AEO Software Category Grows Over 2000% on G2 as Half of B2B Buyers Start Their Search with AI Chatbots Over Google

G2's answer engine optimization category grew to more than 150 products in just 10 months, earning its first Grid^® Report in the company's 2026 Winter Reports.

CHICAGO, Jan. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- G2, the world's largest and most trusted software marketplace, today announced that its Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) software category has grown from 7 products to over 150 since its launch in March 2025, marking over 2000% growth as B2B companies work to maintain visibility in AI-driven search platforms. The category earned its first Grid^® Report in G2's 2026 Winter Reports, a milestone that signals it has matured into an established market need.

The rapid adoption of AI in the buyer journey highlights the importance of answer engine optimization for B2B organizations across all industries. According to an August survey by G2, half of B2B software buyers now begin their purchasing journey in an AI chatbot instead of a traditional Google search. Additionally, 74% of buyers reported that their preferred large language model (LLM) is ChatGPT.

As buyers rely on AI for software recommendations, vendors are deploying tools to ensure their brands appear favorably in AI-powered search results within ChatGPT and other LLMs like Gemini, Copilot, and Google AI Mode.

What is answer engine optimization (AEO) software?
Answer engine optimization products help improve a brand's visibility across LLMs and AI chatbots. These tools also optimize content for AI-generated answers, conversational interfaces, and AI-curated search results, while uncovering the factors influencing AI-generated search rankings and content recommendations.

"The modern buying journey is compressed by AI, and winning today means winning the answer, not just the click," said Emily Greathouse, Director, Market Research at G2. "Companies need tools that move beyond traditional search engine optimization (SEO) metrics to focus on AI visibility and LLM ranking factors. The rapid growth of AEO software on G2 signals that go-to-market (GTM) leaders recognize the need for this new layer of data to accurately track their brand's presence in the age of AI-powered search."

What are the top-ranked AEO products on G2?
According to G2's methodology, a software category becomes eligible for a Grid Report when it has at least 6 products (each with a minimum of 10 reviews for that category) and a total of over 150 reviews. The first G2 Grid^® Report for AEO featured 9 products:

• Leader:
  • Profound
• High Performers:
  • Otterly.AI
  • Scrunch AI
• Contenders:
  • Semrush
  • BrightEdge
  • Conductor
• Niche:
  • Quattr
  • GetCito
  • GenRank.io

Since the launch of G2's Winter 2026 Reports on December 3, 2025, additional products have earned a spot on the Grid for AEO, including AirOps, Hall, Waikay, Brandi, and Visby AI, as of January 26, 2026. Refer back to the live Grid for additional changes in products featured or product placement. G2 category Grids are updated daily with the most recent vendor, product, and review data.

"The way people discover, evaluate, and trust software has fundamentally changed. As buyers turn to answer engines for fast, direct guidance, there's a rising demand from companies for software solutions that power their AEO strategies," said Trevor Pyle, Head of Marketing, Profound. "At Profound, we've built our platform around the real questions customers ask and how AI interprets and cites brands. The recent recognition as a Leader in G2's Winter 2026 Grid Report for this emerging category reflects both the momentum of AEO innovation and the results our customers are seeing as they gain greater visibility, accuracy, and control in the age of AI."

How G2 determines the best AEO products for software buyers
G2 Grid^® Reports provide a high-level overview of a category on G2, including which products have the most satisfied customers and the largest market presence. To help software buyers confidently evaluate solutions, each category groups companies, products, and services into Leaders, High Performers, Contenders, and Niche.

In the AEO category, G2 looks for products that enable:

• Clear visibility into AI-generated answers: Software buyers must be able to see where, and how often, their brand appears in AI-generated responses, helping them understand their brand visibility when customers use AI to search for software solutions.
• Trustworthy brand interpretation by AI: Products in the AEO category must help buyers gain insight into how AI platforms describe and interpret their brand — including potential bias, misinformation, or hallucinations — so they can assess both presence and credibility.
• Transparency into AI-driven rankings and recommendations: Each product must help software buyers understand what influences AI search results and citations to help reduce the "black box" effect of AI-generated recommendations and results.
• Meaningful competitive context: Each product must enable competitor benchmarking to compare AI-driven brand mentions and positioning against industry peers.

Ranked among the top 20 most-cited domains in LLMs according to an October 2025 study by Semrush, G2 is a key reference point for AI search platforms and brands seeking visibility on them. Learn more about the AEO software category and explore the G2 Winter 2026 Reports.

About G2
G2 is the world's largest and most trusted software marketplace. More than 100 million people annually — including employees at all Fortune 500 companies — use G2 to make smarter software decisions based on authentic peer reviews. Thousands of software companies partner with G2 to build their reputation and grow their business — including Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoom, and Adobe. To learn more about where you go for software, visit www.g2.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

SOURCE G2