What analyst relations is, what it's worth, how AI is changing it, and how to run a programme that earns its budget. Written for B2B technology companies by the team behind our analyst relations agency.
Analyst relations is the work of building relationships with the industry analysts who research and evaluate your market. Gartner, Forrester and IDC are the best known, but there are hundreds of firms. Analysts advise buyers, publish rankings and shortlists, and shape how a market is described, which gives a small group of people a lot of influence over how you're seen.
It works both ways. Analysts talk to your buyers, competitors and partners every week, so they're one of the few honest outside views of your market you can get. Done well, analyst relations does four things.
Perception
shapes how the market reads your credibility
Demand
puts you on more shortlists
Intelligence
gives you an outside view for strategy
Sales
supports live deals
What it's worth.
Analysts sit close to the buying decision. Forrester's 2026 research found that buyers check what they learn with peers, product experts and industry analysts, and are more likely to engage with a vendor based on information from industry experts than from AI tools. Buyers read analyst reports less often than they used to, but analyst views still reach them through reviews, coverage, sales conversations and AI answers.
Where the return shows up
Credibility. Recognition from an analyst carries weight your own marketing can't buy.
Pipeline. Analysts advise buyers and sourcing advisers run live selections. Being understood changes which shortlists you reach.
Sharper positioning. Analysts see every competitor in your category and will tell you where your story is unclear.
Product direction. Their feedback tests roadmap decisions and finds gaps early, while they're still cheap to fix.
The view from the practice“
In the middle of information overload, industry analysts are trusted advisers. They influence buying choices and shape growth.
Claire Williamson · Managing Director and Head of AR · Resonance
Analyst relations and AI.
Buyers now ask AI assistants for their shortlists. Forrester found 94% of business buyers use AI somewhere in the buying process, and in Gartner's 2026 survey 45% had used generative AI during a recent purchase. That changes how analyst opinion reaches them.
The assistants mostly can't read the research
Analyst research sits behind paywalls, and the firms guard it. Forrester and Omdia block AI training crawlers from their reports. Gartner lets ChatGPT's search agents read its Peer Insights review pages, but its research stays locked. So when an assistant answers "who leads this market?", it learns the analysts' view second-hand: from press releases that quote them, licensed reprints on vendor websites, news coverage, analysts' own posts, and reviews. In Agentcy's data, 81% of AI answers that cited gartner.com were citing a Peer Insights page.
The firms have their own assistants
Gartner's clients can ask AskGartner, and Forrester's can ask Forrester AI. Both answer only from the firm's own research and notes. If an analyst has understood you and written about you clearly, their firm's assistant repeats it to every client who asks. If they haven't, it won't.
What to do about it
Brief analysts clearly and often. Their notes now feed an assistant as well as a report.
Make recognition findable in the open: quote-approved press releases, reprints you've licensed, and plain-text pages that say what the analyst said.
Build your Gartner Peer Insights reviews. They're the part of Gartner an AI assistant can see.
Ask the assistants the questions your buyers ask, and check which analysts, reviews and pages they cite.
Behind the paywall
research, inquiry notes, and the firms' own AI assistants
In the open
press releases, reprints, coverage, reviews and analysts' posts
The firms, and who to pick.
There are hundreds of analyst firms and you can't work with all of them. Pick the analysts who influence the decisions you care about, whatever the size of their firm.
The broad houses
Gartner, Forrester and IDC cover most technology markets with large analyst teams, ranking reports and market data. Omdia, now part of Informa TechTarget, and Frost & Sullivan also cover a wide range.
Specialist firms
Firms that go deep in one domain: Datos Insights and Celent in financial services, Ampere Analysis in media and telecoms, RSR in retail. Narrow focus means sharper analysis.
Regional firms
For country-level insight, regional firms can matter more than the global names: TechMarketView in the UK, BARC in the DACH region, ITR in Japan. Often decisive in public sector bids.
Boutiques
Smaller firms with close vendor relationships that amplify as well as advise, such as ABI Research, Aragon Research, CCS Insight (now part of FDM) and Constellation Research.
Sourcing advisers
Advisers who shortlist vendors for live buying decisions: ISG, Avasant and Everest Group. For many of our clients these relationships produce the most pipeline.
Early-stage markets
Gartner now publishes Emerging Market Quadrants, some just for start-ups, with much shorter questionnaires. Worth knowing about if your category is new.
Building a programme.
Analyst relations is a process with medium to long-term goals tied to the business. It rewards patience.
/01
Start with why
Decide what the programme is for: awareness, shortlists, product feedback, competitor intelligence or a better read on why prospects buy. A programme without an answer drifts.
/02
Choose the analysts
Pick a short list and go deep. We use the AIIM framework: past interactions, how they see you now, what they've written about your market, and which reports they own.
/03
Close the knowledge gaps
Find out what analysts believe about you, and what they don't know. Fill the gap with evidence they can use, and deal with misconceptions head on.
/04
Plan the year
Map announcements, customer stories and briefings to the themes and evaluation criteria your analysts care about, and to their report timetables.
/05
Prepare for evaluations
For a Magic Quadrant or Wave: meet the inclusion criteria, complete the RFI, give a strong demo, and check the factual review. Customer input comes from Peer Insights and the firm's own surveys, so build reviews well before the cycle.
/06
Measure
Report against the goals from step one: what analysts now understand, your position in the reports that matter, the deals they influenced and what you learned.
Working with analysts.
Each format does a different job. The right mix depends on your goals, your budget and how well the analyst already knows you.
Briefings
You tell the analyst about your products, customers and direction. Usually free, and open to non-clients.
Inquiries
You ask the analyst for advice and hear how they really see you. Needs a paid subscription with that firm.
Strategy days
Longer paid sessions on roadmap and plans, for when you need analysts aligned with where you're heading.
Written updates
Customer wins, launches and data sent regularly, so analysts stay current between briefings.
Document reviews
Analyst feedback on white papers, case studies and product material before it goes out.
Events and informal time
Analysts at your events, time at theirs, and conversations away from a slide deck. Trust is built here.
Keeping the relationship.
Target the right analysts. Influence over your buyers matters more than the size of the firm.
Be useful. Give analysts data and customer proof they can cite, and you become a source they come back to.
Answer quickly and fully. When an analyst asks, the speed and quality of your reply is the impression you leave.
Take the long view. Trust builds over years. The programmes that deliver are the ones still running three years in.
How Resonance runs AR.
We start from the business goals and set measurable objectives for the programme. We studied the criteria behind the major ranking reports and reduced them to the six things analysts consistently assess. Every interaction is scored against them, on what was earned and what was learned, so the weak spots show up while there's still time to fix them.
Because we also run PR, AI visibility and demand programmes, what we learn from analysts feeds the rest of your marketing.
Analyst relations (AR) is the work of building relationships with the industry analysts who research and evaluate your market, at firms such as Gartner, Forrester and IDC. Analysts advise buyers, publish rankings like the Magic Quadrant and the Forrester Wave, and shape how a market is described. AR makes sure they understand your business, and gives you their outside view in return.
Why does analyst relations matter for B2B technology companies?
Because analysts sit close to the buying decision. Forrester's 2026 research found buyers check what they learn with peers, product experts and industry analysts, and are more likely to engage with a vendor based on information from industry experts than from AI tools. Analyst recognition also reaches buyers indirectly, through reviews, press coverage and AI answers.
How does AI change analyst relations?
In two ways. Buyers now ask AI assistants for shortlists, and those assistants mostly can't read paywalled analyst research, so analyst views reach them second-hand, through press releases, licensed reprints, coverage and Gartner Peer Insights reviews. And the analyst firms have their own AI assistants, such as AskGartner and Forrester AI, which answer client questions from the firm's research. Both reward being clearly understood by the analysts who cover you.
Do ChatGPT and other AI assistants use Gartner and Forrester research?
Mostly not directly. The research sits behind paywalls, and Forrester and Omdia block AI training crawlers from their reports. Gartner lets ChatGPT's search agents read its Peer Insights review pages, which is why Peer Insights shows up in AI answers far more often than Gartner research. In Agentcy's data, 81% of AI answers that cited gartner.com were citing a Peer Insights page.
How do you get into the Gartner Magic Quadrant?
First you have to meet the inclusion criteria for that market, such as revenue, customer numbers and product capabilities. Invited vendors complete an RFI, give a product demo and take part in a factual review before publication. Customer input now comes from Gartner's own surveys and Peer Insights reviews rather than references you choose. Being included is free; licensing a reprint to share it is paid.
What is the difference between an analyst briefing and an inquiry?
In a briefing you tell the analyst about your business, and it's usually free. In an inquiry you ask the analyst for advice, and it needs a paid subscription with that firm. Most programmes use both.
Does Gartner Peer Insights affect the Magic Quadrant?
It informs it. Since April 2021 Gartner has used Peer Insights reviews and its own surveys in place of vendor-supplied customer references in Magic Quadrants. Gartner says the number of reviews alone won't move your position, but the reviews shape how analysts understand your customers' experience.
Which analyst firms should a B2B technology company work with?
The ones your buyers listen to. Start with the analysts who cover your category at Gartner, Forrester or IDC, then add sector specialists, regional firms in your key markets and the sourcing advisers who run vendor selections.
How long does analyst relations take to show results?
It takes months. Analysts form their view over several briefings, and ranking reports run on yearly cycles, so a programme started now usually shows up in the evaluation after next.
How do you measure analyst relations?
Against the goals you set at the start: what analysts now understand about you, your position in the reports that matter, the deals they influenced, and what you learned from them.
Free AR health check
Is your programme earning its budget?
A 45-minute review of your analyst relations programme, followed by a written report on the gaps and the opportunities, including how the AI assistants describe you.