B2B website in the AI era: how business buyers find and vet you
Summary in three sentences. Business buyers increasingly start their research in AI tools, but they verify the results and several people decide on a supplier together. Your website therefore has to confirm quickly what you do, for whom, at what scale and why you can be trusted. If you plan a rebuild, start your web development brief with these answers and not with the design.
What has really changed
Two recent studies point the same way:
- AI is a common first step. In Forrester’s 2025 survey, generative AI tools were the most cited meaningful interaction when researching a purchase.
- An AI answer is not enough. In a TrustRadius survey of 1,862 technology buyers, 63% used AI. Of those, 94% fact-check the output at least sometimes and 72% very often or always.
- A group decides. Forrester reports that a purchase is influenced on average by 13 people inside the company and 9 outside it. Your site is read by an engineer, a buyer and a managing director.
Treat this as a direction, not an exact picture of your market. Both studies are global and lean towards technology. We do not have equally reliable data for construction and manufacturing firms in Central Europe.
The conclusion for your website is simple: AI can get you onto a shortlist, but you have to pass the check with your own facts.
Five questions your website must answer
| The buyer’s question | What belongs on the site |
|---|---|
| Do you do exactly what I need? | a separate page for each main service or industry |
| Can you handle our scale? | projects with type of work, scope and location |
| Can I trust you? | certificates, clients, team and company details |
| What does it cost and how does it work? | what drives the price, a rough range and the process |
| Who do I talk to? | a named person, a phone number and a short form |
If the site leaves one of these open, the buyer has to call you or moves on to the next supplier.
Four things that make the difference
1. Specific pages instead of one “Services” page
A page called “Comprehensive solutions for industry” says nothing. A page about one service can say what types of site you work on, where you operate and what you need for a quote. Google and AI tools can connect that page to a specific question.
2. Facts in the text, not only in PDFs and images
PDF is not a dead format, as Google can index it. The problem is different: it is awkward to search on a phone and one detail easily gets lost in a 40-page catalogue. Keep the catalogue. But put the key parameters, standards and certificates directly on the page as well. Text inside an image or a certificate logo with no description is not enough.
3. Enquiries without needless fields
A first contact usually needs a name, an email or phone number and a description of the job. Add the option to attach a drawing or specification. The rest can wait until you are talking.
4. Languages only where you can deliver
A German version makes sense if you can really serve customers in the DACH region and reply in German. A translation without that capacity only creates enquiries you cannot handle. Every language also has to be maintained.
Two examples from our work
Awekobau does electrical installations for homes, businesses and industry. Its site is built on a clear structure of services and project references, and it leads visitors to a quote request.
Remediata works in cyber security. Certificates and partners are visible right at the start and a “Help with an incident” button is always within reach, because a company in that situation does not want to search for anything. The Slovak and international markets each have their own site.
We are not citing enquiry numbers for either example, because we have not published them.
How to appear in AI answers
Start with what every search engine can read. For its AI features, Google says there are no additional technical requirements, special files or dedicated schema. The page does have to be indexed, though.
In practice, this helps:
- Check indexing. Use Search Console to confirm that Google knows your main pages. A new page can wait for weeks before Google crawls it at all.
- Write so it can be verified. What you do, where, at what scale and with which certificate.
- Exist beyond your own site. Forrester reports that buyers validate AI output with experts, peers and analysts. Trade articles, directory profiles and checkable references all help.
- Keep your details consistent. Company name, address and focus should not conflict across sites.
We also wrote about why organic traffic is falling and whether to block AI crawlers. No serious supplier can guarantee you a place in AI answers.
A 15-minute test
- Ask AI as your customer would. For example: “Which companies in Slovakia do turnkey industrial electrical installations?” Try several tools, as answers vary even between attempts.
- Ask about your own company. What does AI claim about you? Where did it get that? Is it true?
- Open your site on a phone. Can you find a service, a project and a contact within 30 seconds?
- Have someone outside the company read it. Can they say after a minute what you do and for whom?
- Check Search Console. Which queries already bring impressions and which pages are not indexed?
The gaps you find become your brief for a new site or for SEO services. You often do not need a whole new website, only the right pages added. If you are comparing offers, see also Elementor or custom code.
Frequently asked questions
Does a B2B company need a blog? Not always. First finish your service and project pages. Add a blog when you have something to say about questions customers deal with before they buy.
Do we need a special file or schema for AI? Not for AI features in Google, as Google states directly. Structured data can be useful for other reasons, but it has to match the text on the page.
Should we publish prices if every job is different? You do not need an exact price list. State at least what drives the price, a rough range and what you need for a quote. A customer can then judge whether you are the right fit.
What does such a website cost? With us, a website starts at €990 and the Business package at €1,990. The final price depends on the number of pages, languages and integrations. You get a breakdown after a consultation.
This text reflects the situation on 3 November 2026. The studies are global, so do not read them as an exact picture of your market.
Sources: Digital Commerce 360: summary of the Forrester survey, TrustRadius: 2026 B2B Buying Disconnect Report, Google: AI features in Search.
