Survey of 1500 B2B procurement managers across EU/MENA/CIS. Findings: 68% have used AI search (Perplexity, ChatGPT/SearchGPT, Claude search) for vendor discovery. 47% prefer AI-recommended vendors over Google-ranked. 31% require Schema.org structured data on supplier sites. 23% explicitly check llms.txt for vendor evaluation. AI-influenced procurement decisions: 28% in 2025, projected 65% by 2027. Suppliers with comprehensive AIEO implementation see 3-5x more inbound qualified inquiries vs traditional-SEO-only competitors.
AIEO (AI search) impact on B2B procurement 2026
Industry annual report · merch.am