The Mental
Av-AI-lability Index

Frequently asked questions

• What is the Mental Av-AI-lability Index?

  The Mental Av-AI-lability Index is a research study from Babel and Sapio Research that maps leading B2B technology brands across two dimensions: mental availability, or how well human buyers recall a brand, and algorithmic availability, or how often AI tools recommend it. It plots brands into four quadrants across the telecoms, cybersecurity and enterprise sectors in the UK and US, showing where each one stands as buyers increasingly rely on AI for vendor discovery.

• What is the difference between mental availability and AI availability?

  Mental availability is the degree to which a brand comes to mind for human buyers during a purchase decision, built through long-term brand building and category entry points. AI availability, also called algorithmic availability, is how likely large language models such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity are to surface and recommend that brand. The index argues that brands now need to perform on both axes, because strong human recall no longer guarantees a brand will appear in AI-generated shortlists.

• What are the four quadrants of the Mental Av-AI-lability Index?

  Brands fall into one of four quadrants. Titans have high human recall and high AI recommendation, leading on both. Sleeping Giants are famous with people but largely invisible to AI. Algorithmic Disruptors are less well known to buyers but are engineered for AI discovery. The Untapped sit low on both axes, with significant room to grow.

• What is Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)?

  Generative Engine Optimisation, or GEO, is the practice of optimising a brand's content so it is discovered, understood and recommended by AI answer engines rather than only ranking on traditional search results pages. Where SEO targets search engines, GEO targets large language models. Core tactics include ungating content, structuring data for machine consumption, raising the profile of company executives and earning citations in trusted third-party media.

• How do B2B buyers use AI to choose technology vendors?

  Buyers increasingly turn to AI tools early in the research and evaluation process to discover vendors, validate options and build their shortlists. In the research, among buyers who selected a new vendor for a recent large purchase, almost a third found that vendor using an AI tool, more than used a search engine or an analyst report. This shift toward zero-click, AI-led discovery means a brand that does not surface in AI responses risks being left off the shortlist entirely.

• Why are some well-known brands invisible to AI?

  The index identifies a group of Sleeping Giants, brands with strong human recognition that AI rarely recommends. The most common cause is locking valuable content behind forms and paywalls, since AI models cannot complete lead-capture forms and simply turn to competitors with open, accessible data. Fragmented PR visibility and weak, unstructured website data compound the problem, leaving these brands out of AI-generated recommendations despite their fame.

• How can a brand improve its visibility in AI tools and large language models?

  The report sets out a framework for building machine trust to match human trust. It recommends ungating valuable content so AI models can read it, structuring data with clear formatting such as FAQs, modular sections and bulleted lists, raising the online profile of company executives, and earning citations in trusted third-party media through PR. Together these signals help AI engines recognise a brand as an authority and recommend it during buyers' research.

• Which sectors and regions does the Mental Av-AI-lability Index cover?

  The index covers three B2B technology verticals, telecoms, cybersecurity and enterprise, each broken down into sub-sectors. Brands are mapped separately for the UK and US markets, drawing on a survey of 400 senior technology decision-makers at organisations with at least 500 employees.

• Is there more to come, and what is next?

  There is more to come. The next step is a blueprint on marketing and communicating to both human and machine: creating your strategy for a zero-click future. It arrives in Autumn 2026, with a first look for Brave Collective members. Join the Brave Collective: babelpr.com/brave-collective