AI tools now sit at the start of the B2B buyer journey. ChatGPT passed one billion monthly users this summer, Google AI Overviews appear on nearly half of all searches (up from about a third a year ago), and Gemini is closing in on a billion monthly users of its own.
In this session, Geear CEO Chris Leone and SEO/GEO lead Nick D'Amato, moderated by Director of Business Development Kristin Harrison, explain how large language models (LLMs) find and recommend manufacturers, what live demos reveal about how they search, and how to measure visibility when clean attribution is no longer an option.
Key Takeaways
1. AI platforms are built to keep buyers on the platform.
Google spent two decades sending people to websites through clicks you could track. ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude want to answer the question themselves. That makes it harder to see how buyers find you and how much AI shapes their decision.
2. LLMs answer from memory first, then search the web.
An LLM pulls from its training data when it can. When a question is niche, local, or time-sensitive (pricing, new technology, a specific region), it searches the live web to fill the gap.
3. One prompt becomes several searches.
LLMs split a question into multiple sub-searches, a process called query fan-out. In a live demo, a question about cooling a hot warehouse sent ChatGPT to OSHA and CDC. A follow-up asking for an industrial fan installer in rural Virginia added Big Ass Fans to the search by name.
4. The goal is to become a consensus brand.
When an LLM already associates your brand with a product, it carries your name into its web search. A brewery canning line question in the demo surfaced Wild Goose Filling and American Canning by name. Your position in an AI answer is hard to predict from one prompt to the next. Whether you appear at all is much more consistent.
5. Product, capability, and application pages get cited most.
These are the pages most often cited for manufacturers, and LLMs may only visit one or two pages on your site. Include specs, throughput, service strengths, testimonials, and case studies. Add schema and write descriptive titles and URLs, since an LLM may decide whether to visit based on those alone.
6. Make conversion easy.
Organic traffic is down across the industry, so every visitor counts more. A May 2026 Gartner study found 69% of B2B buyers prefer to validate AI-generated insights with a sales rep. Make it obvious how to request a quote or reach your team.
7. Freshness counts.
In one report Geear reviewed, 75% of cited pages had been updated within the past year and 88% within two years. Small updates count: a new success story, a product change, a refreshed spec. Configure your CMS to show the date a page was last updated.
8. Off-site reputation is back in play.
85% of brand mentions in AI responses come from third-party sources, not the brand’s own website. Claim and populate directory and industry profiles, earn reviews, and pursue trade publication coverage. In one case, an LLM cited a Geear LinkedIn post over the same content on our website.
9. Change how you measure impact.
LLM referral data in Google Analytics is incomplete, and most AI influence never shows up as a click. Track these instead:
- AI citations and mentions across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude
- Branded search in Google Search Console (organic and paid)
10. Track AI visibility by segment, not by single prompts.
Tools like Gumshoe and HubSpot’s AEO tool run your prompts on a set schedule and show whether you or your competitors appear. Group prompts by persona and by product or topic. Results for a single prompt vary too much to trust.
Your 2027 Playbook
- Test: Run your key prompts through a query fan-out tool to see how LLMs search for your products.
- Track: Monitor AI visibility by persona and product, alongside branded search.
- Publish: Keep product, application, and case study pages fresh, specific, and full of what makes you different.
- Protect: Guard your conversion and engagement data, and keep investing in SEO.
Want to know where you stand today? Request a free GEO audit and get a baseline of your company’s AI visibility. See below.
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