Your next buyer is already researching vendors inside ChatGPT. Is your company showing up?
The Shift
The buyer journey moved. Most companies haven't
A few years ago, a B2B buyer researching vendors would Google the category, read a few blog posts, check G2, and build a list. That process still exists. But a new one is running alongside it.
Buyers are now walking into ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google Gemini and asking specific questions. Not abstract ones. Practical ones.
Who are the best marketing agencies for Series B SaaS companies?
Compare [Company A] vs [Company B] for a cybersecurity MSP
What do customers say about [Company X]?
Top B2B demand generation agencies for tech companies under 100 employees
If your positioning is unclear, your company either doesn't appear, or appears in a way that doesn't match what you actually do. Either way, you're not on the list.
These are shortlist-building queries. The buyer isn't browsing. They're narrowing down. And the AI is synthesizing an answer from everything it knows about your category, your competitors, and your company.
94%
of B2B buyers now use generative AI in their purchase process. (Forrester, 2026)
50%
of B2B software buyers start vendor research with AI chatbots. (G2, 2025)
1 in 3
B2B buyers ended up purchasing from a vendor they'd never heard of before, because an AI surfaced them. (Forrester, 2026)
That last number is worth sitting with. Zero prior brand awareness. Winning vendor. Because the AI surfaced them in response to a buyer's question. This isn't a prediction about where things are heading. It's already happening in your category.
Why this is a positioning problem
AI doesn't reward awareness. It rewards clarity
When a buyer asks an AI system who can solve their problem, the AI isn't ranking companies by brand recognition or ad spend. It's synthesizing information from dozens of sources and surfacing the companies whose messaging most clearly and consistently matches the buyer's question.
The brands that show up aren't necessarily the biggest or best known. They're the ones whose positioning is specific, consistent, and structured in a way AI systems can parse and trust.
Which means the companies that are invisible in AI search aren't invisible because of a technical problem. They're invisible because of a messaging problem.
Category drift
Feature-first messaging
ICP ambiguity
Open ChatGPT right now. Type:
"Who are the best [your category] for [your specific ICP]?"
If you appear:
Does the description match your positioning? Is it accurate?
If you don't appear:
Which competitors do? What do they have in common?
That answer is a diagnostic of your current positioning. Not your SEO. Not your ad spend. Your positioning.
What strong positioning does
The same work that made positioning valuable before AI makes it essential now.
Strong positioning doesn't just improve how you sound. In 2026, it determines whether you exist in the places your buyers are looking.
It makes you findable for the right question
Your homepage says one thing. Your LinkedIn says another. Your G2 profile says a third. When your positioning conflicts across surfaces, AI systems either hedge or omit you entirely. You can't win a shortlist you can't be consistently found in.
It creates a consistent signal across every surface
AI rewards content that connects a product to a specific outcome for a specific buyer. Generic language like "AI-powered platform" or "end-to-end solution" gets filtered as noise. If your homepage doesn't answer what you do, who it's for, and what changes for them in the first two sentences, the AI moves on.
It builds the trust that converts
"B2B SaaS" isn't an ICP. It's a category. When your ideal customer is defined that broadly, you're competing against every agency, tool, and consultancy in existence. AI treats you accordingly. Narrow, specific positioning isn't a limitation in AI search. It's a competitive advantage.
What Decoded does about it
This isn't a technical fix. It's a positioning fix
Most of the advice floating around about AI visibility focuses on technical optimization. Schema markup, structured data, prompt engineering. Those things can help at the margins. But they don't fix the underlying problem.
If your positioning is unclear, no amount of technical optimization will create the consistent, specific signal that AI systems need to surface and trust you. The foundation has to be right first.
That's the work Decoded does. We start with your message, because when that's clear, everything downstream gets easier. Including showing up when your next buyer asks an AI who can solve their problem.
Clarify the positioning
01
We run a Brand Messaging Workshop to lock your category label, define your ICP with specificity, and build the core narrative your company uses everywhere. One clear, consistent message that AI systems and human buyers can both parse immediately.
Build consistency across every surface
02
We audit how your company appears across your website, LinkedIn, G2, Capterra, review platforms, and third-party content. Then we close the gaps so every surface sends the same signal.
Create content that earns citation
03
Research from Princeton found that content with specific statistics gets cited by AI 30.6% more often. Content with named expert quotes gets cited 40.9% more often. We build content that's genuinely useful, specifically structured, and designed to be referenced, not just read.
Test and verify
04
We run queries across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google Gemini to see how your company is described, where you appear, and where your competitors are beating you. Then we build a plan to close those gaps
That's the work Decoded does. We start with your message, because when that's clear, everything downstream gets easier. Including showing up when your next buyer asks an AI who can solve their problem.
Questions and Answers
Common questions about AI visibility
The answers to the questions that matter most when your buyers are invisible.
Why isn't my company showing up in ChatGPT or Perplexity?
Usually it comes down to one of three things. Your positioning is too broad for AI to match you to a specific buyer's question. Your messaging is inconsistent across your website, LinkedIn, and review platforms, so AI systems can't build a clear picture of who you are. Or your content doesn't include the kind of specific, cited evidence that AI systems treat as trustworthy. Most of the time it's a combination of all three.
What is AI visibility and why does it matter for B2B companies?
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Is AI visibility the same as SEO?
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How do I know if my messaging is hurting my AI visibility?
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Do I need to hire a technical SEO specialist to fix this?
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What does Decoded actually do to improve AI visibility?
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How long does it take to see results?
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Research Report Download
The research is in. Here's what it says
We spent months pulling together the data on how AI systems surface and cite B2B brands, what the most-cited companies have in common, and where B2B buying behavior is heading.
The State of Brand Positioning in the Age of AI is a practical report for founders and marketing leaders at B2B tech companies who want to understand what's happening and what to do about it.
What the report covers:
How AI systems decide what to surface and why messaging is the determining factor
The five signals that drive AI citation, based on current research
The three positioning failures that make B2B brands invisible in AI search
The five moves that make your messaging AI-ready
Data from Forrester, G2, Princeton, and Omniscient Digital
Invite Kristin to Speak
Bring this conversation to your team or your stage
Kristin Spiotto has been advising B2B tech companies on brand positioning for over a decade. She now brings that work into the AI era, helping leadership teams, sales organizations, and conference audiences understand what the shift in buyer behavior means for their marketing and what to do about it.
Talk topics:
AI Visibility: Why your positioning determines whether buyers find you
The Messaging Problem Nobody Is Talking About: How weak positioning is costing B2B companies deals they never knew they lost
Brand Positioning for the AI Era: A practical framework for founders and GTM leaders
Formats:
Conference keynotes and breakout sessions
Sales kickoffs and go-to-market team workshops
Executive roundtables and board presentations
Podcast and media appearances
Your positioning is either working for you in AI search or it isn't. Find out which.
The Discovery Call is where we start. We'll look at how your company appears in AI search today, identify the gaps, and talk through what it would take to fix them.
No pitch. No pressure. Just a clear conversation about where you stand and what the path forward looks like.
