Is AI Search Influencing Who Gets Shortlisted?

By Jason Windle, Co-Founder, The Dux

Has anyone else's inbox turned into a GEO newsletter? Over the past few months, I reckon every marketing agency in our corner of the industry has written about generative engine optimisation, usually with a warning that your firm is about to vanish from the internet.

Mike and I have spent a fair bit of time poking at this, partly for clients and partly because we wanted to know whether it applies to us. Our take? AI search does matter for built environment firms, though less than the noise suggests, and the work it asks of you is mostly work you should be doing anyway.

Let me walk you through the thinking behind that.

What the numbers say

You’ll have seen the headline figures. They’re real, but I always want to know who was surveyed. G2’s 2026 research found 51% of B2B software buyers start their research in an AI chatbot more often than a traditional Google search. Fair enough, though someone buying software behaves nothing like a developer appointing an engineer.

A Magenta Associates survey of 300 UK decisionmakers found two-thirds use ChatGPT, Copilot or Perplexity to find and assess suppliers. RIBA says 74% of architecture practices use AI on most projects, up from 59% a year earlier. So yes, our industry is getting comfortable with AI, though RIBA is measuring design and admin work rather than how clients choose an architect. Then there’s traffic. Ahrefs found AI chatbots sent 0.28% of all web traffic in March 2026, while Google sent just over 28%.

So, should we all relax? Not quite, because low traffic doesn’t mean low influence. In one small study of big purchases, 64% of people using Google’s AI Mode clicked nothing; they read the answer and moved on. If a client asks AI about your firm and gets a thin or wrong answer, you won’t see it in your analytics. You’ll just never hear from them.

Where it can cost you work

From what we've seen, AI matters most at two moments.

1. The check after a referral. Before a referred client picks up the phone, they’re increasingly asking ChatGPT about your firm. If the answer is vague, out of date or mixes you up with someone else, you've lost ground before the first conversation.
2. Clients outside your network. A developer moving into a new region, or a main contractor looking for a partner on a public job, may not have anyone obvious to ask. So they ask AI for a shortlist, and the firms that come back get the first call.

Even we're not immune. We started life 11 years ago as a web and design studio, and a few old directory listings haven't caught up with what we do now. Throw in an unrelated Dux Digital in Australia and AI has plenty of room to get muddled. So, it's the first thing we're fixing in our own test: one name, one description and a polite email to every directory still describing the firm we used to be.

Where it barely matters

To keep this in proportion, think about where your work comes from. For the firms we work with, the bulk of revenue comes from repeat clients, frameworks and people who already know them. A client who has used you on three schemes isn't asking ChatGPT whether you're any good, and a framework manager looks at how you've performed on the framework.

Responsive's buyer research agrees once you reach the table, proposals, references and the people in the room still win the job.

With construction activity falling for almost two years, I'd look hard at your referrals and repeat business before worrying about chatbots.

What it asks of you

Here's the bit the GEO sales pitches tend to skip. AI tools build their answers from what they can find and trust about you. Being findable by AI rests on the same things that help you win work with people.

1. One name used everywhere. If your website, LinkedIn page, Companies House record and directory listings use different versions of your name, AI struggles to work out you're one firm.
2. Pages that say exactly what you do. "Multi-disciplinary engineering solutions" tells a machine nothing; "structural engineering for housing schemes in the North West" tells it plenty.
3. Case studies with names and numbers. Client, project value, programme and outcome, published with permission, make a case study easy for a client to trust and for AI to quote.
4. Other people talking about you. Mentions in trade press, awards and framework announcements help AI tools trust you are who you say you are.

Every item on that list would make your firm easier to choose if AI didn't exist.

A 15-minute check you can run this week

Open a private browser window, log out, and ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI Mode three questions:

1. Who are the best [your discipline] in [your region]?
2. Which [your discipline] in [your region] have experience in [your main sector]?
3. What is [your firm] known for, and would you recommend them for [your typical project]?

Note whether you're named, whether what it says is right, and which firms come up instead. Answers vary between tools and searches, so treat one odd result as a prompt to dig deeper rather than a reason to change course.

Rather than take my word for it, or anyone else's, let your own numbers decide. Mike, who looks after analytics for our clients, suggests giving AI its own channel in Google Analytics and adding "ChatGPT or another AI tool" to the "How did you hear about us?" question on your enquiry form. Give it three months. If AI starts turning up in your enquiries, put more effort in; if it doesn't, you've lost nothing.

So, is it worth the fuss?

Yes, a bit, though not in the way it's usually being sold. AI search is changing how some clients check and shortlist firms, and it's worth knowing what it says about you. I just wouldn't let it pull attention away from what wins work in our industry: sharp positioning, proof with numbers and relationships you look after. Get those right and you'll show up better in AI answers as a side effect. The question I'd keep asking is this: would a prospective client who has never met you see why you're the right choice?

Further reading: The Commercial Growth Ceiling Facing Built Environment Firms