The GenAI Buying Journey: 3 Stats That Will Change Your Growth Strategy

Article by Derek Yueh, Partnership Lead at the B2B Institute

In theory, Generative AI is a technological shift that will completely transform the business world; it’s being pitched as every solution under the sun, from corporate Ozempic for slimming down cost structures to corporate Viagra for enhanced executive performance in the boardroom. In reality, GenAI is being procured and bought like just any other item in a company’s tech stack. So what does this mean for the B2B marketer trying to win the GenAI Buyer? 

B2B marketers like to imagine the buying journey as a rational, orderly affair: detailed RFPs, competitive vendor evaluations, and months of careful deliberation. Clinging to this fiction offers a comforting illusion of control — a belief that, if the process is logical, we can win customers by hitting them over the head with stats and feature lists. But the reality is far messier. The B2B marketers who understand their B2B buyers as time-starved, emotional, and irrational decision makers (instead of neat customer profiles) will be the ones who win their business.  

New data from The B2B Institute and The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute show that GenAI buyers are doing less shopping than we think and are operating more on autopilot than we realize. If you’re trying to sell GenAI, these three stats about how GenAI is being bought will help B2B marketers see how the playing field actually operates and what it takes to win with a strong brand, not just a strong product.  

1. Only 30% of Organizations Have Purchased a GenAI Solution in the Past 3 Months.

Despite the hype and the headlines, only 30% of B2B Buyers have purchased a GenAI tool in the past 3 months. Another 28% made their last purchase between three to six months ago, and about 22% more purchased within the past year. GenAI adoption is unfolding slowly and unevenly, suggesting that the GenAI arms race is a long game.   

For B2B marketers, that means if your brand isn’t already top-of-mind when B2B Buyers eventually decide to pull the trigger, it’s already too late. Think of the GenAI Buying Journey as a game of musical chairs. B2B Buyers may be curiously watching, patiently waiting, and cautiously circling around different vendors, but when the music stops and they’re ready to make their decision, they’ll default to the most familiar brand, not necessarily the best one…which leads us to our next finding. 

2. Buyers Consider Only 2.4 Brands Before Making a Decision.

B2B buyers are barely shopping around before picking a GenAI vendor. 22% didn’t consider any alternatives at all. Nearly 60% only looked at one or two other providers. And just 5% considered four or more. The average number of brands considered? Just 2.4.  

In our data, we see that even large enterprises, known for rigorous processes, behave almost identically to small businesses. Formal RFPs may still be written and benchmarking exercises still performed, but most of it amounts to procurement theater — a polite fiction buyers use to justify decisions they’ve largely made long before Day 1 of their buying journey.  

For B2B marketers, if you’re not one of the first two brands a buyer thinks of, every marketing dollar spent down the funnel ultimately becomes an expense instead of an investment. Your biggest competitors aren’t just other AI vendors; you’re competing against organizational inertia, time constraints, and ingrained cognitive biases. Buyers aren’t making decisions by maximizing information; they’re minimizing regret, which leads us to our last finding.   

3. 60% of GenAI Buyers Purchased From An Existing Vendor.

The majority of GenAI buyers didn’t choose a new vendor. They stuck with one they already knew. In other words, for most companies, GenAI isn’t a new buying decision; it’s an add-on to an existing relationship. 

For B2B marketers, understanding this dynamic is crucial to shaping the right strategy. If you’re an incumbent vendor, congratulations, you have a massive advantage, but it’s your sale to lose. If you’re not, it’s an uphill battle for your brand, because you’re not just competing on features, you’re fighting the gravitational pull of existing relationships. 

The future heavily favors the brands that are already in the building, not those waiting outside with a better demo.

The Big Lesson For B2B Marketers

The GenAI race won’t be won by the company with the best model. It will be won by the company with the strongest brand. Don’t be fooled by the farce of procurement. Winning requires a strategy that’s grounded in how B2B purchases actually get made. In a market driven by shortcuts and snap decisions, being remembered beats being better. 

For B2B marketers, advertising remains the most powerful tool we have to build memory. Stay tuned for next week’s installment, where we’ll dive into the state of GenAI advertising and where B2B brands can find their edge.