G2 CEO: B2B spends $40 on search for every $1 on winning AI answers
prasanna_says · x · 2026-10-29
Godard Abel, co-founder and CEO of G2, citing consensus from G2's Executive Advisory Board: most B2B companies spend $1 on winning AI answers (AEO) for every $40 on search (SEO/SEM) — a split that must change fast. Agentic buying is here, and winning the AI answer is now a go-to-market priority, not a marketing experiment.
His recommended moves:
- Fix the prompt problem: track the prompts buyers actually type, not your own category language; ask every inbound lead "what prompt did you use?" — 100 real prompts will reshape your content plan.
- Solve the evidence problem: 85% of AI citations come from third-party sources; specific, verified, fresh peer evidence beats volume.
- Reallocate budget: move the search-to-AEO split from 98/2 today to 85/15 next year.
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