Something interesting happened in a client meeting last week.

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Their sales team was buzzing. Prospects were starting to come to first calls already understanding the product, having done their research, and asking specific questions about implementation.

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"These are the best leads we've had," the sales director said. "They're not kicking tyres. They're genuinely ready to buy. We're spending time on real conversations about fit, not basic education."

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This wasn’t something we changed overnight. It’s taken the last nine months to change the customer journey so that when potential buyers start their journey at the very top of the funnel (solution unaware), they are finding content about this brand, written by the brand but also other influential voices. It builds trust. We’ve then built out more detail that they can find on the website - interactive demo, video testimonials, white page checklists to share with their team…

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The result of all this hard slog is that it has changed how buyers are researching before they reach out.

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Welcome to B2B buying in 2026. Your prospects are using AI to do the heavy lifting on research, comparisons, and initial evaluation. By the time they want to make contact, they're warm, qualified, and often ready to make a decision.

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This is the shift from lead gen to demand gen playing out in real time. And if your marketing hasn't adapted to this change, you're either drowning in unqualified leads or wondering where all the good opportunities went.

The zero-click problem (and why your SEO strategy needs rethinking)

Remember when SEO was about ranking on page one of Google? Get that coveted top spot and you'd get the traffic, right?

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That playbook is breaking.

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Here's what's happening: your potential customers are typing questions into ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, or even Google's AI overviews. They're getting comprehensive answers without ever clicking through to your website.

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Zero clicks. Zero opportunity for you to build trust, demonstrate expertise, or guide them towards a conversation.

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We're seeing this across the B2B businesses we work with. Organic traffic is down, but deal sizes and close rates are up for the deals they do get. Why? Because buyers are doing more research independently, and by the time they reach out, they're further along in their decision-making.

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What this actually means for you:

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Traditional SEO isn't dead, but its role has changed. You're no longer just optimising for rankings. You're optimising to be the source that AI tools reference and recommend.

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That means:

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• Creating genuinely useful, authoritative content that AI models can pull from
• Being crystal clear about what problems you solve and who you're for
• Having real expertise and point of view, not just keyword-optimised fluff
• Building authority through partnerships, mentions, and credibility signals that AI can verify

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Think about it like this: you're not just competing for attention anymore. You're competing to be the answer that AI gives when someone asks about solutions in your space.

The paradox: more informed but more confused

Here's the weird thing we're seeing: buyers are arriving more educated than ever, but also more overwhelmed.

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They've read dozens of blog posts, watched comparison videos, digested AI-generated summaries of reviews. They know the features. They understand the landscape.

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But they're struggling to make a decision.

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Why? Because AI is excellent at providing information but terrible at providing clarity. It'll give you 10 options with detailed pros and cons. But it won't tell you which one is right for you.

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That's where the opportunity lies.

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The businesses winning right now aren't the ones with the most content. They're the ones helping buyers cut through the noise and understand what matters for their specific situation.

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This is showing up in a few ways:

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Positioning matters more than ever. When everything is a Google search away, differentiation isn't about features. It's about having a clear point of view. If you sit on the fence and try to appeal to everyone, you blend into the crowd of AI-generated recommendations.

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One of our fintech clients spent three months getting crystal clear on their positioning. Not "payment solutions for everyone" but "the payment platform for SaaS companies scaling internationally who need compliant, multi-currency subscriptions." Specific. Opinionated. Easy for both AI and humans to understand when it's right for them.

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Content that actually helps people decide beats content that just informs. The "complete guide to [topic]" posts that worked for SEO don't cut through anymore. Everyone has those. AI can generate them in seconds.

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What works is content that takes a position. That helps your specific ICP understand their specific decision. That shows you understand their world.

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Think fewer "what is X" posts and more "here's when X makes sense for companies like yours, and when it doesn't."

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Conversation becomes more valuable, not less. This surprises people. If buyers can research everything themselves, surely they need less hand-holding?

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Actually the opposite. They need help making sense of everything they've learned. They need someone who understands their situation to help them navigate the options.

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The sales calls might start later, but they're more important than ever.

What AI can't replicate (and why that matters)

Last week I wrote about the shift to ambassador marketing. This connects directly.

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AI can summarise information. It can compare features. It can even synthesise reviews and feedback.

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But it can't replicate genuine advocacy from people your buyers trust.

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When someone in your target market says "we use this and it's brilliant for [specific use case]," that carries weight that no amount of AI-generated content can match.

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This is why we're seeing:

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Personal brands becoming more important. Your buyers trust people more than companies. If your founders, your team, your customers are sharing real insights and experiences, that cuts through in ways corporate content can't.

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Community and peer recommendations mattering more. AI might tell me the top 5 options. But if three people I trust recommend one of them, that's my decision made.

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Case studies and customer stories becoming critical. Not the polished marketing ones. The messy, honest "here's what we were struggling with and how this actually helped" stories. These are what AI can reference but can't replicate.

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This is why the businesses focusing on relationship-based growth are winning. Quality over quantity. Depth over breadth. Real advocacy over paid ads.

The new role of content in an AI-first world

So if AI is answering questions and buyers are doing their own research, what's the point of creating content?

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Your content strategy needs to shift from "attract and inform" to "position and guide."

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Here's what that looks like:

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Create content AI can reference and recommend. This means genuinely useful, authoritative content. Research. Data. Frameworks. Perspectives. The stuff that AI tools want to cite because it's credible.

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Have a clear point of view. Generic content gets lost. Strong opinions (backed by experience and data) stand out. AI is more likely to surface content that takes a stance than content that tries to please everyone.

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Focus on the decision, not just the information. Help people understand not just what the options are, but how to think about choosing between them for their specific situation.

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Build credibility signals that AI can verify. Partnerships with recognised brands. Mentions in industry publications. Speaking at relevant events. Customer logos that mean something. These help AI determine that you're a legitimate, trustworthy source.

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Optimise for the questions people are actually asking AI. Not just keyword research anymore. What questions are your buyers typing into ChatGPT? What problems are they trying to solve? Make sure you're answering those clearly and authoritatively.

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One of our SaaS clients started publishing monthly research reports specific to their niche. Nothing fancy, just data and insights from their platform. Within six months, AI tools were consistently referencing their reports when people asked questions in their space. Traffic dropped but inbound deal quality skyrocketed.

What to actually do about this

This all sounds like a lot. But you don't need to rebuild your entire marketing strategy overnight.

Here's where I'd start:

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This week: Ask your sales team what's changing. Are prospects more informed when they first reach out? What questions are they asking? What do they already know? This will tell you how AI is affecting your specific buying journey.

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This month: Audit what AI says about you. Literally go to ChatGPT and ask it about solutions in your space. Does it mention you? What does it say? Is the information accurate? This is your baseline.

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This quarter: Pick one area where you can be definitively useful. Not everything. One problem, one audience, one clear answer. Create content that actually helps people make a decision. Make it the best resource on that specific topic.

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This year: Build the credibility signals that matter. Strategic partnerships. Customer advocacy. Industry presence. The things that tell both AI and humans that you're a legitimate player in your space.

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And through all of this, remember: the fundamentals haven't changed. AI has just made them more important.

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Understanding your customers deeply. Having a clear position. Creating genuine value. Building real relationships.

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These are the things AI can't replicate. And they're exactly what buyers need more of now that they're drowning in AI-generated information.

The businesses that will win

The pattern I'm seeing is clear.

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The businesses struggling are the ones trying to game the AI algorithms or create more content faster. They're treating AI as another channel to optimise for.

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The businesses winning are the ones using AI's rise as an opportunity to get back to fundamentals:

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• Being genuinely useful, not just visible
• Having clear points of view, not bland positioning
• Building real relationships, not just generating leads
• Creating quality over quantity
• Helping buyers make decisions, not just providing information

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AI has changed the game. But it hasn't changed what actually matters.

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Your buyers might be researching with AI, but they're still buying from people they trust. They're still choosing brands that understand their problems. They're still valuing expertise and guidance over generic information.

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The opportunity is to be the business that provides what AI can't: clarity, specificity, genuine understanding, and real relationships.

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What are you seeing change in how your buyers research and make decisions? Drop me an email and let me know. I'm genuinely curious how this is playing out across different sectors.

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P.S. If you want to understand how AI is specifically affecting your business, start by asking your last five customers: "How did you research solutions before talking to us? What tools did you use? What helped you make the decision?" The answers will tell you everything you need to know about where to focus.