This year, we’ll see the rise of proof over persuasion in B2B marketing – The Drum

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January 21, 2026 | 6 min read
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With AI revolutionizing the B2B buying journey, Nick Kay at Luxid UK explains why proof will become king this year – even as marketers have to give up some of their control.
“Hard facts, evidence, and validation feed AI algorithms – and are also the stuff of effective B2B marketing,” explains Kay (Agence Olloweb/Unsplash)
Technology has long been a friend to B2B marketing. From customer relationship manager (CRM) platforms to account-based marketing (ABM) tools, it’s given marketers the control they’ve craved. And while AI is now delivering amazing new efficiencies and opportunities, arguably, its greater effect is in transforming how customers behave.
It’s true that as AI revolutionizes discovery and makes self-service buying the default, some of the marketers’ control is slipping away. But this doesn’t have to be a story of threat. Rather, one of inevitable, and potentially positive, change. Yes, there’s a loss of control, but it’s balanced by a shift towards something that B2B has always been rather good at: proof. Hard facts, evidence, and validation feed AI algorithms – and are also the stuff of effective B2B marketing.
While technology is the enabler of this seismic change, it’s newly dominant Millennial and Gen Z B2B buyers who are actually driving the change. Forrester’s data shows this cohort has climbed from 64% to 71% of B2B buyers in a single year.
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Gen Z and Millennials are bringing their experiences and expectations of proof-based research straight to the workplace. More than 50% of younger buyers rely on external sources – including social media and professional networks – to make purchase decisions. Importantly, there is a growing comfort with AI as a decision aid: 55% of final decision-makers already trust AI toolsto help with the buying journey.
It’s not just research and decision-making that buyers are controlling, but purchasing as well. According to Trust Radius, 100% of B2B buyers want to self-serve all or part of the buying journey. The new generation of buyers doesn’t seek to talk to a rep until they’re confident they understand the problem, options, and risks. In fact, increasingly they’re willing to spend big on B2B projects without speaking to anyone at all – 33% of enterprise buyers are now willing to spend $1m fully self-serve.
These new self-service buyers are no longer lone decision makers; buying is now done in ever-expanding and diverse groups. Forrester says that 13 people are now involved in the average purchasing decision, including often-overlooked stakeholders – known as ‘hidden influencers’ – who can make the difference between success and failure. All these decision-makers require individualized proof points to address their specific needs, interests, and responsibilities. So, in 2026, marketers will need to contend with multi-threaded customer journeys, where many stakeholders search independently and ask different questions of both AI and their peers – only coming together to make a decision late in the buying process.
In response to AI-native buyers is the emerging practice of generative engine optimization (GEO), which focuses on creating and optimizing content to be easily discovered, understood, and used by AI chatbots and generative search engines. The mainstays of GEO are proof, trust, authority, and validation, meaning the balance in marketing is shifting further towards proof and away from persuasion.
Except these aren’t really new for B2B. With its high spends and technical content, B2B has always heavily relied on proof. It’s the rocket fuel for good case studies, product materials, and testimonials. As B2B marketers start using this fuel for AI-powered discovery, they’re finding – or soon will be – that what’s good for feeding large language models (LLMs) is also good for answering the searches of a new generation of buyers. So, while marketers may have less control over the journey, they can definitely have more influence on the answers buyers and their AI co-pilots see at every step.
This is about being comfortable with relinquishing the previous level of control over the buyer journey, instead treating every touchpoint as an opportunity to enhance brand trust through proof.
All this talk of proof doesn’t mean the death of creativity and storytelling. Millennial and Gen Z buyers want evidence, transparency, and self-service buying – but they’re still human.
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Most AI-powered research starts with buyers gathering data, but raw proof is usually dry. When information becomes abundant, and all proof starts to look the same, creativity and emotive narrative make all the difference. The key is to turn proof into something buyers can relate to, so they can clearly see how the solution works for their own challenges and situations.
B2B marketers will need to contend with big changes in the year ahead. But, even in a world where buyers are in control of discovery and purchase, and where LLMs are doing the heavy lifting, best practice in digital marketing, SEO, and B2B storytelling still underpins success. Balancing these existing core skills while aligning to the expectations of AI-natives with proof, transparency, and evidence will be the key to continued success during the AI transition.
And as ever in marketing, it’s all about getting the balance right.
Luxid
Luxid is an award-winning marketing agency laser-focused on driving growth and results for businesses at the intersection of creativity, data, and technology. Our…
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