Welcome to What We're Reading, a weekly rundown of news stories, marketing columns, and B2B industry news that caught our eye.

50% of buyers start with AI chatbots

New data shows that half of B2B buyers are starting their research by asking AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude — and 9 out of 10 buyers choose to shortlist the company in Position 1 of the chatbot’s recommendation. As Grit Daily points out, AI citations come from a wide range of public sources, including review platforms, LinkedIn pages, and community forums.

That means citations might be coming from outdated third-party information, but the chatbot presents it as fact. If you haven’t yet audited your online presence to see what AI search says about your company, now’s the time to start. It’s all part of revitalizing your online ecosystem to make sure it’s consistent with the brand image you want to put forward.

Demand gen playbooks for the post-AI era

While many marketers are excited about using AI to work more efficiently, some are still struggling to connect AI tools to their existing tech stack and build specialized internal AI skills. Demand Gen Report says it’s important to oversee AI adoption with human leadership and judgment.

Part of that is protecting the human work — the work that takes creativity, analysis, and expert insight — and automating the repetitive busywork. The other side is making sure your buyers feel seen and heard. That means using relevant, personalized outreach that delivers value to the buyer and builds trust in your brand.

‘Data Heroes’ in B2B marketing: What sets them apart?

A recent study identifies the top performing players in B2B marketing, which it calls Data Heroes. What sets them apart? According to MarketScale, it’s three things: data quality, buying group strategy, and data attribution. The research shows that a strong data foundation translates to better performance and several downstream benefits.

All that personalized, relevant, and valuable content we like to talk about should be informed by specific, granular data. While some of that work can be streamlined with AI, analysis and attribution should be overseen by a human who understands your customer base well enough to contextualize the data.

How does your brand show up in AI search?

It’s not always clear how chatbots gather and distill information about your brand into AI summaries, but there are steps you can take to ensure your B2B business shows up in a positive way. Read our blog to learn more.