DATA STUDY - What AI Cites for B2B Evaluation-Stage Prompts
Nate and Kevin dig into Ten Speed's latest research report on LLM visibility, breaking down over 7,000 citations across 220 evaluation-stage prompts to see what AI models actually cite when B2B buyers are deep in the consideration phase. The results challenge the popular narrative around Reddit and third-party content: brand-controlled content (product pages, articles, homepage) dominates citations, making up 88% of what gets cited at this stage.
From there, the conversation shifts to the practical side of LLM visibility: how to build a consistent prompt-tracking framework, why 40 to 50 prompts is the right number for most B2B brands, how to actually write prompts that reflect real buyer language instead of generic keyword-style queries, and why sentiment — not just visibility — is the metric that tells you whether your brand is being represented fairly.
Study: https://www.tenspeed.io/blog/what-ai-cites-b2b-evaluation-stage
Key moments in the conversation:
0:00
Introduction
1:01
The Evaluation-Stage Study: Scope and Methodology
1:58
Why Focus on the Evaluation Stage
5:15
Study Results: Brand-Controlled Content Dominates
5:45
The Product Page Opportunity
6:38
Debunking the Reddit and Third-Party Content Myth
15:44
Comparison Content Punches Above Its Weight
18:01
The Homepage's Renewed Importance
19:32
Building a Framework for AI Visibility Tracking
23:22
The 40-to-50 Prompt Rule and Funnel Weighting
27:40
How to Actually Write Good Prompts
34:41
Brand Sentiment: When Mentions Aren't Favorable
36:04
Taking Ownership: Reviews and Business Fundamentals
40:31
Beyond Visibility: Connecting to Business KPIs
42:03
Closing and Outro
