AI visibility for B2B and industry: how buyers and engineers find you

In B2B and industry, buyers and engineers also use AI assistants to find suppliers. They ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Claude which companies make custom stainless steel parts, for example, or who holds a particular certification. If you are not mentioned there, you are not on the shortlist. The answer is mostly technical, concrete information: specifications, applications, certifications, sectors and lead times. Add mentions in industry directories and trade media, so AI also comes across you outside your own website.

How buyers and engineers use AI

A B2B purchase often starts with research. That used to mean searching Google, visiting trade fairs and making phone calls. Now more and more people ask an AI assistant first.

Typical prompts (the questions someone asks AI) include:

• "Which companies in the Netherlands do laser cutting of aluminium up to 20 mm?"
• "Supplier of industrial conveyor belts for the food industry"
• "Which machine builder can deliver small batches with a short lead time?"
• "Compare suppliers of hydraulic cylinders with ISO 9001"

These questions are specific. An engineer wants to know whether you can handle the material, the tolerance or the standard. AI then looks for sources that answer exactly that. Generic copy like "we deliver quality" does not help. Also read which questions customers ask AI.

AI agents increasingly do part of this work. An agent searches for suppliers itself, compares them and produces an overview. That agent also needs clear, readable information. See AI agents that search for customers.

Why B2B is different from local

For a plumber, AI visibility is often about location, reviews and the business profile. B2B works differently:

• The audience is small and expert. There are fewer searchers, but each enquiry can be worth a lot.
• There are few reviews. Business customers rarely write reviews. So AI relies more on your website and on trade sources.
• The questions are technical. Material, standard, capacity and sector decide whether you are relevant.
• The service area is wider. You often supply nationally or internationally. A multilingual website helps too.

Which content helps in B2B

AI can only recommend you if it understands exactly what you do. So put the following information clearly on your website, ideally on separate pages per service or product.

1. Specifications. Materials, dimensions, tolerances, capacity, maximum batch size. Use real, accurate figures, preferably in a table.
2. Applications. What do customers use your product for? Describe concrete situations, such as "conveyor belts for chilled and frozen storage".
3. Certifications and standards. Name ISO certificates, CE marking or sector-specific standards explicitly, and show which parts they apply to.
4. Sectors. Make clear which industries you work for, such as food, construction, offshore or medical technology. A page per sector helps AI link you to those questions.
5. Lead times and way of working. How long does delivery take? Can you handle small batches? Do you work from customer drawings? These practical details are exactly what a buyer looks for.
6. Project examples. A short description of a job shows what you can do. You do not need to name customers if that is sensitive.

Start each page with a short, direct answer. For example: "We laser cut steel, stainless steel and aluminium up to 20 mm thick, in batches from 1 to 5,000 pieces." That is easy for AI to cite. You will find more tips in writing content AI cites.

Mentions in industry directories and trade media

AI does not base its answer on your own website alone. It also looks at other sources it considers trustworthy. In B2B these are often:

• industry directories and supplier databases;
• trade association websites, with member lists;
• trade magazines and trade websites, with news or interviews;
• trade fair catalogues and exhibitor lists;
• partner pages of manufacturers you are a dealer or processor for.

Make sure you are listed in the most important places, with the same company name and a clear description of what you do. A trade article about an innovative project often achieves more than ten generic listings. Read more about mentions on other sites.

Entities: help AI understand who you are

AI thinks in entities. These are recognisable "things", such as a company, a product or a standard, with properties and relationships. The more clearly your business is described as an entity, the better AI can link you to the right questions.

In practice, that means: use the same name everywhere, describe your core activity in one clear sentence, and add structured data (schema.org) to your website. See entities: how AI understands who you are.

Measure and compare with competitors

In B2B you usually know your competitors well. So it is useful to see who AI mentions for your questions. To do that, you look at:

• AI visibility: how often are you mentioned for a fixed set of prompts?
• Share of voice: what share of the mentions goes to you, and what share to competitors?
• Content gap: for which questions does AI mention competitors but not you? Those are your opportunities. See content gap analysis for AI.
• Citations: which websites does AI use as a source? Are you and your competitors listed on them?

You can find a real-world example from a B2B supplier in our cases.

Frequently asked questions

Do buyers really use AI to find suppliers?
More and more people use AI for research, in business too. They usually make the final choice themselves, but the shortlist often starts with an AI answer.

Should I show prices as a B2B company?
Not always. An indication, or an explanation of what the price depends on, does help AI with questions about cost. See prices on your website for AI.

Is a technical PDF enough?
Preferably not on its own. Put the key specifications on a web page as plain text too. That is easier to read for AI crawlers and for people.

Do you know whether AI mentions you?

Want to know whether ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude mention you when a buyer asks for a supplier? Try the free AI check. Want to see every week how you compare with competitors, with concrete advice? Then take a look at GEO tracking.