As artificial intelligence platforms increasingly shape how buyers discover information, new research suggests many B2B brands remain largely unseen across emerging AI search environments. A study released by SEMAI highlights growing challenges around AI visibility, revealing that content optimized for one AI platform often fails to appear on others, signaling a major shift for the MarTech and B2B marketing landscape.
SEMAI, an AI visibility tracking platform built for B2B marketing teams, analyzed more than 25,000 URLs cited by ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Perplexity AI during a 60 day research period. The findings show that each platform relies on distinct citation behaviors, creating fragmented discovery experiences that require marketers to rethink traditional content strategies.
According to the research, blogs account for between 41 percent and 55 percent of AI citations, while standard webpages represent 38 percent to 47 percent. Together, these two content formats generate more than 90 percent of all citations across AI platforms. However, the study found meaningful differences in how individual systems prioritize content types, directly influencing brand visibility outcomes.
ChatGPT demonstrated a broader citation pattern compared with other platforms. It was the only system to meaningfully reference LinkedIn posts at 1.1 percent and Wikipedia content at 2.0 percent. Additionally, ChatGPT cited academic or research backed material at a rate of 2.2 percent, more than six times higher than Gemini or Perplexity. These findings suggest that thought leadership publishing and data driven content play an important role for brands seeking visibility within conversational AI responses.
Perplexity, by contrast, showed a strong preference for comparison pages and solution specific content, making it particularly relevant for bottom of funnel B2B strategies targeting buyers nearing purchasing decisions. Gemini displayed a different pattern, favoring brand owned blog content while largely avoiding community driven sources such as Reddit and Wikipedia, indicating that structured editorial authority and domain credibility are key ranking signals within that ecosystem.
“The data makes it clear: you cannot optimize for AI search the way you optimized for Google,” said Raghu, CEO and Co Founder of SEMAI. “Every platform has a different citation model. Brands that treat AI visibility as a single channel are structurally invisible to a significant portion of their buyers.”
The report also points to a widening gap between buyer behavior and marketing execution. SEMAI estimates that more than 63 percent of B2B research journeys now begin on AI platforms, yet many organizations continue prioritizing traditional search engine optimization as their primary strategy. To address this shift, SEMAI’s platform tracks brand presence across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude while providing large language model search volume insights, performance classifications, and AI generated content planning tools.
“We built SEMAI because there was no way to measure what we now believe is the most important channel in B2B marketing,” Raghu added. “This research is the first step in giving marketing teams a clear, data backed picture of where they stand in AI search.”
The study reinforces the growing importance of AI visibility as a competitive factor in B2B marketing. As AI driven discovery continues to reshape buyer journeys, marketers may need platform specific content strategies to ensure consistent presence across multiple generative search environments and avoid losing influence during critical decision making stages.
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