94% of Buyers Now Research With AI Before You Ever Get a Meeting

AI-assisted buyer research isn’t an edge case anymore — it’s the default. Gong Labs’ Dan Morgese cites Forrester’s 2026 survey of 18,000 global buyers showing AI usage in pre-sales research climbing from 89% in 2025 to 94% in 2026, with generative AI now the single most-used research source, ahead of both vendor websites and sales reps. Gong’s own conversation data shows the mechanics behind that shift: a 250% increase in AI-driven vendor discovery since early 2024, a 280% increase in AI used as a buying advisor, and a 208% increase in AI-assisted vendor evaluation — and the piece notes these numbers reflect only disclosed usage, so real prevalence is likely higher. The reassuring counterweight for sellers: Gartner 2026 research cited in the piece finds 69% of buyers still consult a rep specifically to validate AI-generated insights, buyers are 32 points more likely to feel confident in a decision when a rep is involved, and 51% report encountering misleading information from AI during their research.

That last number is the opening. If half of AI-assisted buyers are hitting bad information, the seller’s job has shifted from delivering information first to correcting it credibly — which is exactly the skill Gong’s own coaching product, Enable, is built to train. Its Dry Run feature has reps rehearse against a persona built from real account context before a live call, and its AI Coach delivers feedback immediately after each rehearsal rather than waiting on a manager — the same “validate under real conditions before it counts” loop the buyer-research data says reps now need, just aimed inward at the seller instead of outward at the buyer.

Reps who still treat the first call as an information dump are pitching to buyers who already have the information — and have been burned by half-wrong versions of it. The move up the ceiling isn’t knowing more than the AI; it’s being the check the buyer already knows to bring in.