72% of B2B Buyers Now Vet Vendors on ChatGPT — Most Brands Don't Show Up
Nearly three-quarters of B2B software buyers now use ChatGPT as part of their vendor evaluation process, according to new MarketScale research. The problem: 51% of tech brands have zero AI citations in large language model outputs. If an enterprise buyer asks ChatGPT who the best vendor is in your category and your name doesn't appear, you're not in the deal. This is the GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) problem in stark relief — and most B2B marketing teams haven't even started auditing their LLM presence.
Read on MarketScale →Forbes: The Real AI Challenge for Marketing Leaders Isn't the Technology
Mark Emond, CEO of Demand Spring, delivers a reality check in Forbes: while 92% of companies plan to increase their AI investment over the next three years, only 1% of leaders describe their organizations as truly AI-mature — meaning AI is fully integrated into workflows and driving measurable business outcomes. The pattern is familiar: organizations that invest in technology ahead of operating model change get limited returns. The winners redesign how they work around the technology.
Read on Forbes →GR0 Acquires Ultimate AI Division — AI-Led Conversations Drive $350K+ Sales
Performance marketing firm GR0 announced the acquisition of Ultimate Deployment's AI division to launch GR0 AI, pairing distribution expertise with AI agents and customer intelligence. The play targets DTC and ecommerce brands with what they're calling "AI revenue systems." In one early deployment, AI-led customer conversations were associated with more than $350,000 in sales. This is the agentic commerce thesis playing out: AI agents that don't just respond to customers, but actively drive conversion.
Read on MarTech Cube →Frost & Sullivan Partners with Fusemachines for Agentic AI — Consulting Goes Agent-First
Frost & Sullivan, the $2 billion+ global consulting and research firm, announced Fusemachines (NASDAQ: FUSE) as its strategic partner to build next-generation agentic AI solutions. The partnership uses Fusemachines' proprietary platform to develop AI agents for research, analysis, and client delivery. For enterprise buyers, it signals that your strategy consultants will soon arrive with AI agents as part of the engagement team.
Read on MarTech Series →Rival Technologies Launches MCP — Connect Proprietary Data to AI Models
Rival Technologies announced its new Model Context Protocol (MCP), giving organizations a direct way to connect proprietary research and intelligence data to AI models. MCP addresses a real enterprise pain point: how to make internal data accessible to AI agents without compromising security or requiring massive data engineering lift. As more vendors adopt MCP (Anthropic's open standard), we're seeing the infrastructure layer mature for enterprise AI that actually knows your business.
Read on MarTech Series →💡 The Takeaway
Read this one: The MarketScale piece on B2B buyers using ChatGPT to vet vendors. Your prospects are forming opinions before they ever visit your website, and most brands have zero presence in LLM outputs. The advice is practical: query ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini with the exact phrases your buyers use to find vendors in your category, then build a GEO content strategy to close the gap. If you're not in the AI answer, you're not in the deal.