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AI Shortlist Plays / From AI exposure to pipeline

Should we ask leads how they heard about us and store it in the CRM?

Yes. Add one open question to your enquiry form, store the answer in its own CRM field next to the tracked source, and ask again on the first call. It is the only way to see the AI influence that never arrives as a click.

By ProlinkagePublished 8 November 2026Play 37 of 40 · Edition 1

Effort: 2 to 3 hours

Who does it: Marketing lead, with your CRM admin

Best for: B2B firms with an enquiry form and a CRM

Evidence: Moderate (Conductor benchmarks, 13 November 2025)

01 / WHY IT MATTERS

Why it matters.

Conductor’s benchmark, published 13 November 2025, found that AI referral traffic made up 1.08% of all website traffic across ten industries (US data, May to September 2025), with IT highest at 2.80%. Most buyers who see your name in an AI answer never click through from it.

They search your name later, or type your address, and arrive as Organic Search or Direct. Click-based reports cannot see that step. Asking the buyer can.

02 / SELF-CHECK

The 10-minute self-check.

Open your last 20 inbound enquiries in the CRM:

  • How many have a source beyond “Direct” or “Organic search”?
  • Does your form ask how they heard about you?
  • Do your sales notes record what the prospect said on the first call?
03 / STEPS

Steps.

  1. Add one optional open-text field: “How did you hear about us?” Open text catches answers a dropdown would not.
  2. Map it to its own CRM property, for example “Self-reported source”, kept apart from the automatic source.
  3. Add hidden fields for UTM values and the landing page, so the tracked source travels with the entry.
  4. Ask the same question on the first call and record the answer.
  5. Each month, code the answers into categories, including “AI assistant”.
  6. Compare self-reported with tracked source. The gap is your hidden AI influence.

Form and CRM fields like these are part of our conversion tracking set-ups.

04 / OUR OWN SITE

What we saw on prolinkage.com.

05 / MEASURE

How to measure it.

  • Answer rate: share of enquiries with a self-reported source.
  • AI mentions: share of answers naming ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini or “AI”.
  • Gap: enquiries that self-report AI but were tracked as Direct or Organic, monthly.
07 / SOURCES

Sources.

  • Conductor, AEO/GEO benchmarks report, 13 November 2025.
  • Prolinkage change ledger, forms-pack-1 (hidden tracking fields), 6 November 2026.
  • Prolinkage learnings log, lead replay, 6 November 2026.
AI Shortlist Plays

The self-check shows what you can see yourself.

What the engines say across repeated runs, which sources they read and who they name instead is harder to see from inside. Our free AI Visibility Snapshot runs a sample of your buyers’ questions and is reviewed by a person.

More than a decade of experience, across businesses and markets.