Win the shortlist when companies compare IT partners.

Yes, if you sell abroad, because buyers in the US, UK, UAE or Australia search differently from Indian buyers and see different results. "Software development company" in London shows a different page of results from the same search in Bengaluru, and AI tools tailor answers to the buyer's context too.

How to set it up:

1. Pick the countries where you have clients or want them.
2. Track the searches buyers there use: "offshore development team", "dedicated developers India", "custom software development company", "nearshore vs offshore".
3. Switch the market in your tracking to each country, so positions reflect what local buyers see.
4. Add AI questions in local phrasing, such as "best offshore software partners for a UK fintech startup".

Pages written for those markets help. A US buyer looks for time-zone overlap, contracts under familiar law, data security practices and case studies with clients in their region.

Overseas buyers rely heavily on AI. G2's 2026 research found 51% of B2B software buyers start research with an AI chatbot more often than with Google. (G2, 2026) That sample is software buyers, close to IT services buyers.

Google Visibility checks searches by country each week.

By publishing clear pages about what you build, for whom, in which industries and with what results, so AI tools have specific facts to quote. Pages that list technologies ("we work in React, Node, AWS") give little to go on; pages that say "we built claims processing software for a mid-size insurer, cutting processing time" give a lot.

What tends to help:

• Service pages by problem: legacy modernisation, cloud migration, mobile apps for field teams.
• Industry pages where you have real projects.
• Case studies with the client's situation, your work and measured outcomes, named with permission or anonymised.
• Engagement models and pricing approach, stated plainly.
• Team and location facts: size, offices, time-zone coverage, security certifications held.
• Third-party presence: review platforms, partner directories, industry coverage.

AI citation sources shift fast. Semrush found ChatGPT cited Reddit in close to 60% of responses in early August 2025, then around 10% by mid-September. (Semrush, 2025) Do not bet on one platform; keep your own site strong and consistent.

Buyers do change course because of AI. G2 found 69% of B2B software buyers chose a different vendor than planned based on AI chatbot guidance. (G2, 2026) Track the questions your buyers ask with Live AI Monitoring.

They can, because AI tools often draw on third-party pages when comparing firms, but they work alongside your own site, not instead of it. When a buyer asks "top mobile app development companies in India", AI answers often reflect directory listings and review platforms, since those pages compare many firms at once.

Practical steps:

• Keep profiles on the platforms your buyers use complete and consistent with your site: services, industries, team size, locations.
• Ask satisfied clients for honest reviews, without incentives.
• Make sure your own site holds the full detail, since directories carry only summaries.
• Watch which platforms AI tools actually cite for your questions, rather than guessing.

Do not overinvest in any single platform. AI citation patterns change quickly, and a source cited heavily one month may fall away the next, as Semrush's 2025 study of ChatGPT's Reddit citations showed. (Semrush, 2025)

Your own pages still matter for Google's AI features. Google says a page must be indexed and eligible for a snippet to appear as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode. (Google Search Central) A strong site plus accurate third-party profiles gives AI tools consistent facts from several places.

Track which sources are cited for your key questions, and fill the gaps you find.

They ask AI tools and search engines for options, check case studies and reviews, and contact only a few firms. Most of the decision is made before the first call.

The research on business buyers is clear on this. 6sense's 2025 report found buyers choose from one of the four vendors on their Day One Shortlist 95% of the time. (6sense, 2025) Semrush's 2026 survey adds that 83% of US B2B professionals using AI said it influenced their final choice of vendor, 32% heavily. (Semrush, 2026)

What overseas buyers check:

• Relevant experience: similar projects, industries and scale.
• How the engagement works: fixed price, time and materials, dedicated team.
• Communication: time-zone overlap, project management and reporting.
• Security and data practices, especially for regulated industries.
• Who the people are: leadership, team leads and their background.

An Indian firm's site often undersells on these. A page per country served, with clients in that region (named with permission), legal and contracting details, and overlap hours, answers the questions directly.

Being missing from AI answers is common. The same Semrush survey found 66% of buyers had spotted vendors absent from AI results. (Semrush, 2026) Run a free check to see whether you are named today.

Record the source of every project enquiry, then follow it through discovery, proposal and contract, with the contract value and any follow-on work. IT services deals often start small and grow, so the first contract understates what a search brought.

A practical setup:

1. Add "how did you hear about us?" to your project enquiry form, including AI tools and directories as options.
2. Record the service, industry and the buyer's country.
3. Mark stages: discovery call, proposal, signed, lost.
4. Add the contract value, and link later work from the same client.
5. Review monthly by source, service and country.

This shows which markets and pages pay off. A firm might find that UK enquiries from "nhs software supplier" style pages convert well, while broad "app development" searches bring price shoppers.

Expect AI to feature more often over time. In a 2026 Semrush survey of US B2B professionals, 71% said they visit a vendor's website after AI recommends it and 63% search for the company on Google. (Semrush, 2026) Those visits often look like branded search, so the question on the form matters.

Keep client details in your CRM. The enquiries and revenue report shows projects and value by source each month.