Utrecht , The Netherlands / Storyteller / Oct 20, 2026 /
Omnia Retail, a B2B pricing software company, now receives close to a third of its monthly qualified inbound leads through AI search. Nine months after it started optimising for visibility in AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, the share of qualified leads that came in through LLMs and AI search rose from 2% to 29%, and the number of meetings booked through AI search each month grew fivefold. The work was done by 2 Steps Ahead, a GEO and AI search visibility agency in Utrecht that works with B2B tech and software companies in the Netherlands and across Europe.
What changed for Omnia Retail?
Before the project, AI search brought Omnia Retail very few leads: 2% of its monthly qualified inbound leads. Nine months later that share was 29%, and the number of meetings booked through AI search per month had grown five times. “Before we started optimising for AI search, it barely brought in any leads. Nine months later it brings in close to a third of our qualified leads each month, and five times as many meetings per month,” says Sander Roose, founder and CEO of Omnia Retail.
What did the work at Omnia Retail involve?
Before changing anything, 2 Steps Ahead recorded which brands AI assistants named for the questions Omnia Retail’s buyers ask, such as comparisons and alternatives in pricing software. The work then combined content on Omnia Retail’s own website that assistants can quote, technical GEO such as structured data and crawlability, and mentions on third-party sources that assistants draw on, such as review sites, directories, LinkedIn, YouTube and Reddit. Because LLMs change their sources and citations from week to week, the prompts were monitored continuously and the approach was adjusted along the way. According to 2 Steps Ahead, ChatGPT sometimes picked up changes within days, while other LLMs, such as Claude, took longer.
How were the results measured?
Omnia Retail measured the results with a required “how did you hear about us” question on every contact form, rather than with referrer data or modelled attribution. Many buyers read an AI answer and then search for the brand name or go to the website directly, so analytics tools often record those visits as branded search or direct traffic. Both figures compare the first month with the month nine months later. Results depend on each company’s market and starting point and are not guaranteed.
What is GEO / AI search visibility?
GEO, also called AEO, AI search optimization or AI search visibility, is the work that gets a brand named and cited inside an AI assistant’s answer. Unlike SEO, which targets rankings on a results page, GEO targets being named and cited inside the answer itself. Assistants answer from pages they can crawl, read and attribute, and give weight to independent sources alongside a company’s own website. According to 2 Steps Ahead, whether a brand is quotable decides whether it gets named.
How does 2 Steps Ahead measure AI visibility?
In month one, 2 Steps Ahead records a baseline of a company’s position across AI assistants and search, before any changes are made, and compares later measurements with it. Citations are tracked in a dashboard covering 50, 100 or 200 tracked prompts, depending on the package. Each month the agency actively works on 10, 15 or 25 priority prompts. Where a priority prompt needs a real, logged-in check, the agency runs it by hand.
What is 2 Steps Ahead?
2 Steps Ahead is an AI Search as a Service agency that delivers AI search visibility (AEO/GEO) and the technical work behind it to B2B tech and software companies in the Netherlands and across Europe. It works on visibility in LLMs and AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Meta, Grok and Google AI Overviews. It publishes its working terms on its website: a baseline recorded before work starts, a flat monthly fee, no separate setup fee and a commitment of no more than three months. Its website also states who the service does not suit: companies before product-market fit, consumer brands and local businesses.
What does this mean for other B2B tech and software companies?
According to Sebastiaan Smits, founder of 2 Steps Ahead, B2B buyers increasingly ask an AI assistant for a shortlist before they visit a vendor’s website. “Omnia Retail shows that AI search can be a real pipeline channel for B2B tech and software companies,” says Smits. “But you need to know where you stand before you start, and measure it by leads and meetings rather than by traffic.” Omnia Retail is the first case 2 Steps Ahead has published. The agency states that it will publish further cases, each with its baseline, as they become available.
Who is behind 2 Steps Ahead?
Sebastiaan Smits is the founder of 2 Steps Ahead. The team is deliberately small and senior only, with no account managers or juniors. Clients keep ownership of their repositories, data and documentation.
About 2 Steps Ahead
2 Steps Ahead, based in Utrecht, the Netherlands, is a GEO and AEO agency for B2B tech and software companies. It delivers AI Search as a Service (AEO/GEO) and measures its work against a baseline recorded before work starts. More information: https://2stepsahead.ai/
Media contact
Sebastiaan Smits, founder
Email: info@2stepsahead.ai
Website: https://2stepsahead.ai/
Publisher: 2 Steps Ahead
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/2-steps-ahead-ai-search-visibility-agency
