Before they return your call, accept your meeting, or walk into your booth, they’ve already started researching you and increasingly, AI is becoming part of that process.
Over the past year, we’ve noticed an interesting shift in the conversations we’re having with new clients.
What’s striking is that very few of them are reaching out because business is struggling. In fact, most are doing quite well. Referrals continue to come in, they’re speaking at conferences, serving on boards, participating in professional organizations, and building the kind of reputation that takes years, sometimes decades, to earn.
Yet those conversations almost always arrive at the same observation.
People are researching them long before they ever meet.
They’ve noticed prospects viewing their LinkedIn profile before a conference. Someone they’re scheduled to meet on Zoom has already visited their website. A referral reaches out already familiar with an article they wrote or a podcast interview they participated in.
The first impression is no longer happening in the meeting.
It’s happening beforehand.
Referrals haven’t become less important.
If anything, they’re still one of the strongest ways to build a high-trust business. What has changed is what people do after receiving that referral.
Years ago, someone might have said, “You should talk to Sarah,” and that recommendation was enough to schedule a meeting.
Today, the recommendation is usually followed by research.
Before they return your call, walk into your booth at a conference, or accept your calendar invitation, they’re looking you up. They’re searching your name, reading your LinkedIn profile, visiting your website, and looking for anything that helps them better understand who you are and whether you’re the right fit.
That shift isn’t just anecdotal. Gartner has consistently reported that B2B buyers spend much of their purchasing journey researching independently before they ever engage with a supplier. By the time many buyers reach out, they’ve already formed opinions based on the information they’ve found.
Now another layer is being added to that process.
People aren’t just searching Google anymore. They’re asking ChatGPT. They’re reading Google’s AI Overviews.
They’re using Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot to compare providers, understand industries, and identify specialists before making contact.
The questions aren’t always, “Who is this person?”
More often they’re asking questions like:
“Who specializes in succession planning for family-owned businesses?”
“Who works with privately held manufacturers?”
“Who are the leading consultants in…”
Those answers aren’t built from a single LinkedIn profile or one well-written webpage.
They’re assembled from the digital evidence you’ve created over time.
One of the biggest gaps we see isn’t a lack of expertise. It’s a lack of representation.
Many of the professionals we work with have built extraordinary careers. They’ve spent twenty or thirty years developing deep expertise, earning referrals, delivering outstanding work, and becoming highly respected within their industries.
The challenge is that their digital presence often tells only a fraction of that story.
Someone looking them up online may find an outdated LinkedIn profile, a basic website, or very little information that reflects the depth of experience they’ve spent decades building.
That’s not a credibility problem.
It’s a visibility problem.
This is why every meaningful piece of content matters.
A thoughtful article.
A well-written LinkedIn post.
A client success story.
A podcast interview.
A conference presentation.
A frequently asked question on your website.
Individually, each one may seem relatively small. Collectively, they become something much more valuable. They become evidence.
Evidence that helps a prospective client understand how you think. Evidence that reinforces a referral. Evidence that supports the reputation you’ve already earned.
And increasingly, they’re the signals AI draws upon when helping people discover experts in your field. The strongest digital presence isn’t built by trying to become an influencer.
It’s built by consistently documenting the expertise you’ve already earned and making it easier for the right people to find, understand, and trust you.
#Linkability
Kim Peterson Stone — three-time founder, keynote speaker, and LinkedIn thought-leader with 225 K+ followers — teaches executives and entrepreneurs how to build unshakable authority, attract targeted opportunities, and future-proof their careers through strategic LinkedIn thought-leadership. As CEO of Linkability.us, she’s helped everyone from startups to Fortune 500 teams work smarter, amplify their influence, and solve their toughest growth challenges.
Ready to become the go-to expert in your field? Let’s talk.