-- AI Search Marketing Agency has released The Thin Market Playbook, examining search demand and AI-assisted supplier discovery across 36 industries in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
The study compared 26 business-to-business industries with 10 consumer-facing industries. Researchers collected search-volume and advertising-cost data in September 2026 and tested how an AI assistant selected sources for supplier recommendations.
Repeated Questions, Changing Sources
For a subset of six business supplier industries and six consumer industries in the United States and New Zealand, researchers repeated identical buying questions five times. Across the business categories, the assistant cited an average of 16.3 different company websites, with none appearing in every answer.
In the consumer categories, it cited 9.7 websites on average, while four companies' websites appeared in all five responses. The findings concern cited websites, not a verified count of supplier names mentioned in the answers.
“In consumer markets the AI has already made up its mind, and a few national names come back every time,” said Marcos Azaro, founder of AI Search Marketing Agency. “In specialist business markets it has not.”
The agency cautions that this repeated-question exercise involved one assistant, one question format and a limited selection of industries. Its results should not be interpreted as a universal pattern across AI products.
Search Demand Differs by Industry
The research found that the typical consumer industry's main search term received 70 times the monthly searches of the corresponding business supplier benchmark. In the United States, the reported figures were 284,500 searches versus 2,750.
Average advertising costs also differed. The study reported typical United States costs per click of $9.41 for business supplier categories and $19.23 for consumer categories.
Across the wider AI-answer dataset, researchers recorded 672 cited websites, of which 19 appeared across multiple industries. The authors argue that supplier websites remain important sources when assistants answer business purchasing questions.
Methodology and Access
The agency used DataForSEO for search metrics and published the questions, AI responses, charts and data under a Creative Commons Attribution licence. The report distinguishes exploratory AI observations from broader search-demand measurements.
The findings provide a snapshot rather than evidence that any supplier can secure consistent AI recommendations. Readers can review the methodology and downloadable data to assess the conclusions.
About AI Search Marketing Agency
AI Search Marketing Agency is an Auckland-based consultancy led by Marcos Azaro. It researches search behaviour and advises businesses on their visibility in AI-assisted discovery.
For more information, visit: https://aisearchmarketing.agency/
About the company: AI Search Marketing Agency is an Auckland-based consultancy led by Marcos Azaro.
Contact Info:
Name: Marcos Azaro
Email: Send Email
Organization: AI Search Marketing Agency
Website: https://aisearchmarketing.agency/
Release ID: 89206575
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