Peer recommendations are the most trusted information source for B2B buyers, according to a new report from Reddit and SurveyMonkey. AI chatbots ranked near the bottom.
What They Found
The report surveyed 1,200 U.S. business decision-makers. Among respondents, 73% said they trust peer recommendations when evaluating business purchases. That’s well ahead of vendor websites (55%), search engines (54%), review sites (46%), AI chatbots (39%), and social media (36%).
The gap between peer trust and AI chatbot trust stood out. Only 18% of respondents said they use chatbots at all during B2B research, and those who do reported accuracy concerns. Inaccurate information (41%) and conflicting information (40%) were the top challenges chatbot users identified.
Separate consumer research from IAB and Talk Shoppe also found limited trust in AI shopping recommendations, suggesting some similar verification behavior outside B2B.
What Buyers Actually Value
When asked which types of content they find most valuable, respondents ranked real-user testimonials highest, with 37% calling them “very valuable.” Video demos came in at 32%, community discussions and analyst reports tied at 27%, and white papers and one-sheets landed last at 17%.
For B2B content teams that still build lead-gen programs around gated white papers, that 17% number is worth noting. A separate survey of 797 B2B leaders by TopRank Marketing and Ascend2 found that original research drives stronger engagement and trust than standard thought leadership formats.
Together, these two data points suggest buyers are looking for real experience and original data over polished packaging.
Buyers Research On Their Own
The report found that 83% of B2B decision-makers said they research on their own before ever speaking to a sales team.
Most move quickly, as 65% of respondents said their research takes a week or less. But 31% said they spend several weeks or more evaluating options, particularly in software, professional services, and HR.
During that self-directed research, 55% of respondents said their biggest frustration is knowing which information sources to trust. Finding real user testimonials (48%) and filtering through vendor content (46%) were the next most common complaints.
Why This Matters
When building content for B2B audiences, this data suggests buyers place more trust in peer conversations, user testimonials, and community discussion than in vendor-controlled materials alone.
LinkedIn’s B2B Marketing Benchmark Report found that 94% of senior marketers consider trust the key to B2B success, and this report shows where buyers are actually finding it.
Looking Ahead
The peer trust data is consistent with other recent findings on B2B buying behavior, but “peer recommendations” is a broad category. The report doesn’t distinguish between a conversation with a colleague and an anonymous online comment. That difference matters for how you act on the data.
The full report is available from Reddit for Business.
Featured Image: fizkes/Shutterstock
