Ever since ChatGPT entered the informational-affray, there’s been a low-level panic simmering in B2B marketing circles. “All search traffic is going to disappear.” “Buyers won’t visit websites anymore.” “Intent data is dead.”
All that could be true of some point in the future. It is absolutely not true now.
At the Science of B2B, we’ve been tracking this closely — across buyer behaviors, intent signal trends, and our own massive data ecosystem. So let’s settle this with a bit of reality.
1. Most Buyers Don’t Need Google to Find You
Unless you’re in a brand-new category or a newer vendor still building awareness, most buyers aren’t turning to Google just to find out you exist — and haven’t needed to for a long time. Last year, we reported that buyers are not Blank Slates. 95% of buyers already have prior experience with at least one vendor they’ll evaluate. On day one of the buying journey, they have 4 of the 5 vendors on their shortlist already, confirming findings from Harvard Business Review and Google/Bain joint research.
Not only that, but 75% of buyers engage with someone at your company through a backchannel before ever talking to sales.
And in as-yet unpublished data (coming November 25), buyers told us that they have evaluated most vendors in the category they were buying in now every couple of years throughout their careers. They don’t need Google or LLMs to find you — they already know who you are.
If they do need to Google you, it is probably already too late (buyers buy from their Day 1 short list 80%-90% of the time).
2. Buyers Are Using LLMs — But Not Instead of Vendor Content
Our 2025 Buyer Experience Study found that 94% of B2B buyers used LLMs (like ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) during their buying journey. That sounds seismic — until you look closer.
Despite near-universal LLM adoption, buyers reported the same number of interactions with vendors as in prior years (17).
Why? Because buyers don’t just want answers; they want assurances. They’re actively seeking validation — from both third parties and vendors. LLMs may eventually gain that level of trust, but they’re not there yet.
3. The Still-expanding Signalverse™
Here’s what’s happening across the 6sense signal network (we call it the Signalverse™):
- Intent Signal* Volume: Back to double-digit YoY growth +16% vs. last year +9% vs. two years ago
- Unique Accounts with Intent Signals: +5% vs. last year +30% vs. two years ago
6sense now process over 1 Trillion buyer signals every day. The Signalverse™ is still expanding, not shrinking.
More accounts. More signals. More insight. Not exactly the signal collapse we keep hearing about.
4. Generative Search Isn’t Stealing Your Meaningful** Traffic
Across hundreds of thousands of domains running 6sense JavaScript tags, less than 1% of traffic comes from generative search tools like ChatGPT or Perplexity.
Compare that to ~20% from traditional search engines. The shift to LLMs may sound dramatic, but in reality, it’s a marginal change with limited impact on actual buyer behavior so far.
5. Risk and Trust Still Rule the B2B Decision Process
Let’s apply some additional research — and some simple logic. According to LinkedIn research, one of buyers’ top concerns is mitigating risk – not messing up. That’s not something you outsource to a chatbot.
When real money, jobs, and reputations are on the line, buyers don’t make decisions in isolation. They use LLMs for exploration, but they still rely on vendor content, trusted third-parties, buying group conversations, peer input, and their own experience to make decisions.
6. Thought Leadership Still Matters (Maybe More Than Ever)
Per the 2025 Edelman-LinkedIn Thought Leadership Impact Report:
- 55% of hidden buyers (non-primary buyer persons) and 56% of target buyers use thought leadership to vet vendors
- 71% of hidden buyers trust thought leadership over marketing materials
- 79% are more likely to advocate for a vendor that consistently produces high-quality thought leadership
While headlines scream “AI is killing web traffic,” the real story is this: LLMs are being added to the journey, not replacing any part of it.
** And Another Thing… The LLM as Noise Filter
In a header above, I used the term ‘meaningful traffic’, and I know many of you will have mentally flagged that. Here’s the explanation.
Given:
- Buyers are vastly more experienced than we had known
- Risk mitigation is a top decision criterion
- Buyer engagement with vendors is steady – according to buyers
If your website traffic is down, it seems likely that only the noise has been dialed down — leaving clearer signal. A lot of casual browsers used to visit your site on a whim: a passing thought, an ad exposure, or meeting mention. None of those things are likely to start a buying process for your thing that costs 10s or 100s of thousands. It’s a moment of curiousity and nothing more.
Now the casuals check with an LLM. If they get a decent answer, they don’t bother clicking further.
In the past, those folks inflated your traffic. Worse, if they filled out a form, they polluted your funnel and wrecked your conversion rates.
Today, they self-educate and move on. If what LLMs say about you is accurate and favorable, you’re fine. If they ignore or misrepresent you — you’ve got a problem.
So yes, make sure LLMs say good things about you. Not to replace buyer engagement, but to:
- Avoid planting doubt in active buyers’ minds
- Build awareness and favorability among future buyers
So, What Should B2B Marketers Do?
Keep doing the things that build confidence in your audience and in the LLMs:
- Invest in content that informs and persuades — especially for hidden influencers
- Reimagine your web experience — How can you build confidence and trust apart from purely informational (or spin) pages?
- Meet current buyers where they really are: your website, your webinars, talking to your customers, etc.
- Meet the professionally curious where they are: LLMs
And then Monitor signals over time, not just moment-in-time spikes.
The sky is not falling. But if you’re still betting on obsolete MQLs or blips of ephemeral intent instead of signal-rich, buyer-centric strategies? That’s a different kind of extinction event.
About the Agent-on-Agent Buying Action of the Future
Is there a future in which buyer agents engage with seller agents and leave humans out of the loop? Sure. But the level of trust in LLM output will have to increase dramatically. That won’t happen this year or next year or any year in the 20s.
Should you be thinking about and planning for that future? Definitely.
Today, though, keep calm. Carry on. Put buyer enablement at the top of your list of things to do. Make sure you are findable and credible to both real people and to LLMs.
