How B2B Buyers Build Shortlists: GEO For AI Overviews, ChatGPT, And Perplexity

A procurement manager opens ChatGPT: “SOC 2 compliant tools with Okta SSO, US-only data residency, under $80 per user.” 

Thirty seconds later she has five vendor names with links. Maybe she clicks one or two. Maybe she just screenshots the list and closes the tab. Three days later she types your brand name directly into Google. By Thursday she's on a demo. You never saw the referral from ChatGPT, but that's where she built her shortlist.

Three common AI-assisted paths

• Google AI Overview: Skim the summary → tap a cited source like a review page or vendor doc → visit a brand directly. Many buyers encounter AIO during software research.
  

• ChatGPT: Ask for a shortlist with simple criteria → get 3–5 vendors with reasons and links → visit a brand directly or check a review site. Chatbots are now a top external source shaping shortlists.
  

• Perplexity: Ask a comparison or shortlist question → see a concise answer with inline citations and a sources panel → click through to review pages, vendor docs, or videos → visit a brand directly.

These sit alongside the usual steps: G2 or TrustRadius filters, pricing pages, security docs, walkthrough videos, and peer referrals. Your job is to show up cleanly in those AI views, get named in the answer, and give the model a reliable source to show.

What shows up in discovery and comparison answers

• Encyclopedic sources to set definitions and the category frame

• Review sites to shape shortlists with filters and side-by-sides

• Vendor docs to settle specs, security terms, SSO patterns, rate limits, and policies

• Forums and videos to provide practical details and common pitfalls

Different engines favor different mixes. Plan for coverage across these surfaces, not dominance in just one.

Mentions vs. citations: What you’re aiming for

In AI-led discovery and comparison, you win three different ways:

• Citation-mention (best): Your brand is named in the answer and a source is shown or linked. Example: “Top options include Acme and TechCorp for SOC 2 with Okta,” with your comparison page in the sources.
  

• Mention only (good): Your brand is named but there’s no link. Useful for recall and shortlist movement, weaker for proof and traffic.
  

• Citation only (floor): Your page is cited in the sources panel but your brand isn’t named in the text. Fine as a baseline. The goal is to upgrade it to a citation-mention.

Quick definitions

• Mention: Your brand name appears in the answer text.
  

• Citation: Your owned page appears in the sources or links.
  

• Best case: Both at once.

What to prioritize by path

• Google AI Overview: Get named in the summary and listed in the sources.
  

• ChatGPT: Get named in the 3-5 vendor list and linked to a comparison or docs page.
  

• Perplexity: Get named in the text and shown in the sources panel; Perplexity users tend to open sources.

The 10-move plan for discovery and comparison

1. Map 100 buyer questions: Bucket them: definition, category scan, shortlist, head-to-head, constraints. Assign an owner and a single URL for each answer.
   

2. Own the definition on your site: Clear headings, a short summary, and a concise references section. Keep it current so models can quote it.
   

3. Strengthen review-site pages: Keep pricing, packaging, and categories accurate. Maintain recent, verified reviews. Make comparison views that match how buyers actually filter.
   

4. Publish honest head-to-head comparisons: Create X vs Y tables with real trade-offs and guidance by use case. Put the summary at the top, link to details below. Keep one stable URL per matchup.
   

5. Design your page to earn a citation-mention

1. Open with a two-sentence summary buyers can quote

2. Place a 3–6 row table near the top: use case, SSO, data residency, rate limits, starting price

3. One stable URL per matchup; add a small “Updated Oct 2025” note

4. Link a neutral standard or review page for corroboration
   

6. Make product and docs pages easy to quote: Add top-loaded FAQs, small spec tables, plain-English security language, and a short constraints checklist. Include a brief code or config example where it helps. Concise, structured sections are selected more often.
   

7. Seed a few disclosed community threads: Use your real company identity and focus on genuinely helping, not promoting. Focus on blockers that stall deals: data residency, SSO patterns, rate-limit math, migration steps. Put a concise answer in-thread and link to deeper docs. These often surface in AI answers during evaluation.
   

8. Create a shortlist hub on your domain: A neutral, filterable explainer for your category with criteria buyers should weigh, linked to your head-to-head pages. This can win citations while staying on your site.
   

9. Align with Google’s guidance for AI surfaces: Follow standard best practices: clear entities, helpful structure, credible references, and freshness. Skip gimmicks like “read that again” or fake cliffhangers. If your content is good, it doesn't need tricks.
   

10. Measure the upstream effect: Report weekly on three lines:

1. Where you were cited or mentioned in assistants (with screenshots)

2. When AI Overviews appeared for your query set and which sources they cited

3. Branded and direct lift within 7–21 days of new or updated assets
   

11. Refresh on a release cadence: When product, pricing, or policy changes, update definitions, comparisons, review profiles, and community threads in the same week. Recency helps you get selected and quoted.
    

12. Score answers by mention/citation quality: For your 100-query audit across AIO, ChatGPT, and Perplexity, score each answer:

1. 3 = Citation-mention (named in text + your owned or favorable third-party source)

2. 2 = Mention only (named, no source)

3. 1 = Citation only (source shown, no name)

4. 0 = Absent (neither) 

Target: move 1s → 2s and 2s → 3s, with head-to-head queries prioritized.

How to turn mentions into citation-mentions

• Write the sentence they can lift at the top of the page

• Name your product plainly in that sentence

• Make a quotable table buyers can scan in 5 seconds

• Give assistants a clean source: one canonical URL, visible update note, no tag soup

• Secure a third-party echo (G2/TR, neutral explainer) so models have a second reference

What this looks like in practice

• Your “What Is ?” page supplies the definition AIO or ChatGPT uses to frame the space.
  

• A G2 comparison page appears in an AI Overview, and your brand is named in the blurb with that page in the sources.
  

• Your X vs Y table gets excerpted in ChatGPT, naming your product and linking to the page.
  

• A community thread addresses a specific constraint like data residency or a brittle migration step, and the buyer moves forward with more confidence.
  

• In analytics, organic referrals may look flat, while branded and direct trend up. Sales starts hearing, “I kept seeing you in summaries.”

The one-page report your C-suite will read

• Left column: Assets shipped with dates.
  

• Middle: Citations and AI Overview appearances with screenshots, plus your 3/2/1/0 tally by query.
  

• Right: Branded/direct lift, trial starts, and any self-reported “how did you find us” notes. The point is a simple ledger that ties upstream visibility to downstream movement.

Sources

1. TrustRadius (2025). “Bridging the Trust Gap: B2B Tech Buying in the Age of AI.” Research report. Retrieved from solutions.trustradius.com/vendor-blog/bridging-the-trust-gap-b2b-tech-buying-in-the-age-of-ai and go.trustradius.com/...Top-10-Takeaways.pdf.
   

2. G2 Research (2025). “2025 Buyer Behavior Report.” Research report (PDF). Retrieved from learn.g2.com/2025-g2-buyer-behavior-report and images.g2crowd.com/...Buyer-Behavior-Report.pdf.
   

3. Pew Research Center (2025). “Do people click on links in Google AI summaries?” Short read / analysis. Retrieved from pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/22/google-users-are-less-likely-to-click-on-links-when-an-ai-summary-appears-in-the-results.
   

4. BrightEdge (2025). “AI Search Visits Surging in 2025 — But Organic Still Drives Conversions.” Industry report. Retrieved from brightedge.com/resources/research-reports/ai-search-visits-in-surging-2025 and videos.brightedge.com/...Industry%20Report%20Sep%202025.pdf.
   

5. Search Engine Land (2025). “Google says normal SEO works for ranking in AI Overviews.” News coverage. Retrieved from searchengineland.com/google-says-normal-seo-works-for-ranking-in-ai-overviews-and-llms-txt-wont-be-used-459422.
   

6. Profound (2025). “AI Platform Citation Patterns.” Research blog. Retrieved from tryprofound.com/blog/ai-platform-citation-patterns.
   

7. Profound (2025). “Citation Overlap Strategy.” Research blog. Retrieved from tryprofound.com/blog/citation-overlap-strategy.