Win the Buyers AI Sends You With Real Expertise From Named People

Executive Thought Leadership

Win the Buyers AI Sends You With Real Expertise From Named People

You will know who should publish what, so buyers who find you through AI trust you enough to buy and stay.

AJ AgrawalCo-founder, OnBrand

01What changed

Buyers now meet vendors inside an AI answer

Among B2B professionals who use AI for work, most research vendors with it and almost all say it shaped their shortlist. That is where your company gets introduced now.

How B2B professionals use AI to find vendors

Say AI shaped their shortlist

92%

Regularly research vendors with AI

66%

Notice a vendor by name recognition

7%

Source: Semrush’s survey of B2B professionals

02The proof

They check the AI answer against your own content

TrustRadius found 94% of buyers who used AI fact check its responses at least some of the time. Edelman found most validate AI recommendations by referring to a brand's content.

94%

of buyers using AI who fact check its responses

03Where most go wrong

Generic AI content is everywhere, so real expertise is worth more

Many assume more content wins. But scarcity does the work: writing from real people, backed by evidence and case studies, is what builds trust when buyers arrive.

Buyers who say thought leadership is becoming more valuable

82%

of buyers in Edelman’s 2026 survey of more than 1,100 professionals

Source: Edelman’s 2026 B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report

04Where to start

Let the best person for each question write the answer

Not automatically the CEO. In Edelman and LinkedIn's 2024 study, 62% said quality thought leadership comes from a prominent or high quality expert. Expert, not title.

Common approach

Every piece under the CEO
Everyone posts the same message

What works

Best expert answers each question
Own perspective, aligned at brand level

05How it works

I bought from a founder whose writing I already knew

I read a founder's work until I felt like I knew them. By the sales call, I was as eager to talk to the person as to learn about the products.

06But we're small

Fame is not the gate, specific answers are

Semrush found only 7% notice a vendor in an AI response because they recognize the name. Smaller companies show up by answering the question based queries buyers actually type.

7%

notice a vendor in AI answers through name recognition

07What you gain

Expertise wins the deal and keeps the customer after it

Edelman and LinkedIn found 70% of C suite executives say thought leadership led them to reconsider a current vendor. Keep publishing after the sale and you protect and expand the relationship.

What thought leadership led decision makers to do

Research a product they hadn’t considered

75%

Reconsider a current vendor (C suite)

70%

See a rival might understand them better

54%

Source: Edelman and LinkedIn’s 2024 study

08Your move this week

Have one real expert publish one specific answer this week

Pick a question buyers ask. Hand it to the person who knows it best. They give their opinion first; AI can help shape it, but a person reviews before publishing.

1Pick one question buyers ask
2Find your best expert on it
3Get their opinion first
4Review, publish, track visibility

The one thing to remember

AI gets you on the list. Your own named experts decide whether you stay on it.

AJ AgrawalCo-founder, OnBrand