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G2: AI Is Making B2B Software Easier to Find and Harder to Buy
A survey of 1,038 B2B software buyers finds that AI has compressed the shortlist stage but intensified scrutiny at evaluation — and that brands missing…
Review sites have overtaken AI chatbots as the top source influencing which vendors make the buyer's shortlist — for the first time.
Author: AEO Updates Staff
Published: July 24, 2026
Category: Industry
G2, the B2B software review platform, has published its <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ai-is-making-software-easier-to-find-and-harder-to-buy-according-to-new-g2-research-302831346.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="text-amber-700 underline hover:text-amber-900">2026 Buyer Behavior Report: The Evaluation Maze</a>, based on a survey of 1,038 B2B software decision-makers conducted in June 2026. The headline finding: AI has made software faster to discover and harder to close. Buyers are reaching a shortlist more quickly than ever, but the evaluation stage has become the longest and most friction-filled part of the buying journey.
82% of B2B software buyers sourced software recommendations from an AI chatbot in the last 24 months. But once a shortlist forms, the friction intensifies. Evaluation now accounts for 40% of the total buying timeline, surpassing research (down to 36%) as the longest stage. IT security review is the single biggest source of post-selection delay, cited by 39% of buyers and rising to 50% among enterprise buyers. Finance involvement in software decisions jumped from 31% to 46% in a single year, and 49% of buyers say their CFO vetoed an already-approved software purchase in the last 12 months.
The AEO Implication: Shortlist or Invisible
The finding with the most direct AEO relevance is the shortlist dynamic. Among buyers who used AI chatbots, 50% said the greatest impact was narrowing and comparing options. Review sites (38%) have now overtaken AI chatbots (37%) as the top source influencing which vendors make the initial shortlist — the first time review platforms have led that ranking. Brands that do not appear in AI answers and review sites are eliminated before a buyer ever reaches out.
G2 notes that it has become the most-cited B2B software source across AI-first channels, a position that reflects the broader pattern identified in large-scale citation research: AI engines weight third-party, high-credibility review sources heavily when answering vendor evaluation queries. For B2B brands, the practical implication is that G2 review presence is now an AEO asset, not just a sales tool.
Pricing and Contracts Under Pressure
AI has also disrupted B2B pricing expectations. Preference for outcome-based pricing more than doubled in a single year, from 11% to 23%. 80% of organizations now provide developers or technical teams with a dedicated LLM usage budget, creating a new line item that procurement teams are scrutinising alongside traditional seat licenses. 70% of buyers say the pace of technology innovation is pushing them toward shorter contracts.
On the question of AI agents in the buying process: 61% of buyers currently use or plan to use AI agents as part of software evaluation, primarily for total cost of ownership analysis, shortlist building, and vendor research. But only 9% are comfortable letting agents execute purchases within approved guardrails, and just 2% would allow purchases without pre-approval. The agentic buying era is approaching, but human sign-off remains firmly in place.