(x,y) · POINTS OF VIEW

Datum Points

What's changing in AI search, what it means for B2B brands, and what to do about it. Written by Nick Clark.

LATEST · 11 November 2026 · Market intelligence · 2 min read

1 in 5 vendors AI names never get picked

Datum Point asked ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Perplexity 90 questions across 15 B2B software categories, as a UK company with about 200 staff, and tagged 2,250 answers. 20% of the vendors an engine names in its landscape answer are never recommended by that engine in any buying question. We call this zero pick. The good news: 31% of the vendors AI recommends in specific buying questions were missing from its own landscape answer, so specialists can win the pick without winning the category.

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16 October 2026 · Market intelligence · 3 min read

LinkedIn feeds AI search answers, but it rarely gets the link

LinkedIn is the second most-cited domain in AI search, yet in a small test of the clickable links AI answers actually hand to readers, it didn't make the top 100. What that means for B2B content strategy.

9 October 2026 · Point of view · 3 min read

AI agents are joining the buying group. Would one shortlist you?

Google, Meta and OpenAI have all launched AI agents that work autonomously. As agents start researching and shortlisting suppliers for B2B buyers, the information you put into the world decides whether you get found.

2 October 2026 · Point of view · 3 min read

Google pays publishers for AI, and nobody knows the rules

Google's AI contribution pilot pays around 100 publishers with no published formula, while 300 media executives lobby Congress to make AI crawlers identify themselves. What it means for how brands get credited by AI.

4 September 2026 · Point of view · 3 min read

ChatGPT ads hit $1bn. The real story is the attribution gap

ChatGPT Ads reached a $1bn annualised run rate, but most AI influence on buyers never shows up as a click. Why B2B marketers should track mentions and build authority, not just watch referral traffic.

28 August 2026 · Market intelligence · 3 min read

AI search rewards brand mentions, not backlinks

Most AI citations come from pages outside Google's first page, and brand mentions track AI visibility far more closely than links. Why PR instinct is now an AI search skill.

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