The 60-Second CMO
In brief: How do you know what buyers are seeing when they research your company? Search your company the way a late-stage buyer would. In a private browser window, search your company name, "[your company] reviews," "[your company] vs [top competitor]," and "[your company] pricing," then ask an AI chatbot the same questions. Note whether an AI answer appears, whether it's accurate, which sources it cites, and whether a competitor's ad sits above your site. Then fix the page the AI cited. The whole audit takes about twenty minutes.
By the time a serious buyer contacts you, they've already searched your name, probably more than once. They've looked for reviews. They’ve checked your pricing (or at least tried to find it). They’ve asked an LLM for a comparison between you and your top competitors.
Most founders have never run those searches the way a stranger would. Even if you have have put your company name into Google occasionally, you might not be getting the true picture. Your own browser knows you. It remembers the sites you visit and the accounts you're signed into. Your buyers don't get that treatment.
Here's how to see what they see and what to do about it.
Why do late-stage buyer searches matter?
Early in the purchase process, buyers search for potential answers to their problem. Late in a purchase, they search for you. Those late searches are short, specific, and high-stakes: your brand/name, your reviews, your pricing, and you versus the other finalist (or finalists).
Two things have changed what those searches return.
AI answers. Google often places an AI Overview at the top of the results page, and it has tested showing them in the right-hand column on desktop, too. That summary may be the first description of your company a buyer reads. It pulls from whatever sources Google trusts, which may not be your website. It can be out of date, incomplete, or simply wrong.
Ads. This one really kind of freaks me out. Competitors can bid on your company name. When they do, their ad can sit above your own site on a search for your name. A buyer who is ready to talk to you gets an invitation to talk to someone else first. A side note: this practice makes me think of predatory tax lien certificate sales, a practice I had never heard of until I read the fascinating novel Beartooth by Callan Wink. Now you get marketing advice and book recommendations.
Also, don’t forget that G2 study (see my previous blog post), which revealed that many people are moving toward using AI agents to run evaluations of potential solutions before they ever reach out about a demo … and before you even know to count them as a lead.
How do you search your company the way a buyer does?
All you need is twenty minutes … unless what you find is a real mess.
Use a desktop computer, because the desktop results page shows more than mobile does, including the right-hand column.
1. Open a private or incognito window. This keeps your search history and signed-in accounts out of the results. Your location still applies, so if you sell nationally, ask a colleague in another city to run the same searches.
2. Run four searches:
Your company name
"[your company] reviews"
"[your company] vs [top competitor]"
"[your company] pricing"
3. Screenshot the full results page for each one. Scroll far enough to capture everything above the first few regular results.
4. For each screenshot, note four things:
Is there an AI Overview? Check the top of the page and the right-hand column. If you see a business profile or knowledge panel instead, check that, too.
Is it accurate? Look for old pricing, discontinued products, a wrong location, or a description of what you did three years ago.
Which sources does it cite? Write down every link. These are the pages shaping your story.
Is a competitor's ad sitting above your site?
5. Ask Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and/or Google's AI Mode the same four questions in plain language, such as "What does [your company] cost?" and "How does [your company] compare to [top competitor]?" Note what each tool says and which sources it links to.
A simple table works well: one row per search, one column per question.
What should you look for in the results?
The cited sources are the most useful part of this exercise. They show you which pages AI is reading when it describes you. Common culprits include:
An About page that hasn't been updated. You made a strategic shift; the information didn’t make it to your About page.
A pricing page with no prices, so the AI fills the gap from a third-party site or an old review.
A G2, Capterra, or Google Business Profile listing with outdated categories, screenshots, or descriptions.
A comparison page written by your competitor, not by you.
An old press release or directory listing that still ranks.
Gaps matter as much as errors. If the "vs" search returns only your competitor's comparison page, they are telling your story for you. If the pricing search returns nothing from you, buyers will go with someone else's guess.
How do you fix what AI gets wrong about you?
This isn’t a one-time activity or fix. Don't try to fix everything this week. Pick the single biggest error or gap, find the page the AI cited, and fix that page.
That might mean:
Rewriting the first paragraph of your About page so it says plainly what you do, who you serve, and where.
Publishing a starting price or a clear price range on your pricing page. It might also mean creating a pricing page.
Updating your G2 profile with current product details and asking two recent, happy customers for reviews.
Writing your own fair comparison page for "[your company] vs [competitor]."
Write the fix in plain, factual sentences. AI tools quote clear statements. They struggle with clever taglines. They also struggle with images, so if you’re using charts for comparison, be sure they’re coded (such as raw data tables, CSVs, JSON, or programmatic formats like SVG/code-based plots) rather than static images.
Rerun the same search in two to four weeks and compare screenshots. AI answers change as their sources change, so this audit is worth repeating every quarter.
Is a competitor bidding on your brand name?
Last step: forward your screenshots to whoever runs your paid search, whether that's an agency, a contractor, or someone on your team. Ask them one question:
"Who is bidding on our brand name, and what's our plan?"
Google Ads includes an Auction Insights report that shows which other advertisers appear on the same searches you do. If a competitor is showing up on your name, your ads person should know it and have a recommendation. You could consider running your own brand campaign or adjusting bids, or you might decide the cost isn't worth it. It’s still worth knowing.
Your 60-second move
Open an incognito window right now and search "[your company] pricing." If you don't like what a buyer would read, you've found your first fix.
Frequently asked questions
What should I search to see my company the way a buyer does?
Use a private or incognito window on a desktop computer and search for four things: your company name, "[your company] reviews," "[your company] vs [top competitor]," and "[your company] pricing." Then ask an AI chatbot such as ChatGPT the same questions.
Why use an incognito window to search my own company?
An incognito window keeps your search history and signed-in accounts out of the results, so you see something closer to what a new buyer sees. Your location still affects the results.
How do I fix an inaccurate AI Overview about my company?
Find the pages the AI Overview cites and correct the one with the biggest error or gap, such as your About page, pricing page, or G2 profile. Use plain, factual sentences, then check the same search again in two to four weeks.
Can competitors run ads on my company name?
Yes. Competitors can bid on your brand name in Google Ads, so their ad may appear above your site. The Auction Insights report in Google Ads shows which other advertisers appear in the same auctions you do.
Do B2B buyers use AI chatbots instead of Google?
Many do. In G2's March 2026 survey of B2B software buyers, 51 percent said they start software research with an AI chatbot more often than with Google.
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Juli Anne Patty is a fractional CMO for founder-led businesses, with more than twenty years of B2B marketing experience in SaaS, cybersecurity, and broadcast technology.