Every time a new search technology reshapes how buyers find information, it’s a little like the moment a city builds a new highway — traffic patterns shift almost overnight, and the businesses that don’t move their signs find themselves on a road nobody drives anymore. That moment is happening right now as AI is moving the digital marketing world from Search Engine Optimization to Answer Engine Optimization or Generative Engine Optimization. If you’re a B2B marketer, you need to understand what it means because by doing so, you might gain an edge on your competition.

AEO/GEO Is Not a Replacement for SEO — It’s an Evolution

AEO or GEO (Generative Engine Optimization and AEO terms are being used interchangeably in the industry right now), is the discipline of optimizing your content so that it gets surfaced by AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google’s AI Overview. The good news for anyone who has invested in SEO over the years: AEO doesn’t make that work obsolete. It builds on it.

Here’s why: AI engines pull heavily from Google’s rankings to generate their answers. The higher your content ranks in traditional search, the more likely it is to be pulled into an AI-generated response. So, the foundation you’ve already built in SEO still matters. What AEO asks you to do is go further — and in some important directions that SEO never required.

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The Shift from Keywords to Questions

The most fundamental change between SEO and AEO is the nature of the query itself. In the SEO era, users typed short keyword strings: “NEMA 4 enclosure,” “PCB manufacturer,” “industrial pump.” In the AEO era, they are typing full sentences — sometimes full paragraphs. “I need a 10 x 12-inch enclosure that’s waterproof, rated for industrial environments, and can ship by Friday.” That is an actual search happening in AI engines right now.

What that means for your content strategy is that product pages and blog articles can no longer survive on keywords alone. They need to contain specific, detailed answers to the questions your buyers are actually asking. Details like dimensions, application parameters and environmental ratings matter and need to be included in online content. The bottom line? The more precisely your content matches the specificity of the query, the more likely it is to be cited as a reference source.

One example of following these guidelines was enhancing product pages with clearer dimensions and application context to better align with how engineers search. For example, one of our client’s product pages highlights detailed sizing information for the specific model—such as external dimensions of 4.54″ × 3.88″ × 2.19″ and internal dimensions of 4.28″ × 3.28″ × 1.93″—along with key product attributes like NEMA/IP ratings and typical applications. This structured technical information makes the page more useful for size-based and specification-driven searches. As a result, we are seeing size-related queries and product pages appearing as entry pages in reports, along with increasing AI-driven referral traffic as richer product data is surfaced in AI search

The Strategies That Are Working Right Now

At Goldstein Group Communications, we have been developing and testing AEO strategies across our B2B client portfolio, and a few approaches are showing consistent results.

Comparison content. AI engines are strongly drawn to content that directly compares two things — two products, two specifications, two approaches. We’ve produced comparison articles for clients, such as one contrasting PCB versus PCBA (printed circuit board versus printed circuit board assembly), that are performing well in both traditional SEO and generating AI referral traffic. Now, no one wants to mention a competitor on your own site. Instead, our approach is to craft these pieces, so they do not mention a competitor by name but still include an objective comparison of competitive products. A comparison that explores these differences can earn citations from AI engines more effectively than purely promotional content.

People Also Ask. When you type a priority keyword or phrase into Google and scroll down, you’ll see the “People Also Ask” section. That is a gold mine for AEO that companies can leverage. Google is showing us exactly what people are searching for, with the phrasing they’re already using. By incorporating those questions — and their answers — directly onto your web pages, you’re essentially preparing your content to respond to what buyers are already asking. And you’re increasing your likelihood that they’ll find you and your answer when they look.

Schema markup. Schema is short code added to web pages that helps Google quickly identify key information: authorship, publication date, product specifications, FAQs, star review ratings. While AI chatbots don’t crawl schema directly, the boost it provides in Google rankings has a downstream effect on AEO visibility. Schema markup presents marketers with a mechanism that rewards the effort.

Develop a process for identifying AEO topics to write about. Unlike traditional search engines, people enter lots of text into an AI prompt box. Often, the prompts are detailed and specific, especially when people are searching for a solution to a problem. As of today, the AI tools don’t tell us what people searched for, so we need other ways to surface these topics.

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Social listening tools like Sprout Social allow marketers to monitor conversations across platforms such as LinkedIn, X, Reddit, and industry communities. By tracking keywords, hashtags, competitor mentions, and industry topics, marketers can read the specific questions, frustrations, and discussions decision-makers are having. Then marketers can write content that addresses the detailed questions typically searched in AI and not in Google.

If you don’t have a social listening tool, and most B2B manufacturers don’t, you can glean much of this from website chat logs and form submissions. When requesting a quote, visitors to your company website may include detailed descriptions of their problems in their form submissions. These problems may make excellent topics for AEO. The same holds true for chat logs. Mine the logs of your site’s chat tool, and you may uncover a gold mine of specific, detailed questions that are similar to what people search in AI.

How We’re Tracking Results

One of the genuine challenges in AEO right now is measurement. Unlike Google, which shares keyword and search volume data, AI engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity provide no back-end reporting. You cannot see which queries are driving traffic to your site from those tools.

What we are doing to get around this is building custom reports in Google Analytics that track referral traffic from AI engines — which pages are receiving that traffic, and which tools are sending it. We’re also using SEMrush to monitor appearances in Google’s AI Overview. It is not a complete picture, but it’s a meaningful one. When a blog article we published starts generating AI referral traffic, that’s a strong signal that it’s being surfaced as a reference source. That data is real, and it’s actionable.

What This Means for Your Content

The content type that is winning in AEO, almost without exception, is informative blog content. Not gated white papers. Not product brochures. Ungated, expert-authored, technically credible articles that answer the questions your buyers are carrying into AI engines. If you are not producing that kind of content consistently, you are ceding that ground to someone else.

One more note on content quality: AI-generated text is detectable — and not just by humans. Overuse of em dashes, excessive punctuation, an unnatural cadence and certain “tell-tale” words or phrases are markers that both readers and, increasingly, ranking systems are learning to identify. The value of expert-authored content has never been higher. Use AI as a tool for outlines and research but let your subject matter experts provide the voice and stories.

The engineers and technical buyers your clients need to reach are already searching in AI engines. The question is whether your content is on the same road they are traveling.

Bennett Gust is AEO Manager at Goldstein Group Communications, a B2B marketing agency specializing in marketing to engineers and technical buyers.

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Google has just published several advisories on getting included in its AI search results, and we thought we’d summarize the key findings for you.

Overall, Google has now made one thing very clear: showing up in AI Overviews and AI Mode is not a separate discipline from SEO. It is the next evolution of SEO.

That matters because a lot of marketers are chasing a new acronym — AEO, GEO, AI SEO, answer optimization — as if Google has created an entirely new ranking system with entirely new rules. Its generative AI features are still grounded in Google’s core Search ranking and quality systems. They use something called retrieval-augmented generation, or RAG, to pull from Google’s Search index and generate answers with links to relevant supporting pages. Google also uses “query fan-out,” where the system runs multiple related searches to better answer a user’s broader question.

Why are we talking about Google, with all the focus on Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity and other language models? At GGC our data shows that the vast majority of search still takes place on Google, and despite the explosion in popularity at chat/Claude/etc., that’s not likely to change for some time. So while there’s more voices in digital search, the big imperative to win remains Google.

For companies in GGC’s client base, those with complex, technical, engineered, or high-consideration offerings, this is a major opportunity, rather than something to fear. Google’s AI search is not rewarding generic marketing copy. It is moving toward content that demonstrates subject matter expertise, technical depth, originality, and usefulness. That is exactly where we can work with you to create a built-in advantage.

The Biggest Change: Google Is Looking for Non-Commodity Content

The most important phrase in Google’s new AI optimization guidance is “non-commodity content.”

Google specifically warns against content that simply recycles what others have already said or could easily be generated by AI. Just publishing a slew of AI-written content won’t hold rankings or AI results for Google, either. Study after study are showing that after about 3 months, Google’s algorithm identifies your content as AI-only, lacking in the EEAT imperative (Experience-Expertise-Authority-Trust), and Google will simply de-emphasize your content. The opposite of the game here.3 months, Google’s algorithm identifies your content as AI-only, lacking in the EEAT imperative, and Google will simply de-emphasize your content. The opposite of the game here.

Instead, Google’s “non-commodity content” algorithm recommends content with a unique point of view, first-hand experience, and expert insight – in other words, HUMAN WRITING! Google contrasts generic articles like “7 Tips for First-Time Homebuyers” with content that provides a specific, experience-based perspective.

For B2B marketers, this changes the assignment.

In the past, many SEO programs were built around keyword coverage. Pick the keyword. Write the page. Optimize the title. Add a few internal links. Repeat.

That model is becoming less effective, especially in AI search. Google is explicitly saying that high quantities of pages do not make a site higher quality or more relevant. It also says AI systems can understand relevance even when the exact query does not match the wording on the page.

That is new and different. It means technical marketers should stop building content calendars around every minor variation of a keyword phrase. Instead, they should build content around the full decision journey: the technical problem, the engineering tradeoffs, the buying committee’s concerns, the implementation risks, and the measurable business outcomes.

For GGC clients, that plays directly to our B2B marketing strengths. When you sell engineered products, industrial systems, software platforms, automation solutions, medical technologies, or advanced B2B services, your best content is not generic “thought leadership.”

The critical lever for you: It is content that explains complexity better than anyone else.

Recommendation #1: Build Content Around Expert Answers, Not Keyword Variations

Because Google AI uses query fan-out, one user question can trigger a web of related searches. A buyer asking, “how do I reduce downtime in automated manufacturing lines?” may also need answers about predictive maintenance, sensor selection, PLC integration, ROI calculations, service models and implementation timelines.

That does not mean you should create dozens of thin pages for every possible sub-question. Google warns that creating separate content for every possible query variation, primarily to manipulate rankings or AI responses, may violate its scaled content abuse policy.

The better approach is to create authoritative, well-structured pages that answer the real cluster of buyer questions in one useful resource.

For example, instead of creating separate thin posts such as:

“Predictive maintenance for packaging lines”
“Predictive maintenance for food processing”
“Predictive maintenance for bottling plants”
“Predictive maintenance ROI calculator”

…create one deep, technically grounded guide: “How Predictive Maintenance Reduces Downtime in hygienic food processing operations.” Then include sections on use cases, equipment types, monitoring points, ROI model, implementation risks, data requirements, and vendor evaluation criteria.

That is more useful to a real buyer — and far more aligned with how AI search retrieves and synthesizes information.

Yes, it’s long, but it harkens back to the days of pillar content recommendations – long content communicates expertise to Google and earns Google AI references in our “zero-click” world.

Recommendation #2: Use AI as a Research and Structuring Tool, Not a Substitute for Expertise

Google does not ban AI-generated content. In fact, it says generative AI can be useful for researching a topic and adding structure to original content. The problem, as mentioned above, is using AI or similar tools to generate many pages without adding value or human writing input for users. Google says content should meet standards for accuracy, quality and relevance, including titles, meta descriptions, structured data and image alt text.

This is a key distinction.

The issue is not whether AI touched the content. The issue is whether the final content demonstrates effort, ORIGINALITY, accuracy and value.

For technical B2B companies, we’ve used this workflow for many years, and Google is just telling us that this must remain in place:

• Interview the subject matter expert. Capture real application knowledge. Use AI to organize the material, identify missing questions, and draft structure. Then have a technical writer refine the content into clear, accurate, buyer-focused copy.

That is where GGC’s advantage is especially strong. We are not using AI to mass-produce generic content. We use AI to DEEPEN the work around expert-driven content: extracting technical concepts, mapping them to buying committee questions, improving readability, and packaging subject matter expertise in a way that search engines and human decision-makers can both understand.

Recommendation #3: Make Technical Content Easier for Humans First

Google’s AI guidance repeatedly brings the focus back to human usefulness. It recommends organizing content with clear paragraphs, sections and headings. It also says semantic HTML can help users such as screen-reader users navigate pages (which is why you should ensure you have an ADA-compliant website), although perfect semantic HTML is not required.

That means AI visibility is not about writing robotic, chunked content for machines. It is about making complex information easier to understand.

For technical companies, this includes:

• Clear definitions of complex terms
• Application-specific examples
• Tables comparing options or tradeoffs.
• Diagrams, images, videos, or schematics where helpful.
• Tear-down videos and CAD animations of interior parts
• FAQs based on sales conversations.
• Implementation/installation and repair guidance.
• Evidence, specifications, and measurable outcomes.

Google also notes that images and videos can create more opportunities to appear in generative AI search features, not just traditional web links. In fact we see Google AI answers including references to client videos more frequently than in the past – if optimized for search correctly.

In fact, technical buyers often need to see the product, process, architecture, workflow, or installation context. Strong visuals are no longer just conversion assets. They are search visibility assets.

Recommendation #4: Keep the Site Technically Clean and Indexable

One thing that has not changed: Google still needs to find, crawl, index and understand your pages.

To be eligible for Google’s generative AI features, a page must be indexed and eligible to appear in Google Search with a snippet. Google also emphasizes crawlability, page experience, page speed, and reduced duplicate content.

This is where many B2B sites fall short. Their best technical information is often locked inside PDFs, buried in ungated brochures, duplicated across product pages, or written in a way that assumes the buyer already knows the answer.

AI search rewards accessible expertise. That means technical content should be published as crawlable HTML whenever possible, supported by strong page structure, internal linking, schema where appropriate, good page speed rankings and clear metadata.

Side rant: we’re often surprised at how few companies have Google Search Console installed on their sites. It’s important. It matters for search strategy. Google Search Console is the first line of communication between your website and Google. It’s free!

We find it’s common for web developers who are oriented around building a website as an isolated tool, rather than as an integrated element of a larger digital marketing machine, to overlook verifying their domains in Google Search Console. Developers often don’t know the importance of some of these search basics. Google Search Console tabs like performance, core web vitals, and site indexation are great examples of how search console can help with understanding your site and making marketing improvements.

Mythbusting: What You Do Not Need to Do for Google AI Answers

Google’s new mythbusting section is especially useful because it pushes back on many of the “AI SEO hacks” currently being sold online. Here’s a checklist:

1. First, you do not need an llms.txt file or special AI markup to appear in Google’s generative AI search. Google says there is no requirement for new machine-readable files, AI text files, Markdown files or special markup.
2. You do not need to “chunk” your content into tiny pieces for AI. Google says its systems can understand nuance across multiple topics on a page and surface the relevant section. There is no ideal page length; the right length depends on the audience and subject.
3. You do not need to rewrite content in a special style for AI systems. Google says its AI systems understand synonyms and meaning, so you do not need to capture every long-tail variation.
4. You should not chase inauthentic mentions across the web. Google says its generative AI features may reflect what is being said across blogs, videos, and forums, but fake mentions are not a durable strategy because Google’s ranking and spam systems still focus on quality.
5. Do not overfocus on structured data. Google says structured data is not required for generative AI search and there is no special schema for AI answers. It still has value for traditional rich results, but it is not a magic AI visibility switch.

These myths matter because they separate real strategy from tactical noise. The companies that win in AI search will not be the ones with the cleverest hacks. They will be the ones with the clearest, most useful, most technically credible content.

What This Means for GGC Clients

For complex B2B sales, Google AI answers raise the bar. Thin SEO pages, generic blogs and AI-written filler will become less useful. Expert content will become more valuable. Content has to be valuable at an engineer-to-engineer level, aimed not just at the business buyer, but as meaningful content for the technical buyer as well.

That aligns perfectly with GGC’s approach: technical fluency, strategic content architecture, search visibility, sales enablement and measurable lead generation. The goal is not simply to rank. The goal is to become the source Google trusts enough to cite — and the source buyers trust enough to contact.

The new playbook is straightforward:

• Create original, expert-led content.
• Answer the real questions buyers ask during complex sales cycles.
• Make technical information clear, crawlable and visually supported.
• Use AI to deepen the content, not replace expertise.
• Ignore AI SEO myths/gimmicks and focus on durable quality.

In other words, the future of AI search belongs to companies that can explain complicated things well. That has always been the heart of effective technical B2B marketing — and it is exactly where GGC is built to lead.

The post How to Get Your Content Listed in Google AI/AEO Answers appeared first on Goldstein Group Communications.

It’s like the weather – everyone complains about it. But it’s real, and it requires an immediate re-think into how you build your B2B marketing campaigns. Let’s dig into the 5 structural shifts taking place and then transition to the key “pivots” to make in your B2B marketing plan.

1. The Old Top-of-Funnel Model Is Losing Efficiency For years, B2B marketing teams could justify performance with white paper downloads, gated eBooks and “Marketing-Qualified-Lead” (MQL) volume. But that model is producing too many contacts who are researching, lack authority, don’t have budget, or are simply too early in their buying process to create revenue anytime soon.

   Today, it’s more about the Middle of the Funnel. B2B marketers are using new technology tools to move beyond reporting on Leads, MQLs and Sales-Qualified-Leads toward harder business outcomes like sales meetings, quoted opportunities and pipeline contribution. That is not just a reporting adjustment. It is a more accurate definition of what marketing is supposed to produce.

   It comes down to Outcomes, not Activities: if sales is starving for real opportunities among ready buyers, marketing cannot keep optimizing around these lesser activity metrics alone.

2. The Complex Sale Has Broken the Linear Funnel Journey The traditional sales funnel assumes buyers move neatly in a linear fashion from top to bottom, uninterrupted, from awareness to consideration to decision. That is not how most B2B buying works today, especially in industrial, manufacturing and technical sectors. The linear sales funnel has been replaced by the complex sale journey mapped best a few years ago by Gartner Group.

   

   Complex sale journeys involve multiple stakeholders, competing priorities, stops-and-starts and repeated loops from assessment to selection. One person may care about product performance. Another may focus on implementation risk. Another may need ROI justification. Some may look for solutions on social, and others may walk the floor of a trade show. Marketing has to support all of that.

   This is why underinvesting in the middle of the funnel activities, as mentioned earlier, is such a costly mistake.

   In complex sales, the middle is often where deals are won or lost. Buyers need help making sense of tradeoffs, building internal consensus and reducing perceived risk. That requires stronger mid-funnel content and enablement assets, not just more awareness, thought leadership and white paper content.

3. Middle-of-Funnel Tools Like ZoomInfo and De-anonymizers Matter More Than Ever Tools like ZoomInfo and De-anonymizers are important, but not because they provide bigger contact databases. Their real value is in helping marketers and sales teams find people who are in the buying process NOW, not early stage leads and researchers with no budget.

   When used strategically, ZoomInfo can help teams identify active accounts, understand relevant search intent, enrich CRM records and coordinate outreach around real engagement. That makes it possible to shift budget away from broad lead capture and toward mid-funnel opportunity creation.

   De-anonymizers are a relatively new type of tool that identifies the NAME/EMAIL/PHONE number of the person who visited your site – but left without filling out a form. They’re far more effective than lead tools that just tell you the domain of the visitor. That’s essentially of no value to a salesperson. Instead, the de-anonymizer tool identifies their specific work contact information, how they got to your site, and what pages they visited. A gold mine for sales!

   That is a much smarter use of spend in markets with long sales cycles and expensive sales resources.

   Remember, the software itself is not the strategy. Too many companies buy these platforms without designing the staff support, workflows, responsibilities and follow-up actions required to turn signals into pipeline. The ROI comes from orchestration, not just identifying the name.

   

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4. Engineering Buyers Expect Better Content, More Than Brand Messages If you’re selling to engineers or a technical buyer, this shift is even more pronounced. Engineers are highly self-directed. They want to research independently, compare options on their own and engage with vendors only after they have made meaningful progress.

   That changes the job of marketing.

   It is no longer enough to publish polished brand copy and a few thought leadership assets. Marketers now need to build a digital buying environment that helps technical audiences evaluate solutions without needing sales to explain the basics.

   That means your website and content must do more of the heavy lifting. In many cases, buyers need access to:

   • Detailed product and application information
   • Technical FAQs and specifications
   • Live chat and self-service FAQ tools
   • Demo videos, tear-down videos, animations and proof-oriented case studies
   • Comparison content and implementation guidance
   • ROI calculators and business-case tools
   • Objection-handling and technical validation assets
   • Testimonials, use cases and sales enablement materials

   If your messaging stays high-level while your audience is looking for concrete evidence and technical relevance, your funnel breaks down long before a lead form is submitted.

5. AI Is Raising the Standard, Not Lowering It What do you do if people stop coming to your website? It’s an answer you’d better have on hand, because it’s happening today.

   AI is re-defining marketing in two ways – AI search is interrupting and diverting traffic from ever getting to your site. However, on the plus side, it’s presenting a series of tools that can greatly help to accelerate sales. Let’s touch on both.

   For search, AI is presenting answers to complex questions before your prospect ever scrolls down to find that coveted #1 organic position you worked so hard to achieve on Google. For many, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, etc. have replaced Google completely, so the path potential buyers used to take to find you – search query, your search listing, then click – has been forever broken. Many companies are reporting traffic declines to their site of 20-30%, and there’s a sense that we’re still searching for the bottom of that decline. The conversion from competing for organic rankings in an SEO mode to AEO/GEO (AI Engine Optimization/Generative Engine Optimization) is in full swing, in order to get included in those AI searches on Google and other platforms.

   The second AI component to consider is how new AI tools can be used to accelerate sales. Intent targeting, campaign generation, ad creation, message testing, workflow automation – it’s all exploding with AI improvement tools in ways that let marketers shift human effort toward higher-value work. Our work doesn’t just become faster – AI tools are helping us build better programs with more ready access to best practices and more thoughtful strategy.

   The companies that benefit most from AI will be the ones that use it to improve decision quality, not just increase output.

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What Marketers Should Do Next

With all this in mind, here are four “pivots” you should consider for your B2B marketing program. These are not an attempt to chase every new tool or trend. It is to adjust your operating model so marketing is better matched to how technical buyers actually buy today.

• Measure opportunity quality, not lead quantity. Build reporting around sales-accepted opportunities, meetings created, quoted opportunities, influenced pipeline and conversion by stage. If your dashboard still centers on MQL or even SQL volume, you are probably optimizing for the wrong outcome.
• Rebuild content around the real decision journey. Audit your content by sales stage, buyer role and buying question. Most teams have enough top-of-funnel awareness content but not nearly enough middle-of-funnel content types mentioned above. Focus on the messy middle, where buyers need proof, clarity and internal justification.
• Operationalize intent data. Connect ZoomInfo, de-anonymizer and related tools to HubSpot or your CRM so account activity triggers action, and then aggressively train your sales teams on how to leverage it. Anonymous website visits, pricing page views and keyword surges should launch specific sales and marketing responses, not just appear in reports.
• Use AI to accelerate campaigns, improve strategy execution, and uncover more ROI indicators. Apply AI to analysis, testing, workflow design and optimization, while keeping humans responsible for positioning and judgment. In technical B2B markets, credibility and accuracy are too important to automate blindly.

The New ROI Standard in B2B Marketing

The result is clear: lead gen has given way to sales opportunity generation; top-of-funnel programs take too long and cost too much to rely upon; and it’s time to expect that AI functions as more than just another search engine or blog writer, in order to accelerate sales.

The marketers who improve ROI over the next few years will not be the ones who generate the most leads. They will be the ones who draw a straight line from lead-to-quote-sale and use new tools to make that line shorter than a competitor’s.

For teams willing to adapt, it creates a better model—one that is more measurable, more sales-aligned and far more likely to produce real revenue impact.

The post No Kidding, B2B Digital Marketing Has Changed. Here’s What To Do Next to Protect Your Pipeline appeared first on Goldstein Group Communications.

Who Did EETech Survey?

Before we get into the findings, a quick word on methodology: this study covers more than 1,000 qualified engineer respondents across multiple disciplines, globally. North America and Europe represent about 60% of the respondent base, with the remainder distributed across other key global markets. Company sizes are well distributed from small to large, which makes the data projectable as an average across the market, rather than skewed toward enterprise-level firms. It’s a very robust study — and one of the reasons I’ve made it a fixture of my annual research diet for many years.

The Generational Shift Is Now Majority Rule

Here is perhaps the most structurally important finding: Millennial and Gen Z engineers now represent approximately 60% of the global engineering workforce (outside of China). This isn’t a trend to watch for the future. It’s happening right now, today, and it affects almost everything — where engineers go for information, what content they want, how they make buying decisions, and how they use AI in their engineering work.

Millennial and Gen Z engineers stand out from their more seasoned colleagues in a few notable ways. While electrical engineering remains the dominant specialty across all age groups, younger engineers show a stronger pull toward AI integration, control and automation, and data and analytics, displaying preferences where they diverge most visibly from career pros. They are also more fluid in their brand preferences, having not yet built the deep supplier loyalties that senior engineers tend to carry. And they are meaningfully more active in online engineering communities and social media, with over 30% reporting they discover new products and companies through social channels. If your marketing strategy is still optimized for the more senior/Baby Boomer engineer who has used the same supplier for 20 years, you are marketing to an increasingly smaller share of your actual audience.

The Biggest Finding: Manufacturer Websites Are Now #1

This is the one that stopped me cold. For the second time in a row — and this trend solidified last year’s results — manufacturer websites have risen above search engines as the top destination where engineers go to find new products and information.

Let that sink in for a moment. Google, the search engine we have spent years building SEO and PPC strategies around, is no longer the first stop for the engineer who is actively looking for product information. Your website is.

What that means practically is this: if your website isn’t “site ready,” you’re wasting a large portion of your marketing investment. Engineers are coming to you directly. What do they find when they get there? Is your data sheet on the product page, one click away? Are your application notes and reference designs easy to locate? Do you have live chat and a functional knowledge base? Engineers are time-starved, and the rule is simple: don’t waste their time. If they have to hunt for the spec sheet, they’re gone.

The other implication here is for content. The study shows clearly that articles and blogs on manufacturer websites are the second-ranked source of information for new product discovery, right after data sheets. If your company blog is a ghost town of press releases from 2022, you have work to do.

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Engineering Forums and Communities Have Surpassed Search Engines, Too

Engineering forums and communities now rank above traditional search engines as an information source engineers use for finding technology information. This makes a great deal of sense when you think about it: engineers have always been a collegial group that trusts peer input above all else. The data backs that up — colleagues and co-workers rank consistently high as a trusted source of information, particularly among the Millennial Z group, with more than 50% cite colleagues/co-workers as a primary resource.

What are the marketing implications? Your brand needs to have a presence in the engineering communities where engineers actually talk to each other – LinkedIn, Reddit, EETech, Sparkwire, and others. Not just an ad, but genuine participation. Technical content that earns citation. White papers and articles that get shared and recommended. This is the “word-of-mouth” channel of the engineering world, and it’s alive and well — it’s just moved online.

Social Media for Engineers? The Numbers Will Surprise You

I’ll be honest: this finding surprised both Steve and me. More than 31% of Millennial Z engineers are using social media to find new companies and products. That is not a secondary or experimental channel. That’s a primary marketing channel for a significant cohort of your audience.

We’ve seen plenty of companies treating their LinkedIn presence as an afterthought — reposting the occasional press release, maybe a trade show photo. The data is telling us that’s not enough. Social media for the engineering audience requires a commitment to real, technically credible content. Engagement. Authenticity. The engineers who are using social media to discover products are not looking for corporate announcements; they are looking for content that helps them do their jobs.

AI: No Longer a Future Bet

The study confirmed something I think we all knew intuitively but now have solid data to support: AI has become embedded throughout the engineering design process. It’s not a curiosity or a pilot program; it’s not just a content writer. It is how technical and design work gets done, particularly for Millennial Z engineers.

Where are engineers using AI? Across code generation, design assistance, documentation, test and validation support, and more. The dominant tools are large language models, Copilot, and Gemini — with code generation and design assistance leading the pack. Nearly 4 in 10 Millennial Z engineers want LLM capabilities integrated directly into the manufacturer tools and platforms they use.

What does this mean for marketers? Two things. First, your own content strategy needs to account for how AI is changing search. We now know that roughly 58% of searches end without a click, which means engineers (and everyone else) are getting answers at the top of the page and not visiting your website. Getting your product information, specs, and content included in AI-generated answers is no longer optional. It’s table stakes. About 95% of the AI-driven traffic we see coming to client websites is coming from ChatGPT. If your company isn’t showing up in those responses, you have a serious visibility problem.

Second, the AI-generated email blast era is already on its way out. Engineers can spot it, sales teams are building guidelines to avoid it, and the response rates reflect the problem. Authenticity and technical credibility remain the currency of engineering marketing.

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AI and Next Gen Engineers:

New Buying Patterns Call for New Marketing Approaches

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What Engineers Want to Find on Your Website

The study asked engineers what types of content and tools matter most. Not surprisingly, data sheets, application notes, and reference designs dominated the list. But here’s the part that I keep coming back to: reference designs are consistently hard to find on manufacturer’s websites, and engineers consistently say they want more of them.

If you make reference designs available for your products, make sure they are front and center — not buried three levels deep in a resource library. And if you haven’t invested in reference designs yet and that’s part of your company’s buying process, this data should make a compelling internal business case.

Beyond content, engineers want:

• CAD models
• design files
• pricing and availability tools
• bill-of-material support

These features are not bells and whistles. They are the tools engineers use to do their jobs. If your website is not equipped with them, you’re sending engineers somewhere else to finish their research — and that somewhere else might be your competitor.

The White Paper Debate

Here’s an interesting finding that the data puts a spotlight on: career pro engineers (the older, more experienced cohort) value white papers more than Millennial Z engineers do. Does that mean white papers are dead? Not exactly. But it does reinforce something we’ve been saying to clients for a while now: the market is gravitating toward middle-of-the-funnel content that uncovers engineers who are already in the buying process, not just top-of-funnel awareness pieces.

The line between a white paper, an in-depth technical article, and a written tutorial is increasingly blurry. What matters is the formula: problem plus solution, written at the technical level the engineer expects, without product-push language. Whatever you call it, that type of content is what earns credibility and trust.

The Bottom Line for Marketers

Here is my summary of what this study is telling us to do right now:

• Make sure your website is site ready. Fast, easy to navigate, loaded with technical content, free of unnecessary registration walls, and built to serve engineers who arrive with a specific question. Your website is now the #1 destination. Treat it that way.
• Invest in engineering communities and forums. This is where peer conversations happen, brand preferences are shaped, and product recommendations are made. Be present with credible, helpful content.
• Take social media seriously as a technical content channel. Especially for reaching younger engineers, the numbers have crossed the threshold from nice-to-have to must-have.
• Build a strategy around AI-driven search. Your specs, case studies, application notes, and product information need to be optimized for inclusion in AI-generated answers, not just traditional search results.
• Go after Millennial Z engineers with urgency. They are now the majority. They have not locked in brand preferences. They are reachable — but only with the right content, in the right channels, with genuine technical credibility behind it.

The engineering marketing landscape is changing faster than at any point in my 30-plus years in this business. But the data from studies like this one are invaluable guides. Use them. The full EETech Engineering Insights Report is available at our site, I highly encourage you to download it.

The post What the EETech Engineering Insights Report Is Telling Us About How to Market to Engineers in 2026 appeared first on Goldstein Group Communications.

The Real Roadblocks to B2B Growth

Many companies today find revenue growth harder and harder to achieve. Competitors have gotten better. Prospects have many ways to hide from your sales team. And the cost of switching from vendor to you seems to be higher than ever. What to do?

Solving these roadblocks typically calls for improvements in three critical areas: People, Process and Technology.

Process Problems: How do you actually handle incoming leads? What happens when a prospect emails a question, attends a webinar or visits your trade show booth? Does the prospect lead move quickly and automatically to an inside sales team, marketing team or direct sales rep? When does it go to a third-party rep firm or distributor? Do you handle that prospect differently if they’re a new contact, if they’ve been in your system for a year or so, or are a former customer? In many instances, lead handing to handle various scenarios like this needs to be sophisticated and nuanced, yet often these next steps aren’t documented for consistent follow-up. If there’s no documented process, there’s simply no way to create consistency, onboard new salespeople or scale your teams. It means that you’re leaving revenue on the table every day.

Technology Disconnects: CRM systems nearly without exception are typically underutilized, overcomplicated, used inconsistently or fighting against your process instead of supporting it. We’ve seen companies dump one CRM for a new tool thinking that will improve results. It never works that way.

People Misalignment: Here’s an uncomfortable truth that people don’t like to say: many B2B salespeople don’t like to sell. That doesn’t mean they’re not great at relationship-building with existing customers. But that’s not the hard work of “selling” and prospecting for market share growth and new customers. The fact is that some people are wired to be farmers, and some are wired as natural “hunters” who thrive on finding new customers. Both are valuable, but you’ll never grow market share and your customer base by putting farmers in hunting roles and suffering through the ongoing frustration of why your sales aren’t growing.

A little tip: there are personality assessment tools that can help teams identify “farmers” and “hunters.” One consultant for such a tool told a story about an underperforming sales team that did not bring in enough new customers. After conducting personality testing, they were stunned to learn that their entire sales team was filled with only farmers. No wonder they weren’t experiencing the prospecting they needed to grow.

It is nearly impossible and frankly impractical to try to rewire someone to adopt a new personality. Hunters enjoy the challenge of finding new customers without being burdened by the frequent rejection that accompanies this task.

webinar

AI and Next Gen Engineers:

New Buying Patterns Call for New Marketing Approaches

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What Marketing’s Role Really Is (Beyond Lead Generation)

For too long, marketing jobs have been defined as “generating leads and handing them to sales.” That’s not wrong, but it’s incomplete. The most effective B2B marketing operations do three things simultaneously:

1. Build Brand Recognition Before the Sales Call When prospects have already heard of your company, the sales environment shifts. Cold calls became warm conversations. Phone messages are returned. Website form fills increase. That’s not magic—that’s marketing doing the work of lowering sales resistance before your team even picks up the phone.

   Today’s B2B buyers complete 60-70% of their purchase journey ever before contacting sales. If your brand isn’t visible during that research phase, you’re fighting an uphill battle. Marketing’s job is to make sure your company is part of the conversation from day one.

   This process of building brand recognition prior to the sales call plays an increasingly important role in an environment where buyers today have honed their skills of hiding from salespeople. Many work remotely and are out of reach of office phone numbers. Additionally, younger decision makers don’t place the same value on face-to-face meetings that older decision makers, such as Baby Boomers, do.

2. Create Sales Enablement Tools That Actually Help Close Deals A CEO once said to me, “all I need to sell is a data sheet and feet on the street.” Those days are long gone.

   Generic product brochures don’t close deals anymore. Your sales team needs content that educates prospects, addresses specific objections, and moves opportunities through defined stages. That means:

   • Industry-specific case studies that prove ROI
   • Technical documentation that answers engineer questions
   • Comparison guides that position you against competitors
   • Nurture sequences that keep your brand top-of-mind during long sales cycles

   At GGC, we’ve seen the impact when marketing embeds discovery questions and closing frameworks directly into CRM systems. Suddenly, the sales team isn’t just tracking data—it’s following a process that that’s repeatable, proven and helps seasoned sales teams sell more with less effort.

3. Power a Lead Machine That Delivers Quality, Not Just Quantity Here’s where most B2B marketing falls short: turning leads over to sales that aren’t sales-ready or fit the Ideal Customer Profile. How frustrating! It creates an endless cycle of lack of trust among salespeople for the entire marketing opportunity-generation process. We’ve all seen it and frankly salespeople aren’t wrong—marketing hits their lead targets while the sales team complains the leads are garbage.

   The solution isn’t more leads. It’s better leads, defined collaboratively between marketing and sales, and delivered through multiple channels:

   • Paid search and social media that target buyer intent keywords
   • Email workflows that nurture contacts until they’re sales-ready
   • Content marketing that attracts the right audience organically
   • Account-based marketing that coordinates outreach to high-value targets

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28 Ways to Boost Your KPIs

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The Infrastructure Question CEOs Must Answer

After working with dozens of B2B companies, we’ve noticed something: CEOs apply rigorous process discipline to finance, operations and manufacturing, but often treat sales and marketing as a black box. Many B2B CEOs, particularly those in manufacturing organizations, came up through product development, engineering or finance—areas where they have natural expertise. If sales is outside their comfort zone, they can struggle with understanding and improving that part of the business.

Sales and marketing deserve the same level of process rigor as the rest of the company. That means:

Documented Sales Stages: Can you explain, step-by-step, how a prospect becomes a customer? Is that process written down? Does everyone follow it?

Clear Lead Definitions: What makes someone marketing-qualified versus sales-qualified? Have marketing and sales agreed on these definitions?

Integrated Technology: Does your CRM support your process, or fight it? Can you see pipeline health in real-time? Are marketing and sales using the same data?

Measurement That Matters: Are you tracking metrics that drive performance improvement, or fringe metrics that look impressive in a PowerPoint? The only metrics that matter are quotes, opportunities and closed-won metrics. The rest are vanity metrics.

Making the Shift: From Separate Functions to An Integrated Engine

Here’s what integration actually looks like in practice:

Marketing creates the playbook for sales: Not just brochures, but discovery frameworks, competitive positioning, and objection handling built into the CRM.

Sales informs marketing messaging: Your sales team talks to prospects daily. They know what objections come up, what competitors say, and what finally closes deals. That intelligence should flow back to marketing.

Both teams share the same goals: Not leads versus closed deals, but revenue. When marketing is measured on quote flow and closed-won revenue instead of lead flow, suddenly everyone cares about the same thing.

Technology connects the dots: Your CRM should tell you which marketing campaigns drive the best opportunities, which content helps close deals, and where prospects get stuck in your funnel.

The Bottom Line

Growing B2B revenue today requires more than working harder. It requires sales and marketing operating as a single, integrated engine where:

• Marketing lowers the resistance before sales engages
• Sales provides intelligence that sharpens marketing
• Both functions follow documented processes
• Technology enables rather than hinders performance
• Leadership applies the same process rigor to revenue generation as they do to operations

At Goldstein Group Communications, we specialize in building these marketing engines for B2B companies. Whether you’re struggling with lead quality, sales enablement, or strategic direction, the solution usually isn’t more activity. It’s better integration. Marketing can help sales.

Ready to build a marketing engine that actually drives sales results? Let’s talk about your specific challenges and how an integrated approach could transform your growth trajectory.

The post How Marketing Can Actually Help Your Sales Team Close More appeared first on Goldstein Group Communications.

Sales funnels have evolved from simple, linear flows where it was possible to move people predictably – and efficiently – from top to middle to bottom of funnel. Today, they’re more complex and circuitous, defined by stops and starts and multiple teams of decision-makers.

In fact, B2B marketing has long relied on the top of the funnel (TOFU) as its comfort zone. For decades, marketers have poured time and money into white papers and gated eBooks, hoping to draw in buyers early in their journeys. But here’s the hard truth: most of these “leads” aren’t actually leads at all, and they’re certainly not sales ready.

They’re researchers. They’re tire-kickers without authority. Occasionally, they’re a decision-maker without budget who’s months—if not years—away from a purchase.

Today’s sales leaders don’t need more of these names in the CRM—they need a qualified pipeline. Today’s sales leaders don’t need more of these names in their CRMs – they need meetings, quotes and opportunities.

Yet, too many marketing teams still get judged on how many top-of-funnel conversions they can drive. At GGC, we’re no longer even reporting on outdated terms such as MQL (Marketing Qualified Leads) or even SQL (Sales Qualified Leads), yielding in favor of meetings, quotes and opportunity measured in dollar value. Clearly, it’s time to rethink the top-of-funnel (TOFU) model.

The Problem With TOFU Cost in Today’s Market

TOFU leads are expensive to capture, hard to contact and slow to convert. Simply put, they cost a lot of money, not really to generate, but for sales teams to convert. There’s far too much friction and roadblocks to conversion today that add cost to these leads in ways that didn’t exist a few years ago.

These early-stage leads introduce inefficiencies across your entire go-to-market engine. Sales teams waste time chasing ghosts who never return calls or open emails. Nurture programs burn resources over months with little to no measurable ROI. And while marketing attribution might look strong, it rarely translates into meaningful revenue.

This approach made more sense when marketing automation was novel and intent data was scarce. But in 2025, we have better technologies—and smarter strategies.

The Shift: Leapfrogging to Mid‑Funnel Buyers

Progressive B2B companies are shifting their spend and focus toward identifying and engaging prospects who are already in an active buying cycle. These are the middle-of-funnel (MOFU) buyers—the ones actually in the buying process! They’re already evaluating solutions, building business cases or comparing vendors.

Instead of casting a wide net with a content magnet, modern marketers are using tech stacks built for precision. At GGC, we use tools like ZoomInfo WebSights, ZoomInfo Search Intent and various “de-anonymizer” tools from ListenLayer and others that allow us to tap into behavioral and firmographic signals to uncover who’s really in-market.

Let’s Break It Down:

1. ZoomInfo WebSights

   ZoomInfo WebSights reveals which companies are visiting your website—even if they never fill out a form. With IP-to-company resolution, we can see which accounts are engaging with product pages, map visits to your CRM, and prioritize outreach based on real-time signals.

2. Search Intent Data

   ZoomInfo’s intent data (or providers like Bombora and G2) track company-level interest signals based on content consumption across the web. This lets us identify companies researching relevant topics and time our outreach immediately, right at the moment they’re searching for a solution.

3. Deanonymization

   ListenLayer, and to a certain extent ZoomInfo, doesn’t just identify the name of the domain – the old paradigm provided by lead sensing tools – but instead it identifies the visitor’s name, phone and WORK email address with great accuracy. Capturing a visit from a major company like Ford, Merck or ABB does little for a sales team. However, capturing the specific visitor’s contact information is the ultimate method for converting anonymous visitors into leads. Automatic email and outreach programs are in a unique and powerful position to engage just at the moment they’re searching for you as a solution. It’s an instant alert that helps you separate real buyer activity from casual browsing.

Real Pipeline Over Vanity Metrics

It’s not that TOFU content is worthless—it still plays a role in SEO, brand visibility and thought leadership. But it shouldn’t be the cornerstone of your lead gen focus or defining your value.

Marketers who build programs that prioritize mid-funnel engagement generate more sales-qualified leads that convert faster, more opportunities with shorter sales cycles, and better marketing-sourced revenue without inflating cost-per-lead metrics.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Here’s how forward-thinking B2B marketing teams are building this new model:

• We identify in-market accounts using intent and WebSights, custom intent and de-anonymizer data.
• Outreach campaigns are programmed and ready to go as they’re trigged by our instant alerts.
• Sales teams are routed with warm responses from people asking for meetings and more information.

The result? More pipeline, less noise and a marketing and sales engine that drives sales-ready opportunities—not just MQLs that don’t convert.

Final Thought

White papers play a role, but they are no longer the sales door-opener they once were. The leads they produce aren’t always wrong—but they’re too often early, uncertain and expensive to pursue.

By leapfrogging the top of the funnel to the middle, where you’re able to build campaigns that engage with buyers more likely to have budget and authority, B2B marketers can deliver more value, build better alignment with sales and prove true marketing ROI.

It’s not about lead gen or filling the funnel anymore—it’s about filling it with people who are ready to move.

Reach out to GGC to learn more about how we’re applying these new content and tech stack tools to close more and grow more for B2B marketers.

The post Leap Beyond the White Paper: How Smart B2B Marketers Are Bypassing the Top‑of‑Funnel Trap appeared first on Goldstein Group Communications.

Targeting the technical buyer isn’t the same as the business buyer. Engineers and the technical audience in general look for different messages, different information sources and have different buyer’s journeys than other B2B decision-makers, so it’s critical to understand what they need and how to reach them.

That’s why the results in the annual EETech engineering insights report study on how to market to engineers is so important to understand. Our recent webinar co-presented with EEtech is must-see marketing for anyone trying to build a sales pipeline with engineers today.

The webinar, “AI and Next Gen Engineers: New Buying Patterns Call for New Marketing Approaches,” discusses new ways engineers are using AI to find information, source new products and evaluate potential new partners. The study presents data on the differences between engineering purchase patterns by generation, as well as in different regions of the world – North America, Europe and Asia.

There are several critical findings in this year’s study:

1. The Shift in Information Search Behavior For years, Google has been the go-to platform for engineers seeking information, but that trend is rapidly changing. According to the report, for the first time ever, engineers are now more likely to visit a manufacturer’s website than to perform a search on Google. This shift is a game-changer for B2B marketers, as it means your website is now the primary source of truth for your target audience, rather than a third-party search engine.
   Actionable Insight:
   • Invest in website optimization. If your website isn’t designed to serve as a self-sufficient information hub, now is the time to prioritize that. Focus on providing clear, technical content, FAQs, product specifications, and case studies. Make it easy for engineers to find the exact information they need without having to reach out to your sales team or dig through external sites.
2. Engineer Engagement and Their Unique Buyer’s Journey The report highlights that engineers are increasingly avoiding conversations with salespeople until the later stages of the buying process. In fact, engineers now prefer to make buying decisions based on the information they find online rather than through direct interactions with a sales rep. This behavior is particularly relevant in industries where purchasing decisions are complex and need to be researched thoroughly.
   Actionable Insight:
   • Create self-service content. Your website must cater to this trend by offering in-depth content that answers engineers’ questions and addresses their pain points at every step of the technical buyer’s journey. Go beyond just white papers to create in-depth product guides, calculators, comparison charts and lots and lots of demo videos. The goal is to offer a comprehensive self-service experience that reduces the need for early-stage sales interaction.
3. Content Preferences: What Engineers Want to See The EETech Report also reveals some surprising preferences regarding content. Engineers have never liked sales-heavy content. Instead, they gravitate toward content that is educational, technical and value-driven. Engineers will lean toward real-world applications, case studies and practical solutions.
   Actionable Insight:
   • Focus on educational content. Create content that helps engineers solve problems or optimize their processes. Offer case studies that show how your product or solution has been used in similar industries or applications. Highlight your product’s unique technical features and explain how they directly benefit engineers, rather than relying on high-level, generalized marketing language.
4. Social Media Influence Another key finding from the report is that social media has become a more significant influence on engineer buying behavior than previously thought. Engineers are increasingly turning to platforms like LinkedIn for recommendations, networking and professional content.
   Actionable Insight:
   • Leverage LinkedIn for thought leadership. LinkedIn has proven to be an invaluable platform for reaching engineers. Build a strategy around sharing informative articles, case studies, product demos and industry updates. Position your company as a thought leader in your field by engaging in relevant industry discussions and providing solutions to problems that engineers are facing.
5. Sustainability and Compliance: A Growing Concern Sustainability is becoming an increasingly important issue, especially within industries like manufacturing and construction. Engineers are particularly sensitive to compliance and sustainability concerns, as they are often responsible for ensuring that products and processes adhere to strict regulatory standards.
   Actionable Insight:
   • Highlight your sustainability efforts. Engineers want to work with companies that understand the importance of sustainability. Whether it’s reducing carbon footprints, improving energy efficiency, or meeting specific environmental regulations, make sure your sustainability efforts are front and center in your marketing. Emphasize compliance with industry standards and regulations in your content to appeal to engineers who prioritize these aspects.
6. The Importance of Trust and Quality Trust is paramount in the engineering world, and engineers are not easily swayed by flashy marketing tactics. They place a premium on quality and reliability when selecting suppliers, especially when dealing with high-stakes projects. The EETech report underscores that engineers want to partner with vendors who have a proven track record of delivering quality products and services on time.
   Actionable Insight:
   • Showcase your reliability. Beyond the case studies, testimonials and client success stories mentioned earlier, look for ways to demonstrate how your products have delivered consistent quality and performance. Highlight any certifications, standards or awards your company has achieved that reflect your commitment to quality. This will help establish trust and demonstrate your expertise in the field.
7. ROI Metrics: Measuring the Impact of Engineering Content It remains a crucial metric for B2B marketers: aim for a 2% conversion rate from website traffic to lead generation. This benchmark is essential for understanding the effectiveness of your marketing efforts, especially when it comes to engaging with engineers. Given that engineers prefer to make decisions based on the information they find on your website, ensuring that this content converts visitors into leads is a critical objective.
   Actionable Insight:
   • Optimize your website for conversion. With engineers increasingly relying on your website for information, it’s vital that your site is optimized not only for search engines but also for lead conversion. Focus on clear calls to action (CTAs), easy-to-complete forms, and ensuring that your product pages are detailed enough to drive decision-making. Monitor your conversion rates regularly and adjust your strategy to improve performance.

Making The Shift Toward Engineer‑Centric Marketing

The EETech Engineering Insights Report gives us a strong roadmap for creating marketing campaigns that resonate with this busy, demanding and all-important decision-maker. Because GGC has been embedded in engineering-driven marketing for 30+ years, our campaigns are built on a foundation of technical understanding and depth that allows us to create engineer-to-engineer content that is seen as accurate, credible and compelling.

The post The EETech Engineering Insights Report: A Goldmine for B2B Marketing Executives Targeting Engineers appeared first on Goldstein Group Communications.

Zero-click is the scenario caused by Google displaying AI “answers” at the top of many search queries. Type a prompt or search string into Google, and ahead of organic and even paid listing, Google displays a quick bit of information that addresses the search topic or question. A quick read, and no need to visit your company’s web site. Thus, zero-click.

Is this issue real? Are companies actually seeing a decline in organic traffic – and therefore leads – as a result of these helpful – yet disruptive – AI responses at the top of a Google search result?

Let’s look at some data, along with how B2B marketers can respond. At GGC, we’ve developed a plan that we see is working, and we’ll share that with you as well here.

The Rise of Google’s AI-Generated Results

Rather than showing a list of traditional search results (websites), Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) provides a synthesized response, pulling from multiple sources to give a comprehensive, conversational answer to the user’s query. This is particularly useful for long-tail queries or technical questions, often common in the B2B manufacturing sector.

For example, a search like “What are the differences between pneumatic and electric actuators in ball valves?” will no longer just show links to relevant blogs or product pages. Instead, Google might provide an AI-generated summary detailing the power source differences, precision, cost and other key factors directly on the results page.

This means that users can find the answers they need without ever leaving the search results page, and, more critically, without visiting an external website. In essence, Google’s AI answers are now acting as a middleman, answering questions before users need to click on a website.

The Impact on Organic Search Traffic

Is this leading to a decline in traffic yet? It is for some, and in some cases it’s dramatic. Some SEO watchers have reported up to 60% reductions in organic clicks for certain queries once AI answers are displayed. In fact, early tests found that organic click-through rates (CTR) dropped by 20% to 64% on search results where AI overviews were included.

For B2B manufacturers, this of course means that having the #1-3 organic position may no longer put you at the top of the page, so you won’t be receiving the clicks you once did.

At GGC, we haven’t seen this play out yet. While a few clients are showing flat traffic or declines, the majority are continuing to see typical increases in organic and paid search volumes. But we expect that to change.

The Impact on Paid Search Traffic

Paid search ads appear above organic listings, as we know, so is this zero-click phenomena not affecting paid search clicks and results as well? We’re not so lucky.

PPC traffic is also feeling the effects of Google’s AI changes. As AI overviews capture more attention in the SERPs, users are less likely to scroll down to see the ads or even need to click on them, because the AI content has essentially answered the search question already.

One study by Seer Interactive found that paid CTR dropped from 1.31% to 0.70% when an AI overview was presented.

However, some paid ads are still more effective for transactional or highly commercial searches. If users are searching with clear intent to purchase (e.g., “buy industrial actuators”), paid ads can still be a viable option, as AI overviews typically do not address transactional queries in depth.

The Implications for B2B Manufacturers

The challenges for B2B marketers are obvious:

• Reduced Visibility in Search Results: With AI taking up more screen space, your organic listings are pushed further down the page. Even if your content is featured in an AI overview, many users may not click through to your website.
• Lower Click-Through Rates (CTR): Both organic and paid search CTRs are declining as AI answers dominate the top of the page. This means fewer visitors are reaching your website through traditional search methods.
• Increased Competition for Ad Placement: With fewer users clicking on paid ads due to the prominence of AI answers, competition for top ad spots is likely to intensify. This could increase cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per-lead (CPL), while reducing overall ad efficiency.
• Evolving User Behavior: Technical buyers in B2B manufacturing are increasingly turning to AI for quick answers, which could change how they engage with content and make purchasing decisions. AI is not just answering questions—it’s creating a new type of discovery experience that impacts your traditional lead generation strategies.

Addressing Zero-Clicks: Here’s What To Do

1. Optimize Content for AI Visibility
   Change your content so it’s more likely to be included in Google’s AI overview and snippets:
   • Add People Also Ask content to key pages, so Google sees your content as exactly matching what questions people already ask.
   • Focus on clear, concise answers to common questions in your industry. Use bullet points, numbered lists, and headings to make it easy for Google to digest and pull your content into an AI answer.
   • Use structured data (schema markup) to help Google understand your content and improve its chances of being featured in AI overviews.
   • Create long-form, comprehensive content that answers questions thoroughly. Google is more likely to feature content that addresses all aspects of a query in a single place.
   • Publish FAQs, guides, and comparison articles that align with the types of questions your audience is asking. These content formats are likely to be picked up by AI systems.
   • Follow Google’s EEAT Guidelines (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness) by publishing regularly, with author bios, to build up authority and expertise in Google’s eyes.
   • Don’t back off backlink efforts, even though they’re time consuming, since Google sees backlinks as an expertise and authority signal.
2. Leverage Other Channels Beyond Google Search
   With organic and paid search traffic declining, it’s critical to diversify your traffic sources. B2B manufacturers should consider:
   • Investing in other channels such as email marketing, content syndication, YouTube, and industry-specific directories. These channels can help you capture potential leads who might not be relying solely on Google for information.
   • Building a strong presence on professional networks like LinkedIn, where B2B audiences are active. Publishing thought leadership content and engaging with industry groups can drive traffic and establish your brand as an authority.
3. It’s Time To Broaden the Marketing Focus To Include More Brand Awareness and Thought Leadership
   Google has always prioritized expert content in determining rank positions. Now it’s doing it in making choices about what to include in AI searches. So while the imperative for clicks and leads has driven most B2B manufacturing efforts, today that has to be built on a stronger foundation of brand awareness-building activity than in than in the past.Make sure you highlight your industry reputation on landing pages and throughout your content. Trust signals, such as customer testimonials and industry certifications, can help persuade users to click through even if they initially encounter your brand in an AI-generated answer. Push for Google Reviews on your Google My Business listing.
4. Adapt Paid Search Strategies
   With declining CTRs on paid search, B2B marketers should:
   • Target high-intent, transactional keywords that are less likely to be answered by AI overviews. Focus on searches where users are ready to make a purchase or inquire about a service.
   • Refine your ad copy to stand out even if an AI summary is present. Consider offering value propositions that AI cannot provide, such as special offers, demos or consultations.
   • Bid more aggressively for top ad placements to ensure your ads are visible even when AI answers dominate the SERP. Ads at the top of the page are still more likely to be noticed, even if the AI answer is also visible.
5. Monitor and Adapt to AI-Driven Traffic Trends
   Finally, B2B manufacturers must closely monitor how AI is affecting their traffic and make adjustments accordingly:
   • Use Google Analytics and Search Console to track traffic trends and see which pages are still getting clicks despite AI overviews.
   • Experiment with A/B testing different content formats and ad types to identify what still drives conversions. For example, try testing long-form content vs. shorter, more concise answers to see which performs better in the new AI-driven environment.
   • Stay up-to-date on Google’s updates and AI advancements. As Google refines its AI features, new opportunities for B2B manufacturers may arise, such as AI-enhanced ads or new ways to integrate with AI search results.

Zero-Clicks Doesn’t Have to Mean It’s Game-Over For Search

The introduction of AI-generated search results by Google is undeniably shaking up the B2B marketing landscape. For manufacturers that rely on organic and paid search to drive traffic, the rise of zero-click searches and AI overviews presents new challenges. However, by optimizing content for AI visibility, diversifying traffic sources, and adapting paid search strategies, B2B manufacturers can continue to thrive in this evolving environment.

Ultimately, the key to success will be adapting quickly to changing search behaviors, experimenting with new strategies, and embracing emerging platforms that can help you capture attention in an increasingly competitive digital space.

The post Combating “Zero-Click:” How AI Is Changing Search Strategy appeared first on Goldstein Group Communications.

It’s impossible to get past the economic uncertainty. But it’s no reason to hunker down and hope for the best in generating revenue.

If we’re in for a downturn, this is the fifth downturn since 1980 that many of us have experienced. The lessons from each are the same: some companies take advantage of a downturn to come out stronger on the other side, and others lose share.

Here’s what to do in economic uncertainty:

1. Focus More on Generating Opportunities, Not Just Leads Flip your priorities from lead generation to a laser-focus on opportunities. Leads are important, but they don’t always translate into immediate sales. Content and campaigns have to uncover those with immediate intent to purchase. Prioritize the quality of your leads, not just the quantity.Start by leveraging intent data, which reveals the behavior and interests of prospects showing clear signs of a need for your product or service. This means engaging with those prospects who are actively looking for solutions, rather than casting a wide net and hoping for the best. Tighten your messaging on true pain points and “switch” messaging to get people to move to your solutions. Look for those in the buying process, not the learning/educational early stage.
2. Tighten Up Internal Sales Processes and Follow-Up Systems This is no time for uneven and inconsistent follow-up systems or awkward lead-routing sequences. Efficiency is key when it comes to converting opportunities into sales. If you don’t have the tools and staffing in place to follow up on inquiries and meeting requests within minutes, they may move on to your competitors.Set a company-wide standard that all incoming leads must be responded to within 5 minutes. Look for process gaps in your sales pipeline. Are there bottlenecks in your follow-up strategy? Are your salespeople spending too much time on non-sales activities? Streamline processes wherever possible to ensure your team is working efficiently.
3. Add New Lead Response and Prospecting Technologies Technology can play a huge role in speeding up your sales processes and helping you reach the right prospects faster. The right sales enablement and prospecting technologies can improve your response rates and sales outcomes. Consider adding tools like RB2B, ZoomInfo, and tighter CRM integration. These technologies can help you gather high-quality, actionable prospect data, segment your audience more effectively, and personalize your outreach. By integrating these technologies with your CRM, you’ll be able to track every interaction, enabling your team to follow up in a more meaningful way and have more impactful conversations.
4. Ensure Your Website is Optimized for Conversion According to a recent marketing study conducted by EEtech, your website is the #1 place – replacing Google! – where searchers go to find new products. If your site is not optimized for conversion and technical content depth, you will be missing out on prospects in the buying process today. Make it easy for visitors to find what they’re looking for and quickly connect with your team. Tools like live chat, AI-driven chatbots, content calculators, testimonials and enhanced search functionality can help guide visitors through their decision-making process and increase the likelihood of conversion.Don’t forget the importance of clear calls to action (CTAs). Each page of your website should have a clear, concise CTA that directs visitors to take the next step, whether it’s scheduling a demo, requesting a quote, or speaking with a sales representative.
5. Ramp Up Outbound Calls to Existing Customers Are your salespeople hunters or farmers? Many companies have staffed their sales teams with excellent, technical people who can follow up on leads, but they’re not the proactive hunters who find new customers and opportunities. During a downturn, companies with farmers are left behind as passive, losing ground to the more aggressive hunter-based teams that are better positioned to gain ground especially when sales are scarce. One of the best ways to generate sales opportunities is by reaching out to your existing customer base. Outbound calls to customers who haven’t placed orders in the past 6 months, as well as those with lost quotes, can provide an immediate boost to your sales pipeline.When you reach out, don’t just focus on selling. Ask them how they are preparing for tariffs and economic uncertainty. This can open up an important conversation about their current challenges and potential needs. Offer solutions like stocking orders, extending payment terms, or introducing new products that might help them stay competitive during turbulent times. Sharing what other customers are doing can help your clients feel more secure in their decisions to buy from you.

   By proactively reaching out, you not only nurture your existing relationships but also demonstrate that you’re a trusted partner, ready to help them navigate uncertain times.

6. Generate New Revenue Streams This is a great time to innovate and expand your offerings. The uncertain economic landscape can open doors for new opportunities. If you’ve been sitting on a new campaign, new application, or new service, it may be time to bring it to life. Ask yourself, “Is there an untapped market, geography, persona, or application that we can target today?” For example, consider launching a targeted marketing campaign focused on a new vertical, a new product line, or additional value-added services. Now is the perfect time to innovate, as businesses are always looking for ways to stay ahead of the competition during uncertain times.
7. Launch a Referral Campaign Your existing customers are one of your most valuable assets when it comes to generating new business. Referral campaigns can help you tap into their networks and attract high-quality leads. Reach out to satisfied customers and ask them for referrals. Actionable tip: Call your customers for a client satisfaction call, and while you’re speaking with them, ask if they know anyone who might benefit from your products or services. Offer incentives for referrals, whether it’s discounts, rewards, or recognition. Referral campaigns often generate highly qualified leads since they come from trusted sources.
8. Reconnect with Former Customers Who’ve Changed Jobs Many B2B sales opportunities come from reconnecting with former customers. People change jobs often, and when they do, they might need your products or services at their new company. Reach out to past customers who’ve moved on to new roles and see if their new employer needs the solutions you provide. It’s the easiest way to close a new customer quickly! Consider implementing a system to track where former customers are now and proactively reach out when they switch jobs. This not only helps you reconnect with valuable contacts but also gives you the chance to generate business from a familiar face in a new position.

Final Thoughts to Fill the Pipeline

There’s always another side to every economic cycle, whether it’s long or short, steep or mild. So take steps today to fill your sales pipeline and put your company on the side of those who win the downturn battle. It’s a time for a sense of urgency, a time for action and a time to gain competitive advantage.

The post If Economic Uncertainty Is Here, You’ll Need These 8 Great Marketing Steps to Take Today. appeared first on Goldstein Group Communications.

Businesses waste precious revenue on blind prospecting efforts that yield dismal results. Outdated contact databases, zero visibility into buyer intent, and the inability to identify which accounts are actually in-market for solutions create a perfect storm of inefficiency. Sales teams make countless calls to prospects who aren’t interested, while marketing teams blast generic messages to unqualified leads – all while high-potential buyers slip through the cracks unnoticed.

The game-changer for modern B2B companies? Intelligence-driven prospecting powered by strategic ZoomInfo utilization. At Goldstein Group Communications (GGC), we transform how companies identify, target, and engage potential customers by implementing comprehensive ZoomInfo strategies that connect with your existing CRM and marketing automation systems. This strategic approach serves as a force multiplier for your sales and marketing teams, precisely targeting in-market buyers and unlocking new levels of efficiency and revenue growth.

ZoomInfo is becoming more widely used by B2B marketing teams. But here is the problem: there’s a lot to ZoomInfo. It’s a powerful tool with many features, and as a result it requires SOMEONE to be assigned to manage it at least on a part time basis.

At GGC, what we see often is that companies get ZoomInfo, recognize it’s a sales-driver, and toss it over the transom to the sales team to use, with little training or follow-on support. Two years later, upon renewal, you discover no one has logged in to use the basic database function in the tool. It seems to be yet another technology bust. But just as your CRM requires an admin to take full advantage of it, ZoomInfo requires the same support scenario. That’s where GGC comes in to help.

The Transformative Power of Strategic ZoomInfo Utilization

Leveraging ZoomInfo strategically within your tech stack isn’t merely about adding another data source – it’s about creating an intelligence-driven ecosystem that delivers measurable results. This powerful approach provides unprecedented visibility into your target market, equipping your team with accurate contact data and actionable insights about a prospect’s behavior.

With this integration, lead identification becomes a strategic process, allowing you to focus on prospects actively showing interest in solutions like yours rather than relying on cold outreach alone. The comprehensive intelligence capabilities reveal which companies are researching topics related to your offerings, visiting your website, and demonstrating buying signals across the web.

One of the most compelling advantages of this integration is the ability to capitalize on timing. By identifying prospects precisely when they’re actively researching solutions, you can engage at the perfect moment in their buying journey, dramatically increasing conversion rates. Furthermore, the integration ensures data accuracy and enrichment, automatically updating contact information and adding valuable firmographic and technographic details to your database.

Perhaps most critically, the strategic implementation of ZoomInfo enables highly targeted outreach campaigns. By leveraging detailed company insights, buyer intent signals, and website visitor identification, you can create personalized, timely communications that resonate with prospects and drive higher engagement rates.

The GGC Approach: Tailored ZoomInfo Implementation.

At GGC, we recognize that effective ZoomInfo utilization requires more than technical implementation. Our approach is built on a foundation of strategic planning and customization to your specific business needs.

We begin with an outcome-focused strategy, taking time to understand your specific business objectives and ensuring your ZoomInfo implementation supports your revenue goals. This is followed by a comprehensive discovery phase, where our team examines your sales process, lead qualification criteria, and existing technology ecosystem to create a tailored utilization plan.

Strategic data flow design is central to our process. We ensure that intelligence flows between systems at optimal points in your workflow, producing actionable insights that drive conversions. Our approach extends beyond basic contact syncing, creating sophisticated processes that leverage intent data, website visitor tracking, and technographic information to identify and prioritize the most promising opportunities.

To maximize the value of this intelligence, we develop intuitive workflows and reporting dashboards that translate data into action. These tools become your strategic command center, offering clear visibility into high-potential accounts and enabling your team to focus their efforts where they’ll have the greatest impact.

Our Five Strategic ZoomInfo Services

1. Contact Data Enrichment Complete your contact lists with accurate information including missing emails, phone numbers, titles, and firmographic data.
2. HubSpot and CRM Integration Seamlessly connect ZoomInfo with your existing platforms to feed newly discovered opportunities to salespeople as part of their regular workflow.
3. Targeted Website Visitor Alerts (WebSights) Identify when target companies visit your website and automatically reach out to the right buying influencers at those accounts.
4. Search Intent Alerts Discover prospects actively researching solutions like yours online and automatically launch outreach to key decision-makers at those companies.
5. Account-Based Marketing (ABM) Campaigns Target all relevant decision-makers and influencers at your priority accounts through multi-channel outreach campaigns.

For more detailed information about these services, visit our web page about zoom info here.

Real-World Success: H2scan’s Targeted Workflow

H2scan, a leading hydrogen sensor company, exemplifies how this integrated approach creates a seamless workflow from data to action. Its team uses ZoomInfo to find sales leads in a variety of ways, by harnessing the database, and by converting anonymous visitors to its website into sales leads.

“With ZoomInfo, I’m able to see targeted traffic to the site and use its Websights tool coupled with its sales lead database to identify who’s in the market for our technology,” explains David Keffer, a sales team member at H2scan who’s assigned to leverage the tool on a daily basis. “It’s a very powerful platform for engaging potential buyers and starting conversations that lead to actual quotes and revenue for the company.”

Keffer not only performs direct outreach to prospects uncovered by ZoomInfo, but he’s set it up to launch a variety of automated marketing email sequences to visitors that he’s unable to reach based on industry-specific campaigns built by his marketing counterparts.

This complete workflow – from contact categorization in ZoomInfo to targeted drip campaigns in marketing automation – ensures every prospect receives relevant content based on their specific industry and interests. The result is better qualified leads, more sales conversations and more quotes in the sales funnel.

Industry-Specific Expertise

While our ZoomInfo integration services benefit any B2B organization, we have particular expertise serving industries such as manufacturing, processing, electronics, scientific instruments, industrial automation and related professional service industries. Our deep understanding of these sectors allows us to create integration strategies that address industry-specific challenges and buying processes, ensuring your sales and marketing efforts are precisely aligned with your market’s unique dynamics.

The GGC Advantage

As a trusted B2B marketing strategic partner with more than 30 years of experience, GGC brings unparalleled expertise to your ZoomInfo implementation. We elevate your entire lead generation and prospecting operation, delivering actionable intelligence that transforms random outreach into strategic, timely engagement with unprecedented efficiency.

Ready to Transform Your Prospecting?

Don’t let ineffective prospecting hold your business back. With GGC’s strategic ZoomInfo utilization services, you can eliminate guesswork from your outreach, leverage powerful intent data and accurately identify in-market buyers. Our comprehensive approach drives insights across multiple channels, empowering your sales and marketing teams to engage the right prospects at exactly the right time.

It’s time to strategically utilize ZoomInfo for better intelligence, better engagement and better business outcomes. By connecting with our team today, you’re taking the first step towards transforming your lead generation efforts. Let us help you unlock the full potential of your market data and revolutionize your business through the power of strategic ZoomInfo utilization.

The post Zoom Past the Competition: How to Accelerate Growth Leveraging ZoomInfo appeared first on Goldstein Group Communications.