The communications discipline has never been more relevant to the sales funnel as it is in 2026.
Generative LLMs and how they cite media sources will be built into wider awareness coverage reporting in 2026 and become a necessary comms commodity. On this I have no doubt.
But knowing how LLMs source their knowledge of your brand isn’t enough. We want to go further and look at how ChatGPT, Gemini and others can combine with communications to boost the whole B2B sales cycle. We’re at a crunch point where communications has an emerging and unique ability to positively impact a company’s bottom line in the AI age.
This is because 94% of B2B buyers use LLMs for research, particularly when compiling vendor shortlists and comparing vendors. LLM use builds in the Awareness phase, and peaks in the Consideration phase of the sales cycle. Your brand has to grab attention immediately, and be well-positioned against competitors or you will lose out on sales.
Once a buyer makes a vendor selection and the sales process is close to conclusion, 15% of buyers still consult LLMs on deal terms, implementation and service.
That’s why brands must heavily focus their comms and marketing on the start and middle of the sales cycle. But they also need to insure themselves against buyers’ final considerations when closing deals.
Made By Giants creates AI-optimised B2B sales cycles.
We have a buyer-led model for different parts of the sales cycle, scoring LLM responses against position, context, competition, feature coverage, differentiation, credibility, decision confidence and holdout categories.
This lets us understand precisely what the LLMs say about a brand, its competitors, the industry and associated challenges as the buyer journey proliferates into AI search.
We create your sales cycle AI health score, noting how your brand compares to its peers, and then provide strategic communications recommendations to optimise your brand’s narrative inside LLM responses, across the B2B sales cycle.
Our approach illuminates what LLMs say around brands’ business models and offers a reality check on their GTM strategies. Let’s face facts: LLMs might not categorise a brand in the way it wants to be seen, or maybe the bots are overblowing a few negative reviews in their quest for balance.
Our consultants advise on the product category and reputational issues holding brands back and their ability to close deals. We see what media, analyst, comparison sites, forums and vendor webpages matter, so we can develop or refine communications strategies, with reputational essentials you may have not considered until now – like product and company reviews, analyst programs and community forum sentiment.
Marketing and PR pros will invest in public relations differently this year, taking a closer look at how AI search and the communications discipline combine to generate immense power to influence buyers.
How your brand shows up has never been more important. Make LLMs your brand advocates.
Talk to us today to optimise the AI-led B2B sales cycle. onesmallstep@madebygiants.io.
