We asked 101 CMOs at mid-market B2B SaaS companies how they discover, evaluate and buy software. In one year, AI went from a side tool to the starting point, and buyers now show up to sales calls already knowing what they think.
84% of B2B SaaS CMOs now use AI tools or LLMs to discover vendors, up from 24% a year earlier, and 68% start their search there before touching Google. Google is still used by 72%, but as a fact-checker: only 9% start by googling a software category. Peer communities are the other starting point, and word of mouth is the factor CMOs most often rank #1 for getting a vendor considered.
By the time a vendor gets a call, the work is mostly done. 48% of CMOs arrive very familiar with the vendor, up from 22% in 2025, and 62% look at exactly three vendors. The demo is where the decision gets confirmed, not where it starts. This is the third edition of this study.
AI use for vendor discovery grew 3.5x in twelve months. 68% of CMOs now start their search with AI tools before traditional search engines, using LLMs to map a category quickly and get what they see as unbiased recommendations. AI recommendations (10%) now edge out Google Search (8%) as the factor CMOs rank #1 for consideration.
Asked to rank what drives consideration, 42% of CMOs put word of mouth and peers first, with an average rank of 2.1 out of 8. 65% start vendor searches in peer communities: private Slack groups, CMO Coffee Talk, Exit5, CMO Huddles, Pavilion and Chief. Human validation beats vendor content.
80% of CMOs arrive at the first sales call moderately or very familiar with the vendor, and 48% very familiar, more than double the 2025 figure. They have asked peers, queried AI, read reviews and visited the website. A call that opens with company background spends its first ten minutes on things the buyer already knows.
Generative engine optimization, making a brand visible in AI answers, did not register as a priority in 2025. In 2026, 34% of CMOs invest in it, ranking it second only to AI and automation tools among 2026 priorities. Budgets are following buyer behavior.
The average buying committee now has 5.1 members: the CMO, finance, IT and security, RevOps and end users. As committees grow, shortlists shrink to keep the process manageable, and 62% of CMOs evaluate exactly three vendors. Missing the shortlist means missing the deal.
All 14 questions, free to read and cite (n=101).
"Where do you start when searching for a new software solution?" (Open-ended, coded; most CMOs named several.)
"Walk us through your vendor selection process."
"Rank these factors by how much they influence which vendors you consider." Share ranking each factor #1.
| Metric | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Use AI for vendor discovery | 24% | 84% |
| Invest in GEO/AEO | 0% | 34% |
| Moderately or very familiar before the call | 64% | 80% |
| Very familiar before the call | 22% | 48% |
| Expect an interactive demo before sales | 46% | 58% |
We surveyed 101 CMOs at mid-market B2B SaaS companies ($50M+ revenue) on the Wynter panel of verified B2B professionals in January 2026. The survey ran 14 open-ended questions; answers were coded into themes, and many answers carry more than one theme. This is the third edition of the study, and year-over-year comparisons use the 2025 edition.
Some percentages are read from coded open-ended answers, so they show how often a theme came up, not a forced choice. Where the original report showed a ranking without exact figures, we report the order only.
This study was fielded on Wynter, our on-demand B2B research platform, with results in under 48 hours. ICP surveys, message testing, brand tracking and interviews with a panel of 86,000+ verified B2B professionals.
Each stat has its own link. Please cite Wynter and link to this page when you use them.