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Picture this: a procurement manager has a problem: his team needs to get better at negotiating. He opens ChatGPT and types: “Which training providers offer a good negotiation masterclass in the Netherlands?” He gets three names. Only then does he look at a website.
Were you one of them? And if so: what did it say about your offer?
That’s a question you can answer yourself in fifteen minutes per round. Below you’ll read what we do and don’t know, why a crystal-clear offer is the foundation here, and how to run the test.
What we know, and what we don’t
First the honest part. We haven’t found any Dutch research on buyers of training, coaching or consultancy using AI to compare providers. So for your audience, this hasn’t been measured yet.
There is research from nearby, though, and it all points one way:
- In March and April 2026, Semrush surveyed American business professionals. Of the people already using AI for work, 66% say they regularly use AI to research suppliers and solutions. Note: that’s 66% of AI users, not of all buyers. And Semrush sells AI visibility tools itself.
- In March 2026, G2 asked over a thousand software buyers worldwide about their sources. In that study, according to G2, AI chatbots came out as the number one source that determines which suppliers make the shortlist (54% named them). In a later G2 report from July, review sites were just on top (38%) with AI chatbots at 37%.
Read that last one again, calmly. It doesn’t say AI wins the shortlist. It says AI is one of the places where the shortlist gets made, alongside reviews, colleagues and your own website. And those numbers are about software buyers, not about people booking a masterclass.
So our conclusion isn’t a horror story. It’s an invitation: have a look for yourself.
An offer you can repeat in one sentence
What do AI assistants pick up? Nobody knows for certain. Google itself says there’s no special AI trick: a good foundation, important content as text on your page, done.
Two loose clues we do find interesting:
- In the Semrush study, 53% of American respondents who use AI for work name a supplier fitting their specific situation as the reason to notice them. Only 7% of them name brand awareness.
- G2 writes: “AI can’t summarize what it can’t find. Vague positioning means no representation.”
That’s research among American buyers and among software buyers. It proves nothing about your market. But it matches what we see as bakers: an offer that’s vague, nobody can pass on. Not a buyer, not a colleague, and not a chatbot either. That last part is our own experience and assumption, not a research finding.
So as an independent expert or small firm, your advantage isn’t in fame. It’s in clarity. Being seen is nice. Being remembered sells.
The test: how to check what AI says about your masterclass
You need fifteen minutes per round and three browser tabs: ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google (with AI answers). Here’s how.
Step 1: ask a buyer’s questions. Not “what do you know about my company”, but what a real buyer would ask. For example:
- Which training providers offer a masterclass in [your subject] in the Netherlands?
- Compare [your name or offer] with alternatives.
- What does a training course in [your subject] cost for [your audience]?
Step 2: note what you see. Are you mentioned? Who is? And above all: what does it say about your offer? Is it right, too general, or is something missing?
Step 3: repeat it. AI answers differ every time. Agency MADX, which sells audits itself, warns that a single snapshot will mislead you. So ask several times, on several days, before you draw conclusions.
Step 4: fill in the score. Make a simple list per question: mentioned yes or no, described correctly yes or no, who’s there instead of you. That’s all.
Marketers (at software companies) interviewed by G2 do exactly this: they type buyer prompts into ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity themselves and see who shows up. Then they shape their content around it.
What if you’re not mentioned?
Then nothing’s broken. You’ve learnt something. Look at your own offer first:
- Who is it for? Not “professionals”, but “team leaders in healthcare”.
- What result do they get? Not “insight”, but something they can use on Monday.
- When and where does it take place, and what’s the next step?
- Is it called the same everywhere? Use the same name everywhere: on your site, in your LinkedIn profile and in your announcements.
Can you answer those four questions in one sentence that an outsider can repeat? Then your dough is right. If you can’t, you’re hearing it now, and that’s the good news.
It also helps if others write about you. Ahrefs found a correlation (0.66 to 0.71) between mentions of a brand across the web and visibility in AI answers. It was a correlation, not a proven cause, and it concerned 75,000 brands worldwide with strong websites. Use it as a reason to do the occasional guest column, podcast or interview, not as a promise.
From clear offer to full room
At Online Marketing Bakery we call this step 01 of the Sold-Out Recipe: the Dough. A crystal-clear offer with a title someone can remember. That’s where everything starts. Only then can you fill the room, get people to come and get them to buy.
We’re not promising that AI will mention you tomorrow. Whoever promises that is promising something they don’t control. What we do know: an offer you can explain clearly works better for buyers, for colleagues who refer you and, as far as we can see, also for the assistants that buyers ask for advice.
Want to know where your offer stands right now? The leak test is free: 13 questions, about 3 minutes. For each step of the Sold-Out Recipe you’ll see whether it’s golden brown, half-baked or still raw, what you can do tomorrow and what we would do.
Rubin is the founder of Online Marketing Bakery in Roermond. You take the stage, we fill the room. And we make sure it buys.
[email protected] · More about the bakers
Further reading: GEO: how to get mentioned in the answers of ChatGPT and Google · Take the free leak test · The Sold-Out Recipe: how we work · Marketing for training providers
How we work: first the offer, then the room. Want to get going with a brief like this? We do that in the Sold-Out Session: your offer and your event structure in one half-day.