06/18/2026
A stat from the 2026 B2B Buyer Behaviour Report worth sitting with: 72% of B2B buyers now encounter Google's AI Overviews during their research. 90% of buyers who see a citation in an AI Overview click through to at least one cited source. The implication for SEO is significant, and most businesses haven't recalibrated yet.
For most of SEO's history, the goal was ranking. Page one, top three, ideally position one. That model assumed buyers were scanning a results page and clicking the most relevant link. In an AI-first search environment, that assumption is breaking down.
The new top of the funnel is the AI-generated summary that now appears above the traditional rankings. Buyers read it first. They form an initial shortlist from it. And when they do click through, they overwhelmingly click on the sources the AI cited, not the sources ranked beneath it.
What this changes in practice:
— Content needs to be structured for AI extraction, not just human reading
— Topical authority and clear citations matter more than keyword density
— Schema, structured data, and source credibility now influence visibility in ways they didn't two years ago
— Being mentioned across credible third-party sources increases the likelihood of being cited
The businesses adapting early are showing up in AI summaries across their categories. The ones still optimizing strictly for traditional rankings are losing share of voice without it appearing in their analytics.
The question has shifted. It's no longer are you ranking for the right terms? It's Are you the source AI cites when buyers search them? If your traffic is stable but your visibility feels like it's slipping, this is likely why.