Most lead generation starts with a form, a trade fair or a cold email. But by that point, the buyer has in practice been searching for some time. They have recognised a problem, talked it over with colleagues and formed an idea of which suppliers they want to speak to. And more and more often, they also put that question to an AI assistant such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude. What that assistant answers helps decide who makes the shortlist, and so who gets the first meeting. For a sales team, the question is therefore not just how many contacts you make, but whether you are mentioned in that early phase. And how.
Where the shortlist takes shape
A B2B purchase rarely starts with a phone call. A company first explores what is out there, compares the options and then contacts two or three suppliers. If you are not mentioned in that orientation phase, nobody contacts you later either.
An AI assistant speeds up that process. A decision-maker types a question like "which suppliers are suitable for our problem?" and gets a short list back, with an explanation for each name. You don't see that conversation, and neither does your CRM. You only notice the result when the buyer gets in touch: they arrive with a picture of you and your competitors that is already largely fixed.
That changes the first conversations. If a buyer has heard your name, but with a caveat attached, they open with an objection. If they haven't heard your name anywhere, they don't start with you at all.
What the GripIQ Intent Engine shows you
The GripIQ Intent Engine makes that invisible conversation visible and puts it next to your own figures. It asks AI models the same kind of questions your buyers ask and shows what those models answer. Worth knowing: you won't see the names of buyers in it. What you do see is whether your brand appears in the answers and how it is talked about. For sales, four parts are the most useful.
- AI Visibility shows, among other things, the Own brand visibility KPI: how often your brand is mentioned in the answers. Share of Voice sets that against all tracked competitors combined. That is your starting point: are you on the list, and how often compared with the rest?
- Rankings ranks all tracked brands by how often they are mentioned, with Visibility and Sentiment for each brand. Number 1 is mentioned most often. So you see who leads the list for the questions your buyers ask.
- AI model comparison shows side by side what each model answers to a question: whether your brand is mentioned, and with what sentiment. That is no luxury, because ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude by no means always give the same answer.
- Sentiment shows for each answer whether a model talks about a brand in a positive, neutral, negative or mixed way. So you see not only whether you are mentioned, but also how.
Every model has its own shortlist
A buyer doesn't necessarily use the same chatbot as their colleague. A supplier at the top of one model's list can be missing entirely from another. That is why the Dashboard shows Share of Voice per model, with the description "How often each brand is mentioned per AI model".
Take an example from the AI model comparison. For a question about suppliers in your segment, two models mention you and a third does not. You can expand that difference: the row then shows the full answer, with the brand mentions highlighted. That way, you read for yourself which competitors are mentioned instead, and with which arguments.
For your pipeline, that gives you two things. You know in which model a buyer is unlikely to see your name. And you know which competitors appear in your place. How to write the questions for this is explained in How to write prompts the way a buyer looks for a supplier.
What to do with it in your sales conversations
Figures about AI answers only have value if they change your next conversation. There are three things you can do this week.
Prepare for the objection you haven't heard yet. An answer that describes your brand in mixed or negative terms often contains exactly the criticism a buyer brings to the first meeting. Open the answer in AI Visibility and read the full text. If it mentions a limitation you recognise, prepare your response, so it doesn't catch you off guard in the meeting.
Fill the gap between models with evidence. If one of the models leaves you out, it helps when your public cases, references and comparison pages do answer that question. That is work for marketing and sales together. You can read why AI models mention some brands and not others in Generative engine optimization: what it is and where to start.
Use the rankings in your conversation with management. If a competitor consistently ranks higher than you in Rankings, you have a concrete argument for a more targeted offer, a stronger reference story or more attention to the questions where you fall behind.
Where this fits in your lead generation
The GripIQ Intent Engine shows you the picture AI models paint of your brand and your competitors, for the questions you choose yourself and, if you set it up, per country.
So this is insight into the phase before the first contact, alongside your regular prospecting. It adds a question to your lead generation that rarely gets asked: if a buyer consults a chatbot today, is your name in the answer? And what is said about you?
How reliable that picture is depends on the questions you track. The more relevant prompts, the more complete the overview. A small set already shows you which way things are heading, but for solid conclusions you need more questions.
What you can do now
- Write down three questions a buyer in your segment would ask an AI assistant, from orientation to comparison, and check in AI Visibility whether your brand appears in the answers.
- Open the AI model comparison and find a question where a model doesn't mention you. Read the full answer and note which competitor does appear, and why.
- Check the Sentiment of every answer that mentions you. If it says Mixed or Negative, prepare your response before your next first meeting.
Curious what that picture looks like for your own market? Book a demo.