A working reference of the most-cited statistics on Answer Engine Optimization, AI search adoption, and the B2B buyer journey. Each figure links to its primary source. Updated quarterly.
of professionals now use generative AI as part of product research.
Up from 33% in 2024. Adoption is highest among buyers under 45 and in software, professional services, and financial services categories.
Source: McKinsey State of AI 2025 · 2025
citations per answer in Perplexity for B2B software research queries.
Significantly higher than ChatGPT (4-6) or Claude (3-5). Perplexity's citation density makes it the most influenceable major engine.
Source: Revsponse Citation Panel 2025-2026 · 2026
of Gen Z professionals start product and career research inside a generative AI tool rather than a search engine.
Includes B2B software evaluation, employer research, and educational research. Millennial rate is 52%; Gen X is 31%.
Source: Pew Research 2025 · 2025
of Perplexity answers to B2B software research queries cite a Reddit thread.
Reddit is Perplexity's third most-cited source in the B2B software category, behind G2 and the vendor's own site.
Source: Revsponse Citation Panel 2025-2026 · 2026
year-over-year growth in AI-driven referral traffic to retail websites in 2025.
Measured by Adobe Analytics across the 2024 and 2025 holiday seasons; reflects traffic identifiable as originating from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and similar engines.
Source: Adobe Analytics Holiday Report 2025 · 2025
projected decline in traditional search engine volume by 2026 as buyers shift to AI assistants.
Gartner forecast covering query volume to Google, Bing, and other classical SERPs across consumer and enterprise contexts.
Source: Gartner, 2024 · 2024
of Google Search queries now return an AI Overview block in eligible markets.
Up from 14% at launch. Informational and comparison queries are most likely to trigger AI Overviews; transactional queries are least likely.
Source: BrightEdge Research 2025 · 2025
drop in organic click-through rate when an AI Overview is present.
Larger drops for informational queries, smaller for branded and transactional. Brand recognition partially insulates against the drop.
Source: Ahrefs Study 2024 · 2024
of Google searches now end without a click to any external site.
Driven by AI Overviews, featured snippets, and direct knowledge-panel answers. The number was ~34% as recently as 2019.
Source: SparkToro / SimilarWeb 2025 · 2025
of marketing leaders plan to increase investment in Answer Engine Optimization in the next 12 months.
Survey of 800+ B2B and B2C marketing executives. AEO investment cited as a top-three priority by 61% of respondents.
Source: Conductor State of Organic Marketing 2025 · 2025
of ChatGPT answers to B2B software queries cite G2 reviews as a source.
Across a panel of 200 B2B software queries run weekly between Q3 2025 and Q1 2026. G2 is the single most-cited third-party domain in the category.
Source: Revsponse Citation Panel 2025-2026 · 2026
of AI answers to B2B software shortlist queries directly cite the vendor's own pricing page.
Pricing pages are the second most-cited vendor-owned page after the homepage, ahead of all blog content combined.
Source: Revsponse Citation Panel 2026 · 2026
average lift in citation rate after implementing Organization, Product, and FAQPage schema across a B2B SaaS site.
Measured across 23 Revsponse engagements, 60-90 days post-implementation, holding all other variables constant.
Source: Revsponse Client Benchmark 2025 · 2025
median half-life of citation lift from a single high-quality podcast appearance.
Citation rate from a 45-minute appearance on a category-relevant podcast typically peaks at 30-45 days and decays by half by day 180.
Source: Revsponse Client Benchmark 2025 · 2025
of consumers want AI-powered shopping assistants to help them make purchase decisions.
Consumers cite AI assistants as more efficient than scrolling reviews and better at cutting through marketing language.
Source: Salesforce Connected Shoppers Report 2024 · 2024
of B2B software buyers self-report drafting at least part of their vendor shortlist with help from a generative AI tool.
Based on a 2025 survey of 1,200 mid-market and enterprise buyers across North America and EMEA.
Source: Forrester B2B Buyer Journey Survey 2025 · 2025
median number of AI-assistant touches in an enterprise B2B buying journey before the buyer contacts a vendor.
Enterprise being defined as $50K+ ACV deals. Mid-market median is 6 touches; SMB is 3.
Source: Revsponse Buyer Journey Study 2025 · 2025
in consumer spending projected to be influenced by AI search by 2028.
Includes both direct AI-assistant purchase journeys and AI-augmented research that ends in a traditional checkout.
Source: McKinsey, 2024 · 2024
higher win rate on B2B demos where the buyer self-reports having researched the vendor inside an AI assistant first.
Aggregated across Revsponse client cohorts in 2025. AI-self-reported opportunities also closed 18-30% faster.
Source: Revsponse Client Benchmark 2025 · 2025
of inbound B2B pipeline now self-reports having used an AI assistant during research.
Range across Revsponse instrumented clients in B2B software. Self-report under-counts true influence by an estimated 20-30%.
Source: Revsponse Client Benchmark 2025 · 2025
Every statistic on this page may be quoted, cited, or reproduced with attribution to Revsponse and a link to the original source. If you spot an outdated figure, email austin@revsponse.com.