AEO for SaaS gets your software named when B2B buyers ask Google’s AI or ChatGPT which tool to use. In our study, the two AIs shared just 3.33% of their linked pages, so each one builds its shortlist from different sources. Some call it GEO for SaaS, B2B GEO or AI SEO for SaaS. It’s the same work.
How B2B buyers use ChatGPT and Google’s AI to build a shortlist
Buyers don’t type two words and scroll anymore. They describe their team and their problem, and they let the AI narrow the field. The shortlist usually forms in four steps.
- They describe the problem. “We keep losing deals in spreadsheets. What should a 10-person sales team use?”
- They ask for options, with limits. “Best CRM for a small B2B team that works with our email and has a free trial.”
- They compare. “YourBrand vs [the tool we use now] for a remote team.” “Alternatives to [a rival] that are easier to set up.”
- They check. “Is YourBrand worth it for a startup?” “What do users complain about with YourBrand?”
Then they visit only the two or three sites on that list. If you’re not named in steps 2 and 3, the buyer may never reach your site at all, and you never see the lost deal in your reports.
Each AI builds that list in its own way:
- Google’s AI answers at the top of search. It picks mostly from pages that already rank in Google. When a page it linked also ranked, its typical spot was #6.
- ChatGPT suits the long back-and-forth, with follow-up after follow-up. It reaches much further down Google’s results, to a typical spot of #21, and it leans on brands it already knows.
Source: Web Asset Builders study of 10,000 US keywords, August–September 2026.
So one plan won’t win both. For Google’s AI, you need to be named on the pages that rank for your buyers’ questions. For ChatGPT, you need to be described the same way in many trusted places. Doing both is what an AEO agency does: it makes your software the answer on each platform.
What AI reads before it names your software
The AI’s picture of your product comes mostly from pages you don’t own:
- Software review and comparison sites. Ratings, pros and cons, and feature tables.
- “Best tools for [job]” lists. The roundups that rank for your category.
- “X vs Y” and “alternatives to X” pages. Both yours and other sites’.
- Forum threads and community Q&A. Where users swap honest opinions.
- Video demos and reviews. Walkthroughs, tutorials and head-to-head tests.
- Integration marketplaces and partner directories. Proof that you work with the tools buyers already use.
- Your own pricing, docs and use-case pages. Clear facts on who it’s for, how it works and what it connects to.
Keep those facts current. When your plans, features or integrations change, the pages about you need to change too. Otherwise, the AI repeats last year’s version of your product.
Guest posts aren’t a shortcut
It’s tempting to buy guest posts to get your name out. Our study suggests that doesn’t get you far. Only 2.00% of the sites Google’s AI linked, and 2.36% of the sites ChatGPT linked, were in a catalog that sells guest posts.
Share of linked sites that appear in a guest-post-selling catalog (183 of 9,136 for AI Overviews, 157 of 6,654 for ChatGPT). Source: Web Asset Builders study of 10,000 US keywords, August–September 2026.
The pages AI trusts are mostly ones you can’t simply buy your way onto. You earn a spot on them with a product worth writing about, clear facts and steady work to get in front of the people who run those pages.
Where we start
We also do AI search optimization for startups: we start with the few buyer questions that decide your first deals. For bigger teams, we start with the category, comparison and “alternatives” questions where your rivals get named and you don’t.
- Find the buyer questions. The problem, shortlist, comparison and check questions for your category.
- Check today’s answers. What Google’s AI Overviews, AI Mode and ChatGPT say, who they name and which pages they use.
- Fix your own pages. Pricing, comparison, use-case and docs pages that answer the buyer’s question in the first lines.
- Get on the pages AI trusts. Review sites, lists, comparisons and videos that each AI relies on, and the pages that rank.
- Track the answers. We obsessively track what each AI says, because answers change. When we ran the same searches three times, the brands Google’s AI named overlapped only 60.06% on average.
The same shortlist plan works for online stores, where shoppers ask AI which product to buy; see AI SEO for ecommerce. For your software, start with a free AI visibility audit. It shows which tools AI puts on the shortlist today, and which pages to get yours on first.
