The Future of the B2B Website: Can AI Make It More Human AND More Trusted?

The Problem: When Digital Advancement Meets Human Expectations

B2B websites are caught in a perfect storm. After decades of evolution from simple digital brochures to complex lead generation engines, they now face their most significant transformation yet—one that exposes fundamental tensions between technological capability and human connection. This was the focus of my conversation with Chris Wickson, serial B2B martech entrepreneur and founder of ReelFlow, for the latest episode of the 'Trust & Influence in B2B' podcast - you can listen to the full episode here.

The statistics tell a compelling story. While AI tools are reshaping how buyers discover and research solutions—with 40% of searches now happening through generative AI engines—there's a simultaneous, powerful counter-trend toward humanization across all B2B marketing channels. Trust in B2B is at an all-time low, the gap between buyers and sellers has never been wider, yet 90% of deals are won by vendors who appear on initial shortlists populated by brands buyers already know and trust.

This creates what Wicksoy describes as a "dual role" for modern B2B websites. They must serve as the most up-to-date source of truth for AI models to access and synthesize, while simultaneously providing superior human experiences for the high-intent visitors who do reach the site.

"SEO over the last five, 10 years has forced us all to cram more and more content into our websites, but at the detriment of the visitor experience," Wickson explains. The result? Websites optimized for search algorithms rather than human users—a misalignment that becomes more problematic as buyer expectations continue to rise and AI reshapes the discovery process.

Meanwhile, internal complexity is stifling innovation. As organizations grow, their websites often become unwieldy systems where simple updates require extensive coordination across multiple stakeholders. "The larger the organization, the more cumbersome and complex the website becomes," Wickson notes, "and with that, the more challenging it is to keep up to date and dynamic."

The convergence of these forces—AI disruption, rising buyer expectations, and internal complexity—demands a fundamental rethinking of how B2B websites operate. The question isn't whether to embrace AI or prioritize human connection, but how to leverage both in service of better buyer experiences.

Things to consider: Strategic shifts for the medium term

As you plan your website evolution over the next 1-3 years, these strategic considerations will shape your approach:

• Rethink Your Content Strategy Beyond SEO: The old approach of stuffing pages with keywords and long-form content is losing effectiveness. While core SEO principles still matter, there’s a growing need to optimise for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) - this means creating clean, structured content that’s clear, factual, and easily interpreted by AI models. Focus on becoming the most authoritative, up-to-date source of truth AI can reference, while also delivering relevant, guided experiences for human visitors.

• Embrace the website as a buyer enablement tool: Move beyond thinking of your website as a lead generation machine. As Wickson puts it, "I really think of websites evolving much more into a buyer enablement tool." Every page should answer: "How can we help them easily find the information they're looking for?"

• Prepare for interactive, guided experiences: Static navigation is giving way to dynamic, personalized journeys. Consider how you can use interactive elements—particularly video—to help visitors self-identify their needs and navigate accordingly, rather than hoping they'll scroll through generic content.

• Build video capabilities into your culture: The barrier to creating professional-quality video content has dropped dramatically, but organizational comfort with video creation needs to develop. Start building internal capabilities and comfort levels now, as video becomes essential for humanizing digital experiences.

• Develop AI integration strategy: AI isn't going away—it's becoming infrastructure. Consider how AI can handle routine inquiries, guide navigation, and process information while ensuring human experts remain available for complex, relationship-building conversations.

• Plan for transparency in AI usage: As AI avatars and synthetic content become more prevalent, develop clear policies about when and how you'll use these tools. Transparency about AI usage will become a competitive advantage as buyers become more sophisticated about identifying synthetic content.

• Rethink success metrics: Traditional metrics like page views and time on site provide incomplete pictures. Start thinking about engagement quality metrics: Are visitors interacting with content meaningfully? Are they reaching conversion points more efficiently? Are they demonstrating higher intent when they do convert?

Practical tips to take action now

While some changes require longer-term planning, you can begin improving your website's human connection and trustworthiness immediately:

1. Audit your current website through buyer eyes

• The five-second test: Can visitors understand what you do within five seconds of landing on your homepage? If not, simplify your messaging.

• Map buyer journeys: Identify the specific paths different visitor types need to take through your site. Are these paths clear and friction-free?

• Check mobile experience: With buyers researching on phones at any time of the day, ensure your mobile experience is genuinely usable, not just responsive.

2. Implement low-friction interactive elements

• Add simple video overlays: Tools like ReelFlow require just a single line of code to add interactive video experiences to complement existing sites—no major development required.

• Create self-service demo options: Follow the lead of companies like Story Lane, offering interactive product demos that don't require booking 45-minute calls.

• Use progressive disclosure: Instead of overwhelming visitors with everything at once, reveal information progressively based on their expressed interests.

Address the trust gap immediately

• Show real people: Include photos and brief bios of actual team members throughout your site, not just stock photography. Better still - bring your team to life with short-form video content. The popularity of authentic ‘Employee Generated Content’ is on the rise. 

• Provide social proof: Feature authentic customer stories, case studies, and testimonials prominently—but ensure they feel genuine rather than overly polished.

• Be transparent about your process: Help visitors understand how you work, what to expect, and what makes your approach different.

Leverage AI's preference for video content

• Prioritize video integration: As Chris noted, "Google and LLMs really prioritize websites with video content as long as they're set up in the right way where the model or Google can effectively watch the video and read the captions." This gives video-enabled sites an advantage in AI-driven discovery.

Test and iterate quickly

• Start small: Begin with one or two high-traffic pages rather than attempting a complete site overhaul.

• Monitor engagement: Track how visitors interact with new video or interactive elements. Are they clicking through? Watching to completion? Taking desired actions?

• Gather feedback: Ask customers and prospects about their website experience. What information were they looking for? Did they find it easily?

The path forward: Embracing the human-AI partnership

The future of B2B websites lies not in choosing between human connection and artificial intelligence, but in thoughtfully combining both to create experiences that are simultaneously more efficient and more personal than either approach could achieve alone.

This isn't about replacing human expertise with AI, but about using AI to amplify authentic human connections. As Wickson observes, "Let humans do what humans do best and let AI handle the rest." This means leveraging artificial intelligence for data synthesis, pattern recognition, and process efficiency while maintaining human oversight for strategy, creativity, and relationship building.

The organizations that succeed in this evolving environment will be those that recognize this partnership between human and artificial intelligence, drawing on the unique strengths of each while ensuring that technology serves to amplify rather than replace the authentic human connections that remain at the heart of successful B2B relationships.

The transformation is already underway. The question isn't whether to adapt, but how quickly you can begin creating digital experiences that are both more efficient and more human than what came before.