Why AI Adoption is Surging Among B2B Buyers

AI tools are reshaping the way business buyers identify and assess suppliers, with new research showing 66% of UK senior decision-makers now use platforms like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity as part of the procurement process.

This shift raises new challenges for supplier visibility and trust-building, particularly for those still focused on traditional marketing and lead-generation methods.

The findings, published by PR agency Magenta Associates, follow a survey of 300 UK-based senior professionals with B2B purchasing responsibilities. The results point to a wider change in where buyer journeys begin and how supplier credibility is established.

"AI is now the place where decisions begin," says Jo Sutherland, Managing Director at Magenta Associates. "Marketers who understand how to create content discoverable and trustworthy enough to be surfaced by AI will have a clear competitive edge."

AI leads supplier discovery journey

According to Magenta’s report, AI tools now sit ahead of some of the most established B2B marketing channels.

A total of 45% of B2B buyers say they use AI as one of their main research methods when seeking new suppliers. This compares to 41% who rely on LinkedIn and 34% who still turn to industry publications.

The shift means supplier discovery is no longer dominated by search engines or professional networks. Instead, AI tools are becoming the first point of contact between buyers and suppliers. However, the report shows AI platforms may not replace other sources entirely; instead, they act as a discovery layer at the start of a longer research process.

The data supports this: 40% of respondents say they "always" visit the original website mentioned in an AI-generated response, while a further 43% say they "often" do the same. These habits suggest AI tools are helping to direct buyers to content they still want to verify or explore further.

This dual behaviour points to a two-track approach for supplier visibility—optimising content for AI platforms while still ensuring their own websites provide useful, trustworthy information once buyers arrive.

Visibility in AI comes with high competition

While AI tools offer powerful new discovery opportunities, they also come with a sharp visibility divide. The research finds just five brands appear in 80% of top responses delivered by AI agents across any given B2B category.

This means supplier visibility is becoming binary – either a brand is recommended by AI or it is not found at all. The implications for marketers are clear: failing to optimise content for AI tools could result in being completely overlooked by a growing share of the B2B market.

Traditional methods such as search engine optimisation (SEO) may offer diminishing returns in this environment. Gartner projects that search engine use will fall by 25% by 2026 as AI chatbots become the preferred method of information gathering. OpenAI's ChatGPT alone saw its search traffic grow 85% between January and June 2025.

As these tools become more common in professional settings, especially among younger decision-makers, suppliers need to adapt content and trust signals to match what AI platforms prioritise. The content that performs best in AI recommendations often has characteristics such as clarity, transparency and external validation.

Magenta’s study shows 71% of decision-makers say they would avoid suppliers who fail to provide clear, transparent information, and 69% would avoid suppliers with negative online reviews. For AI to recommend suppliers, it must first trust the available content – an important shift in how marketing teams think about online presence.

Younger buyers lead AI adoption

The move toward AI-driven procurement research is not uniform across age groups. According to the report, 85% of 25 to 34-year-olds are now using AI tools for supplier research. This figure drops to 33% for those aged 45 to 54 and just 23% among the 55 to 64-year-old bracket.

This generational gap may force suppliers to rethink how they target and engage B2B buyers. Companies aiming to reach younger professionals need to invest in AI content optimisation far more aggressively than those focusing on older audiences. The change also reflects wider trends in digital literacy and comfort with AI interfaces across different age groups.

Oluwatobi Folasade Balogun, CEO of sustainability data company SustainWyse, says: "AI is a co-pilot, not an autopilot. It's changing how people find and trust brands but it still needs human judgement to ensure quality tone and ethics."

This emphasis on human oversight comes as B2B suppliers face new pressure around content accuracy, transparency and the claims they make – especially around environmental or sustainability credentials. AI may help surface relevant suppliers faster, but buyers still rely on what they read after the first click to decide whether a supplier is trustworthy.

With AI’s role growing in procurement journeys, suppliers are now in a visibility race. Those who learn to meet the content standards required by AI algorithms – and who retain credibility once the buyer lands on their website – stand a far better chance of being shortlisted.