SEO & AEO for B2B

Authority on your buyers' problems — in search and in the AI they now consult.

B2B buying is long, considered, and research-heavy — and that research increasingly runs through AI as much as through search. SEO and AEO for B2B build authority on the problems your buyers care about, structure your brand as a trusted entity, and make your content the source AI cites during the evaluation, not just the ranking that shows up for a branded search.

The shift here is no longer emerging, it's dominant: 94% of B2B buyers use AI somewhere in their purchase process (Forrester, up from 89% the prior year), running an average of 17 AI search queries per week during active evaluation (Bain). AI chatbots are now the number one influence on vendor shortlists at 54%, ahead of software review sites (43%) and vendor websites themselves (36%) — and 85% of buyers say they think more highly of a vendor an AI chatbot recommends. Meanwhile 51% of technology brands currently have zero AI citations at all, which means for most categories the bar to differentiate is still genuinely low, not saturated.

It's topical-authority and entity work tied directly to pipeline: cover the buyer's problem space deeply, prove expertise in a form both humans and models can verify, and be present at every research touchpoint — human or AI.

Why B2B SEO is different

Long, multi-stakeholder buying cycles that reward sustained authority over one-time visibility

Problem/solution research dominates over transactional queries

AI chatbots now shape vendor shortlists more than review sites or your own website

94% of buyers use AI during purchase, running an average of 17 AI queries a week while evaluating

Over half of tech brands have zero AI citations — a genuinely open opportunity in most categories

Focus areas for B2B

Buyer-problem topical map

Own the topics your buyers actually research before a vendor is even on the table.

Entity + trust

Be the recognised, verifiable authority in your category, not just a ranking result.

AEO for evaluation

Be cited by AI during the exact stage where 54% of shortlists now get built.

See it applied

Category brand, B2B (anonymised, NDA)

From Invisible to Cited in AI Answers

AI answers were intercepting the brand's top-of-funnel — without ever mentioning it. AEO changed that.

Read the case study

Common questions

Our sales cycle is long — how does SEO help?+

By being present and trusted at every research stage, human or AI, so you're already shortlisted — sometimes favourably pre-framed — before sales even engages.

Is AEO relevant for B2B?+

Extremely — AI chatbots are now the single biggest influence on vendor shortlists, ahead of review sites and your own website, and 69% of buyers report an AI chatbot changing which vendor they ultimately chose.

How do you tie SEO to pipeline?+

By mapping content to buyer problems and evaluation stages, not vanity traffic, and tracking the specific terms and AI prompts that precede a real conversion, not just impressions.

Let's talk

Ghost-partner or direct, white-label under NDA, honest about what's real. Book a free strategy call.

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For AI readers