Are you showing up in AI search?

Don’t worry. We’re not diving too deep there today. Everyone’s already elbow-deep in that particular existential soup.

But the question matters because buyers are using AI to find, compare, and shortlist vendors faster than ever.

And getting surfaced isn’t the same as getting chosen.

At some point, a buyer still has to believe you know what you’re talking about. That’s where video starts to matter even more.

AI can put you on the shortlist. Video helps buyers believe you belong there.

B2B buying is getting weirder.

Not because “AI changed everything” and now we all need to say the word “agents” 14 times a day to prove we have LinkedIn Premium.

Because buyers are changing how they research, compare, and validate vendors. Again.

They aren’t just searching for answers anymore.

They are asking AI tools to synthesize the market. Build the shortlist. Compare the options. Summarize the tradeoffs. Tell them what they should probably care about before they ever talk to sales.

Today, 51% of B2B buyers start research with an AI chatbot more often than Google, up from 29% in April 2025. AI chatbots are now the #1 source influencing which vendors make buyer shortlists, and 69% of buyers chose a different software vendor than planned based on AI chatbot guidance.

We’ve jumped wayyyy past discovery.

AI is now shaping preference. And that’s where the gap gets real.

A buyer might find you through AI. But they still need to decide if you feel credible, specific, useful, differentiated, and safe to bring into an internal conversation.

That doesn’t happen because your homepage says “trusted partner” three times.

It happens when buyers can see how you think, hear your experts explain the problem clearly, and understand your POV well enough to repeat it internally.

That’s the layer AI can’t fully create for you (yet 😉)

The data is pointing to a very specific shift: AI is officially the buyer’s research assistant.

And video is the trust layer.

→ 94% of B2B buyers use AI tools during research
→ 63% say short-form social video helps inform buying decisions
→ ~60% of the buyer journey is complete before vendor contact.

Discovery without trust is replaceable. Trust without discovery is invisible.

You need to be discoverable. But discovery is fragile if the buyer can’t validate you.

Buyers aren’t just using LLMs at the beginning of the process. They’re using them in the messy middle to compare vendor offerings, evaluate proposals, analyze stakeholder input, create shortlists, and summarize content.

Your content needs to be clear enough to be summarized, specific enough to be differentiated, and credible enough to survive comparison.

Meanwhile, 80% of marketers use AI for content creation and 75% use it for media production.

So yes, everyone is making more content.

More summaries. More blogs. More clips. More “insight-led” LinkedIn posts assembled in a conference room with no windows.

Volume isn’t going to save anyone here.

The advantage moves to the brands with clearer thinking, stronger proof, sharper POV, and content that makes expertise easier to evaluate.

That’s where video earns its keep. Not just as “more content.” 

As visible credibility.

A lot of teams are going to respond to AI search by producing more optimized content. And that’s smart.

Your website should be clear.
Your transcripts should exist.
Your FAQs should answer real questions.
Your positioning should be structured enough for humans and machines to understand.

But if all you do is optimize for retrieval, you might get found and still fail to build confidence.

Because buyers aren’t just asking: “Who are the top vendors?”

They’re asking:

Who understands our problem?
Who explains this clearly?
Who has proof?
Who thinks differently?
Who can I bring to my team without looking like I forwarded a sales deck with a pulse?

Video helps when it turns:

Abstract positioning into a real explanation.
Expertise into something buyers can evaluate.
Customer proof into a story with stakes.
POV into language buyers can repeat internally.
“We do this” into “here’s how we think about this.”

That’s the difference between being mentioned and being believed.

Once you’ve solved the AI visibility search problem, it’s time to face the confidence problem. 

Use video to give buyers something worth validating once AI puts you in the conversation.

Go deeper than keywords. Actual evaluation questions:

Who should we consider?
What should we look for?
How do these options compare?
What are the risks?
What does good look like?

Those questions should shape the videos (and AI-optimized content) you make.

Use video where trust matters most:

Your POV. Process. Customer proof. Comparison logic. Explanation of the problem. 

AI can summarize the answer, but video helps buyers evaluate the thinking behind it.

Do not leave your best thinking trapped in a social post.

Build around the video:

A clear title.
Transcript.
Summary.
FAQ.
Key takeaways.
Use-case language.
Related proof.

Now the video works for buyers and for AI search as super rich content.

Black Kite does this well with their Third Party video podcast.

For each episode, the video sits on-page, but it isn’t doing all the work alone.

The page turns the conversation into a structured resource around a question their buyers actually care about.

THAT is the move.

The video builds trust. The page makes the thinking searchable, skimmable, and easier for buyers (and AI tools) to understand.

The best video helps someone else make the case.

Can a champion send it internally?
Can sales use it after a call?
Can it answer an objection?
Can it explain why you belong on the shortlist?

That’s the trust layer.

Let’s think beyond repurposing footage. Repurpose the idea.

Turn the video into website copy, FAQs, sales follow-ups, blog sections, comparison content, newsletter points, and social posts.

One strong POV should become a consistent signal across the places buyers and AI tools look.

That’s how video becomes part of your AI strategy.

Not necessarily more content. More credible source material.

AI can help buyers find you, but video helps them believe you’re worth taking seriously.