What is Gartner Peer Insights, and why does it matter for AI search?

Gartner Peer Insights is Gartner's free review site for enterprise technology. IT professionals and technology decision-makers rate and review the software, hardware and services they use, and Gartner checks who they are before a review goes live. For vendors it matters for three reasons: buyers read it, Gartner's analysts use it, and AI assistants increasingly quote it when someone asks which product to choose.

What is Gartner Peer Insights?

It's a review platform, run by Gartner, for enterprise technology: security, data, cloud, communications, HR software and hundreds of other markets. Gartner says it holds more than 890,000 verified ratings and reviews. Anyone can read them, compare products side by side and see how a vendor is rated on things like capabilities, support and deployment.

Reviewers don't need to be Gartner clients, but they do need to be qualified IT professionals or technology decision-makers. They sign up with a corporate email and job details, declare that they don't work for the vendor or a competitor, and every review is moderated before it's published. That's what separates Peer Insights from open review sites: the person writing it has been checked.

One change worth knowing about. Gartner used to own Capterra, GetApp and Software Advice too. In January 2026 it agreed to sell all three to G2. It kept Peer Insights.

How does Peer Insights feed Gartner's research?

This is the part vendors most often miss.

In April 2021 Gartner stopped using vendor-supplied customer references in Magic Quadrants and Critical Capabilities. It had paused them the year before, and then made the change permanent. Instead, analysts draw on Peer Insights reviews and Gartner's own customer surveys. So when an analyst wants to know what your customers really think, the first place they look is a page you don't control.

Gartner has said you won't be marked up for having lots of reviews or down for having few. But the reviews shape the analyst's picture of you, and Gartner's interactive Magic Quadrants now show Peer Insights ratings next to the analysts' view.

Peer Insights also has its own reports. Voice of the Customer reports rank vendors in a market purely on their reviews, and the strongest are named Customers' Choice. The rules vary by market, but recent reports have needed at least 20 eligible reviews in an 18-month window, from companies with more than $50 million in revenue. If you're short of reviews, you won't appear at all.

Why does Peer Insights matter for AI search?

More and more technology buyers start with an AI assistant rather than a search engine. In G2's survey of 1,076 software buyers in March 2026, 51% said they now start their research in an AI chatbot more often than in Google, up from 29% a year earlier. Forrester found that 94% of business buyers use AI somewhere in the buying process.

When those assistants answer "which product should we shortlist?", they need sources they can read and trust. Gartner's research is mostly behind a paywall, so they can't use it. Peer Insights isn't. Gartner's own robots.txt lets ChatGPT's search agents read its review pages, while blocking the crawlers that collect training data. In practice, Peer Insights is the part of Gartner an AI assistant can see.

Our own data bears this out. In Resonance's analysis of more than 180,000 AI answers that cite their sources, tracked through Agentcy between October 2025 and September 2026, the main review sites were cited in:

• G2: 3.8% of answers
• Gartner Peer Insights: 1.9%
• Capterra: 1.0%
• TrustRadius: 0.6%

Answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google's AI answers and Claude, across 151 brands.

Two things stand out. Of the answers that cited gartner.com at all, 81% were citing a Peer Insights review page. And it varies a lot by assistant: the Gemini and Claude models we track cited Peer Insights in up to 6% to 8% of their answers, Perplexity in fewer than 1%.

Independent research points the same way. SE Ranking looked at Google's AI Overviews for 30,000 software searches and found Peer Insights was the most-cited review platform, with 26% of review-site citations, just ahead of G2. G2's own survey found 45% of buyers say a citation from a software review site is what gives them most confidence in an AI answer.

So a thin or out-of-date Peer Insights profile now costs you twice: with the analyst, and with the assistant your buyer asked first.

Why should vendors care?

1. Buyers read it. In TrustRadius's 2026 buyer survey, 74% of technology buyers consulted reviews during a purchase. Only 13% referenced analyst reports.
2. Analysts read it. It's the main way Gartner hears from your customers, now that vendor references are gone.
3. AI assistants read it. It's one of the few Gartner sources they can reach, and they cite it.
4. You learn from it. Reviews show what customers like, what frustrates them and what they wish you did, in their words, and the same is true of your competitors' reviews.
5. Sales and marketing can use it, within Gartner's quote and badge rules.

How do you build a Peer Insights programme?

1. Claim and complete your profile. Make sure your products sit in the right markets, because Voice of the Customer reports are built market by market.
2. Ask every customer, including the less happy ones. Gartner doesn't allow vendors to solicit only positive reviews, and any incentive has to be offered to everyone you invite. A steady flow of honest reviews is worth more than a burst of perfect ones.
3. Keep it recent. Reports look at a rolling window, typically 18 months, so reviews from three years ago won't help you.
4. Reply in public. Vendors can respond to reviews on the page, and the reviewer is told. You can't contact reviewers privately, because Gartner protects their identity.
5. Read your competitors' reviews. They tell you where rivals are weak and how buyers describe the category.
6. Bring it into your analyst briefings. Know your recent reviews and ratings before you speak to an analyst, and be ready to discuss the critical ones.
7. Check what the AI assistants say. Ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity the questions your buyers ask, and see whether your Peer Insights page is among the sources.

How should you talk to Gartner analysts about reviews?

• Understand what the analyst is looking for in your market, and point to reviews that show it.
• Know how you compare with competitors on ratings, and what reviewers say sets you apart.
• Keep up with reviews as they go live, so nothing comes up in a briefing that you haven't read.
• Keep your closest analysts up to date on customer wins, through briefings, document reviews and joint sessions with customers.

Questions people ask about Gartner Peer Insights

Is Gartner Peer Insights free?

Yes, reading reviews is free and you don't need to be a Gartner client. Some of the reports built from them, such as Voice of the Customer, depend on your Gartner subscription.

Who can write a review?

Qualified IT professionals and technology decision-makers who use the product. They're verified by Gartner and must not work for the vendor, a competitor or an exclusive reseller.

Can vendors offer incentives for reviews?

Only within Gartner's rules: a modest incentive, offered to every customer you invite, never just to satisfied ones. Vendors can't write reviews of their own products or their competitors'.

Does Gartner use Peer Insights in the Magic Quadrant?

Yes. Since April 2021 Gartner hasn't used vendor-supplied customer references in Magic Quadrants, and analysts draw on Peer Insights reviews and Gartner's own surveys instead. Gartner says review volume alone doesn't move a vendor's position.

What is Gartner Peer Insights Customers' Choice?

A recognition for the vendors with the strongest reviews in a market, published in Gartner's Voice of the Customer reports. Vendors need enough recent, eligible reviews to qualify, typically at least 20 in an 18-month window.

Do AI assistants use Gartner Peer Insights?

Yes. Gartner allows ChatGPT's search agents to read its review pages, and AI answers cite them regularly. In Resonance's analysis of more than 180,000 AI answers, Peer Insights was cited in about 2% of them, and in 81% of the answers that cited Gartner at all.

How is Peer Insights different from G2?

Peer Insights is run by Gartner, focuses on enterprise IT buyers and feeds Gartner's analyst research. G2 is independent, covers a wider market including smaller businesses, and in 2026 agreed to buy Capterra, GetApp and Software Advice from Gartner. AI assistants cite both.

Where to start

Look up your Peer Insights page today, and your three closest competitors'. Count the reviews from the last 18 months, read the critical ones, then ask an AI assistant the question your buyers ask and see who it names. That will tell you whether you have a gap.

Our analyst relations team helps technology companies build review programmes that analysts and AI assistants both take seriously. Get in touch if you'd like a hand.

Sources: Gartner Peer Insights and its technology provider FAQ; Gartner Magic Quadrant FAQ; Spotlight AR on the 2021 reference change; Zoom on Voice of the Customer eligibility; SE Ranking, review platforms in AI Overviews (January 2026); G2 buyer research (April 2026); Forrester (January 2026); TrustRadius 2026 buying disconnect report; G2 acquisition announcement; Agentcy AI visibility data.