, lists, glossary terms, and direct answers that AI tools can easily summarize and cite.

Here’s a simple example. Let’s say a manufacturing CFO is looking for ways to cut costs. She might ask ChatGPT, “What’s the best approach to improve efficiency in industrial automation?” If your competitor’s content is structured for AI visibility and yours isn’t, their name shows up. Yours doesn’t. And you never even know the opportunity was lost.

Measuring what matters

Rankings and click-throughs still tell part of the story, but they’re no longer enough. Now we’re also looking at:

• How often your brand appears in AI answers (Share of Prompt)
• Whether your content is credited when cited (AI Citation Rate)
• If your frameworks are being paraphrased without attribution (Attribution Fidelity)
• Referral traffic from AI engines in GA4

This gives us a clearer picture of whether you’re part of the conversation buyers are having with AI, even before they visit your site.

A quick glossary

• • SEO: Traditional search optimization to improve rankings
  • AEO: Answer Engine Optimization for direct answers, snippets, and voice
  • LLMO: Large Language Model Optimization to ensure your content is trustworthy and citable by AI
  • ABM: Account-Based Marketing, targeting the right accounts with the right message

FAQs

Does SEO still matter in B2B?
Yes, but not on its own. SEO works best when paired with AEO and LLMO so your expertise shows up in AI-generated answers.

What’s the biggest risk if we ignore AI search?
Your competitors could become the trusted source in AI answers while your name disappears. That CFO researching automation might only see them, not you.

What’s the fastest way to check if we’re showing up?
Open ChatGPT or Perplexity and ask what your company does best. Then ask who your competitors are. If you don’t like the answers, or you’re not in them, that’s a visibility gap.

The bottom line

AI disruption doesn’t change the fact that growth in B2B still comes from targeted outreach with the right message to the right account at the right time.

What changes is the visibility layer on top of it. Buyers are asking AI tools for advice, and you need to be part of the answer.

And yes, this even applies to us. If you’re reading this, know that I wrote this blog for both of you: the human on the other side of the screen and the machine crawling the page. Wink.