A 2026 study of more than 350 B2B buyers confirmed what many sales professionals have suspected, i.e., 90 percent of buyers research vendors before making first contact. The shortlist they build during that research phase is considered quite accurate and influential by the time they reach out to potential suppliers. Companies that made the list did so because they showed up in the right search results, appeared in AI-generated recommendations, and looked credible and capable when their websites were evaluated. Companies that did not make the list were never given the opportunity to compete, regardless of how strong their actual capabilities were.

Right now, your growth is being constrained by something you can’t see. Whether buyers can find enough proof to include you before outreach begins. The outcome to optimize for isn’t more traffic. What you want is more shortlists, more invites, and more opportunities that actually reach your sales team. If your pipeline depends on being found only after an RFQ is issued, you are already competing from behind. Instead, you want to engineer visibility early enough to be chosen for the shortlist in the first place. Then, go on to win proposals!