AI Search Benchmark Report 2026
A sourced report on how AI search changed traffic and citations in 2026, with original B2B citation data from Arrowsterr. It is for B2B and SaaS marketing teams planning SEO and GEO work for the year ahead.
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AI Search Benchmark Report 2026, chapter by chapter.
- Key findings
- How people use AI search in 2026
- AI Overviews and clicks
- Which sources AI answers cite
- Our B2B data: who gets cited for "B2B SEO agency"
- What this means for B2B and SaaS teams
- 10 actions for 2026
- Methodology and sources
- Six key findings on one page, each with its source.
- Usage numbers for Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude.
- A side-by-side table of the main studies on AI Overviews and lost clicks.
- The site types, domains and page formats that AI answers cite most.
- Our own B2B data on which sources AI engines cite when buyers look for an agency.
- A baseline worksheet and a prompt set worksheet you can fill in for your own brand.
- A 10-step checklist of actions for 2026 and a full list of sources.
Real pages from the report. No filler.
Built for the people who do the work.
SEO and GEO leads
Use the benchmarks and the baseline worksheet to set targets for AI Overview CTR, citations and AI referral traffic.
Content and PR teams
Use the citation data to decide which lists, reviews, videos and pages to work on so AI answers cite your brand.
B2B marketing leaders
Use the buyer research and the 10 actions to plan budget and owners for AI search work in the year ahead.
Before you download.
Where do the numbers in this report come from?
Every public number links to the study it came from, such as Pew Research Center, Ahrefs, Seer Interactive and Semrush. We left out any figure we could not confirm on the source page.
What is the Perceptric B2B data in Chapter 5?
It is our analysis of Arrowsterr data: 30 AI answers to 5 prompts across 5 AI engines on one B2B SEO agency topic, August to November 2026. It is a small sample, so read it next to the larger public studies.
Do AI Overviews lower organic clicks?
Yes, in every study we reviewed. Seer Interactive found organic CTR of 2.36% on queries with an AI Overview against 3.82% without one in February 2026, and cited brands lose less.
How should a B2B team measure AI search visibility?
Track the share of many AI answers that name your brand across a fixed prompt set, repeated runs and several engines. The report includes a prompt set worksheet and a monthly scorecard to start.
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