Deloitte

Survey: Nearly Half of B2B Marketers Are Guessing

Madison Logic published results from a Harris Poll survey of more than 300 U.S. marketing, advertising, communications, and social media decision‑makers showing that 84% say modern marketing must prove ROI while 48% admit they are still "guessing" which activities drive purchasing decisions. Respondents signaled a shift toward performance‑driven strategies (79%) and said balancing data precision with storytelling (91%) is critical for success. A large majority (84%) will prioritize improved cross‑channel visibility over the next 12 months, and social media, display advertising, and audio emerged as leading investment channels. Madison Logic’s CEO Keith Turco framed the industry as undergoing a reset where connecting data, intent, and pipeline impact in real time is decisive.

Small Firms Beat Corporates in AI Search Visibility

Swiss provider Geoquality.ai analysed 300 Swiss domains across 12 industries using its Seakt scoring system and concluded that visibility inside AI answer systems (e.g., ChatGPT, Perplexity) does not depend solely on company size or ad budget. Seakt scores sites 0–100 on structured data, entity clarity, authority, content quality and technical accessibility and found smaller firms sometimes score higher than well-known corporations. Examples include the fintech Aktionariat (90) versus Julius Bär (36) and EFG (33), and trustee Findea (80) versus KPMG (64), Deloitte (51) and EY (48). Geoquality.ai reports seven domains deliberately block AI crawlers (including luxury and premium brands) and about 43 large brands are effectively invisible to AI systems due to generic bot-protection (Cloudflare, Akamai). Seakt was published as a working paper in May 2026 by founder Marco Biner; full rankings are available on Geoquality.ai.

Companies Sponsor Trump’s Freedom 250 Amid Government Business

A CNBC analysis found 14 companies listed as sponsors of both America250, the congressionally created semiquincentennial nonprofit, and Freedom 250, the Trump-backed public‑private effort running high‑profile 250th anniversary events in Washington. Sponsors named include major defense and technology contractors and corporations with active business before the federal government. Watchdogs and House Democrats raised concerns that tiered sponsorship benefits documented in fundraising materials—ranging from VIP access to private receptions and speaking roles—could create access to the president for companies with regulatory, contracting or merger interests. CNBC found no direct evidence linking sponsorships to government decisions. The article highlights operational problems at the Great American State Fair, sponsorship opacity, and reporting that the Trump-aligned effort has received substantially more 250th‑related funding through grants than America250.