TL;DR
- G2 has 30 open positions—we mapped them to understand their priorities
- AI and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) are clearly the focus
- Product R&D is based in Bengaluru, led by a founder G2 acquired; ~100 engineers total
- The vision is clear: become the data source AI trusts for software recommendations
- For vendors: your review content matters more than ever, but don't abandon other directories—AI cites multiple sources
What Job Postings Tell You
In late January, we wrote about G2's announced intent to acquire Capterra, Software Advice, and GetApp. The announcement outlined a big vision: unified taxonomy, combined review databases, G2.ai as the trusted source for AI recommendations.
We got curious about how that vision translates into action. Job postings are interesting that way—they show you what a company is actively building, right now, with real budget behind it.
G2 has 30 open positions. Here's what we found when we mapped them out.
AI Is Central to the Strategy
G2's Product R&D team is based in Bengaluru, and the AI work is led by Praveen Maloo—founder of unSurvey, an AI-powered user research tool that G2 acquired. When a company puts an acquired founder in charge of a key initiative, that's a real commitment.
The open roles show what they're building:
Senior AI Engineer (Bengaluru) — Working on LLMs, Voice AI, RAG systems, and what they call "agentic architectures." This is infrastructure work—building the foundation for AI-powered features.
Staff Software Engineer (London) — Focused on AI/Generative technologies, prompt engineering, and integrating tools like Claude Code. The job description mentions quarterly "Weeks of Creativity" for AI experimentation. This person would most likely be building the actual AI-powered features users interact with—think smarter search, AI-generated comparisons, or tools that help buyers make sense of review data faster.
Senior Product Manager, Data Products (Remote) — Owns the roadmap for "AI-powered data applications, including agent-based solutions." This person figures out how G2's review data becomes AI products.
According to LinkedIn Sales Navigator data, G2 already has around 100 people in engineering roles. Is that enough to execute on this vision while also integrating four platforms? We'll find out as it unfolds. But they're clearly building, not just announcing.
The GEO Investment Is Significant
This is the part that caught our attention. G2 is hiring specifically for what they call "Generative Engine Optimization"—making sure G2 is what AI cites when someone asks for software recommendations.
VP of Growth & Buyer Experience (Remote US) — This role is responsible for "G2's SEO and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) strategy" with a focus on "G2's presence as the #1 citation source in LLMs across software categories."
That's a clear goal. They want to be what ChatGPT and Perplexity reference when someone asks "what's the best project management software?"
(Other directories are probably thinking about this too—SourceForge, TrustRadius, and others. G2 is just being very public about it.)
Plus four SEO specialists in Bengaluru — Senior SEO Content Specialist, Senior SEO Specialist, SEO Content Specialist, and SEO Outreach Specialist. That's a real team dedicated to making G2 content discoverable—by humans and by AI.
Clear Strategy, Open Questions
We could debate whether G2 has enough resources to pull this off, or whether the team can deliver on such an ambitious vision. But what's hard to debate is that they have a clear strategy—and a very simple one: become the go-to source of information about B2B software for AI. That's more than many players in this space can say.
Most review platforms and directories are old-school businesses—they weren't built by tech-native teams thinking about AI from day one. G2 is positioning itself differently. Their recent CPTO hire, Alexis Zheng, reinforces this—she built AI products at Cruise, Grab, and Uber before joining G2.
The Capterra acquisition fits this strategy. Combining review databases gives G2 more reviews for human buyers and the most comprehensive dataset for AI systems to learn from and cite.
What This Means For How AI Talks About Your Software
G2 is already one of the top sources AI cites for software recommendations. If this acquisition goes through and their GEO strategy works, they could become the dominant source. That changes what matters for your visibility posture.
When someone asks an AI "what's the best CRM for small teams?", the AI pulls from review sites, articles, documentation—and G2 is already prominent in that mix. The more dominant G2 becomes, the more what G2 reviews say about your product becomes what AI says about your product.
That means:
Review content matters more than star ratings. The actual words reviewers use to describe your software—the problems it solves, what makes it different, who it's good for—that's what AI will learn from and repeat.
But if you want those words to actually appear on G2, don't send your reviewers to G2's AI-assisted review options. They're frustrating—here's why we recommend traditional G2 review forms instead.
Your G2 presence becomes part of your AI presence. The categories you're listed in, the comparisons you show up in, the specific attributes reviewers mention—all of that feeds into how AI understands and recommends your product.
But G2 isn't the only source AI cites—and that matters. When we test AI recommendations for software, citations come from G2, yes—but also from Capterra, TrustRadius, SourceForge, product documentation, blog posts, and more. The cumulative effect of being present across multiple directories adds up. G2 wants to be #1, and they may get there. A hedging strategy still makes sense.
The Practical Takeaway
G2 is building toward a future where they're a trusted data source for AI software recommendations. That's an ambitious goal, and the hiring shows they're serious about it.
For software companies, this means:
- Your reviews are content, not just ratings. Think about what you want AI to say about your product. That starts with what reviewers say on G2—and the words they use matter.
- Keep your listings current. Categories, descriptions, screenshots—all of it feeds into how AI systems understand your product. Outdated listings mean outdated AI recommendations.
- Don't put all your eggs in one basket. G2 becoming more important doesn't mean other directories become less important. AI systems cite multiple sources. Buyers still comparison shop across platforms. A presence on G2, Capterra, TrustRadius, SourceForge, and niche directories relevant to your space is still the smart play.
We'll keep watching how this develops. The acquisition still needs to close (expected Q1 2026), and there's a lot of execution between the vision and the reality. But the direction is clear.
If managing listings across multiple platforms sounds tedious—it is. That's what we do at Blastra. We handle SaaS listings management across G2, Capterra, and other directories: submissions, ongoing updates, and guidance on what actually matters for your visibility. So you can focus on building your product while we keep your third-party presence current.
Related reading:
- Alexis Zheng Joins G2 as CPTO: What It Signals
- G2 Is Buying Capterra, GetApp, and Software Advice. That's... Interesting.
- Why We Don't Recommend G2's AI-Powered Reviews Yet
- How Directories Feed AI and SEO
- What is Visibility Posture?
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