📺 NYC Summit 2026: How to Drive Brand Visibility in the AI Answer Engine Era - G2 x Meltwater

This week's (second!) session might be the most actionable one yet. Jenny Force, VP of Global Marketing at Meltwater, and Palmer Hutchins, VP of Marketing at G2, came armed with fresh research, real results, and zero fluff. If AEO — Answer Engine Optimization — isn't on your radar yet, it needs to be after this.

👉 Watch the full keynote

Here are a few highlights worth watching for:

The buying journey has already changed: 51% of B2B decision makers now start their vendor search in an AI chatbot — not Google. And 69% ended up choosing a different vendor than they originally planned after using AI in their research. The playing field is being redrawn in real time.

Winning the answer is the new winning the click: Palmer's framework says it all — go from being mentioned, to cited, to a branded citation, to becoming the recommended solution. That last step — owning the answer to a hyper-specific prompt in your category — is where your AEO strategy should ultimately be pointed.

Reviews need a rethink: It's no longer about volume or star ratings. LLMs prioritize review content that answers specific questions and describes real problems solved. Jenny's team restructured their G2 review collection approach in December — and within two months, doubled their citation share and improved AI visibility twofold. That's a repeatable play.

PR and marketing are finally in the same lane: Palmer put it well — LLMs operate like an incredibly fast investigative journalist, cross-checking claims across your website, reviews, social, earned media, and more. Consistency of language and narrative across every channel isn't just good practice — it's now a technical necessity.

Practical starting points that don't require a big budget: Build an AI language guide for your writers. Update your company profiles on G2, LinkedIn, and Wikipedia. Put yourself in your customer's shoes and search for what you offer in ChatGPT or Claude right now. See what comes back.

Best line of the session: "Participation is easy. Connection is hard." — and the same applies here. Anyone can post content. What LLMs reward is genuine expertise, structured answers, and consistent proof points across the web.