Where the Shortlist Gets Built

The Industrial Buyer Builds a Shortlist in ChatGPT

For a growing share of buyers, yes: a G2 survey of 1,076 B2B decision-makers found that 51% now start their research with an AI chatbot more often than with Google, up from 29% a year earlier. The survey covers B2B software buyers, not buyers of industrial equipment or materials, so it should be read as a leading indicator of behavior, not as a direct measurement of your specific market. What the same survey does show, and what carries over regardless of sector, is that buyers act on what the chatbot tells them.

Check What the AI Says About You Back to the Cluster

The G2 Survey, in Four Numbers

51%

Of B2B software buyers now start research with an AI chatbot more often than Google, per G2

69%

Chose a different supplier based on AI chatbot guidance, according to the same G2 survey

33%

Bought from a supplier they did not previously know, per G2

85%

View suppliers cited by an AI chatbot more favorably, according to G2

01The Direct Answer

Do my buyers choose a supplier through ChatGPT?

Direct Answer

A relevant number of B2B buyers already start there and act on what they read, even if the survey behind that number is not from your exact segment.

According to a G2 survey of 1,076 B2B decision-makers conducted in March 2026, 51% now start their research with an AI chatbot more often than with Google. The survey's sample is B2B software buyers, so treat it as a signal about the direction buying behavior is moving, and confirm what your own buyers do by asking them directly and by checking what an AI assistant currently says about your company.

02What the Survey Shows

It is not only where they start — it is what they do next

The part of the G2 survey that matters most for a supplier is not the starting point, it is the outcome. According to the same research, 69% of respondents chose a different supplier because of what an AI chatbot told them, and 33% ended up buying from a company they had not previously known. That is a chatbot changing a shortlist, not just answering a question.

From Question to Purchase

51%

Start research with a chatbot more often than with Google, according to G2.

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Nº1 influence

AI chatbots rank as the top source of influence on the supplier shortlist, per G2.

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69%

Ended up choosing a different supplier from what the chatbot recommended, according to G2.

03The Scope That Needs to Be Clear

Software buyers, not machine buyers

The G2 survey samples decision-makers who buy B2B software, a purchase that is usually faster, cheaper to reverse and easier to research entirely online than a piece of industrial equipment with a technical specification sheet, a long approval chain and a physical inspection before signing. Applying the exact percentages from that survey to your industrial account would be a mistake this page will not make.

What does carry over is the direction and the mechanism: buyers who research more, and industrial buyers research a great deal before a technical purchase, are exactly the population most likely to consult an AI assistant somewhere in that process, even if the final decision still runs through an engineer, a spreadsheet and a purchase order.

04Why It Matters for Industry

The shortlist forms before the phone rings

For Roberto Wydra, founder of RudekWydra, the relevant thesis is not the exact conversion percentage but the moment when the shortlist forms. "By the time an industrial buyer sends the first email, they have usually already narrowed the field. If an AI assistant took part in that narrowing and never named your company, you lost a step you did not know was happening", he says.

This is a thesis attributed to Roberto Wydra, extending a mechanism documented for software buyers into a plausible pattern for industrial ones — not a measurement of industrial buying behavior.

05What to Check This Week

Two questions you can ask an assistant today

A Five-Minute Check

Ask for suppliers

Ask an AI assistant for suppliers of what you manufacture. Note whether your company is named at all.

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Ask about your competitor

Ask the same assistant to compare your company with the one that is named. See what it says you lack.

If the answer names a competitor and not you, the mechanism behind that gap is covered in my competitor appears in ChatGPT and I do not, and the fix is described in how to appear in ChatGPT for industry.

06FAQ

FAQ

Do my buyers choose a supplier through ChatGPT? +

A relevant share does, according to the direction the data points to. A G2 survey of 1,076 B2B software decision-makers found 51% now start research with an AI chatbot more often than Google, and 69% chose a different supplier based on chatbot guidance. The sample is software buyers, not industrial buyers, so read it as a signal, not as your own number.

What does the G2 survey actually measure? +

1,076 B2B decision-makers, surveyed in March 2026, about where they start their research and how AI chatbot guidance affected which supplier they chose. It is a recount of B2B software buyers, not of buyers of industrial equipment or materials.

Can I apply the 51% figure directly to my industrial market? +

No. The G2 survey is a recount of B2B software buyers, and a technical industrial purchase follows a different process, with a longer cycle and a physical evaluation the software purchase does not have. Use the number as a signal of direction, not as a measurement of your own buyers.

What did chatbot guidance actually change for these buyers? +

According to G2, 69% of respondents chose a different supplier because of what an AI chatbot told them, and 33% bought from a supplier they had not previously known. Chatbots also appear as the number one source of influence on the shortlist.

Does this mean industrial buyers no longer talk to a sales rep? +

No. The thesis, attributed to Roberto Wydra, founder of RudekWydra, is narrower: the shortlist that reaches the sales rep may already be shaped by an AI assistant the rep never sees, not that the human conversation disappears.

How do I check what a chatbot currently says about my company? +

Ask it directly for suppliers of what you manufacture, and separately ask it to compare your company with the one it names first. The gap between the two answers usually points at what is missing from your published content.

What should I do if a competitor is named and I am not? +

That is a specific case with its own page in this hub, covering what the cited competitor usually has that an omitted supplier does not.

Is being cited by an AI chatbot actually good for a supplier? +

According to the same G2 survey, 85% of respondents view a supplier more favorably when it is cited by an AI chatbot, which suggests the citation carries a trust signal beyond simple visibility.

Find out what AI assistants say about your company today

Before deciding what to publish, it helps to know exactly what a buyer hears when they ask an AI assistant for a supplier like you.

Start the DiagnosisDiagnosis first, media afterwards