What a March 2026 global report means for Australian B2B businesses and their digital presence
There is a shift happening in the way B2B purchasing decisions get made, and it is moving faster than most Australian businesses realise.
A white paper published in March 2026 by the B2B eCommerce Association, written by Phane Mane, Global Chair of the B2B AI Council, lays out where things actually stand. Not where they are heading in theory — where they are right now.
And the numbers are worth paying attention to.
What the research actually says
A Gartner survey of 646 B2B buyers, conducted in late 2025, found that 45% used AI tools during a recent purchase. More significantly, 67% now prefer a buying experience where they can complete at least part of the process without involving a sales representative at all. (Source: Gartner, cited in B2BEA White Paper, March 2026, b2bea.org)
That preference is not just a convenience. It is reshaping the entire B2B sales process.
The report also notes that B2B sellers who effectively use AI tools in their sales process are 3.7 times more likely to meet their quota compared to those who do not. (Source: Gartner Sales Survey, 2024)
And looking ahead, Gartner forecasts that by 2028, AI agents will outnumber human sellers by 10 to 1, and will mediate more than $15 trillion in B2B spending globally.
These are not fringe predictions. They are documented trends from one of the most widely cited research firms in the world.
What this means for your business right now
The white paper makes a point that most commentary glosses over. It is not the AI technology itself that is the issue. The problem, for most businesses, is visibility.
When an AI buying tool — or a “custobot” as Gartner researchers term them — is tasked with finding suppliers on a client’s behalf, it scans what is publicly available. It reads your website. It checks your service descriptions. It looks at how clearly you communicate what you do, who you serve, and what results you deliver. If your digital presence is thin, inconsistent, or written for a general audience rather than your actual ideal client, you become invisible in that process.
Not because you are not good at what you do. Because the information available about you does not clearly say so.
The report puts it directly: “If your product data is incomplete, your pricing isn’t machine-readable, or your digital commerce infrastructure can’t respond to agent queries, you’ll become increasingly invisible in AI-mediated purchasing decisions.”
That applies to marketing agencies, law firms, consultants, engineers, and every other professional services business that sells to other businesses.
The opportunity hiding in plain sight
Here is what is genuinely encouraging about all of this.
Most Australian B2B businesses have not yet focused on this. Which means the ones that do right now have a real advantage.
The report is clear that early movers in getting their digital presence ready for AI-assisted discovery will build a lead that is very hard for competitors to close later. Recommendation systems and agent directories reward businesses that show up clearly, consistently, and credibly.
That does not require a massive technology investment. It starts with something far more basic: making sure your digital presence accurately and clearly represents who you are, what you do, and who you serve. That means well-written service pages, genuine client testimonials, content that demonstrates your expertise, and a consistent voice across every channel where your business appears.
What this looks like in practice
At Lustosa Marketing, we work with B2B businesses who are excellent at what they do but whose online presence does not reflect that. The gap between how good they are and how they appear online is often significant — and it is costing them opportunities they never even find out about.
Getting that gap closed is not glamorous work. But it is foundational. And right now, with AI reshaping how purchasing decisions are researched and made, it is more important than it has ever been.
The businesses showing up well online are not necessarily the biggest or the most established. They are the ones who took their digital presence seriously, kept it current, and made sure it speaks clearly to the people — and now the tools — looking for what they offer.
If you want to know where your B2B digital presence actually stands, we offer a no-pressure conversation to walk through what is working, what is missing, and what is worth fixing first. Reach out through lustosamarketing.com.
Source cited: Phane Mane, “From Transactions to Intelligence: How AI Is Rewriting the Rules of B2B Commerce,” B2B eCommerce Association, March 2026, b2bea.org
