G2 Intent Data Review 2025: Truth Behind the Hype

Knowing when a company is ready to buy is every B2B marketer’s challenge. G2 intent data promises to reveal those moments. It claims to show which businesses are actively researching your solution. But how reliable is it?

This review examines G2 buyer intent with a clear, expert lens. We break down how G2 collects and scores intent signals, the types of data it provides, and the accuracy of those insights. Pricing, ROI, and best-use scenarios are also covered.

The goal is simple. You will get a clear view of G2 intent data’s strengths and limitations to decide if it fits your strategy.

What is G2 and Why Does Its Data Matter?

To understand the data, you must first understand the platform. G2 is one of the world's largest and most trusted software marketplaces. It's the digital equivalent of an industry trade show, where millions of verified users come each month to discover, compare, and review business software.

This context is crucial. People don't browse G2 for entertainment. They visit with a clear purpose: to find a tool that solves a specific business problem. Their actions on the site aren't passive; they are active steps in a buying journey.

It's important to note that G2's primary business is its review platform. The intent data is a powerful offering derived from the massive amount of user activity this core business generates. When someone from a company reads your reviews, compares you to three competitors, and views your pricing, that's more than a casual click. It is a powerful buying signal. G2 captures these signals, packages them, and offers them to vendors as "intent data."

The core value proposition is straightforward: G2 aims to give you a direct view into which companies are actively researching your solution and your competitors, right now.

What G2's Intent Data Actually Tells You

G2 intent data isn't a single piece of information. It's a collection of different signals that, when pieced together, create a detailed picture of a potential buyer's journey. Think of your team as detectives, and each signal is a clue to a prospect's needs and timeline.

The data helps your go-to-market teams answer four critical questions:

1. Who is interested? G2 identifies the company showing interest, providing the name and firmographic details of the account. ‍
2. What are they interested in? It reveals if they are looking at your product profile, the general software category, or specific competitors. ‍
3. How interested are they? The type and frequency of their actions—from a single category view to multiple product comparisons—indicate their level of intent. ‍
4. When were they interested? The data is timely, showing you recent activity so your team can act while your solution is still top of mind.

These insights can transform your outreach from cold to warm. Instead of guessing who might be in the market, you have a data-backed list of accounts that have already shown their hand.

The Different Types of G2 Intent Signals

G2 provides several distinct types of intent signals. Each offers a different level of insight into a buyer's mindset and their stage in the buying process.

G2 Profile Visits

This is the most direct signal, indicating that someone from a specific company viewed your product's profile page.

• What it means: The company is aware of your brand and is actively evaluating your features, user reviews, and overall fit. ‍
• Expert Take: This is a strong, mid-to-bottom-funnel signal. It’s a clear green light for account-based marketing (ABM) campaigns or personalized sales outreach.

Category Page Views

This signal shows a company has been browsing a software category where you are listed (e.g., "CRM Software" or "Cybersecurity Services").

• What it means: The company is in the early, problem-aware stage. They have a need but may not know the key players in the space yet. ‍
• Expert Take: This is a valuable top-of-funnel signal. It's perfect for identifying new target accounts to nurture with brand awareness campaigns and educational content.

Product Comparisons

G2 allows users to compare products side-by-side. This signal tells you when your product was included in such a comparison.

• What it means: This is a high-intent signal. The company has created a shortlist of vendors, and you're on it. They are in the final stages of evaluation. ‍
• Expert Take: A five-star, bottom-of-the-funnel signal. These accounts are hot leads. Sales should prioritize them immediately with outreach that highlights your advantages over the specific competitors they were compared against.

Alternative & Sponsored Ad Clicks

G2 displays "Alternatives" and sponsored placements on product pages. This signal tracks clicks on these links.

• What it means: The buyer is actively exploring their options and doing thorough due diligence. ‍
• Expert Take: This provides crucial competitive intelligence. If a company on a competitor's page clicks an ad for your product, it’s a major opportunity. If they click away from your page, it might signal a need to re-engage them.

Pricing Page Views

This signal is triggered when a user from an account views your product's pricing information on G2.

• What it means: The conversation has shifted from features to budget. This shows serious consideration and is a classic buying signal. ‍
• Expert Take: Another high-priority, bottom-of-the-funnel signal. A company looking at pricing is often close to a decision. It's the perfect time for a sales rep to offer a custom quote or consultation.

Buyer Intent Score

G2 often synthesizes these various signals into a single "Buyer Intent Score." This score is a weighted calculation based on the type, recency, and volume of activity from a single account. A higher score indicates a more active and engaged buyer.

Assessing the Quality and Accuracy: Strengths vs. Limitations

No data source is flawless. A professional review requires an honest look at both the good and the bad.

Strengths

• High-Relevance and High-Intent: The data comes directly from a platform where people go to buy software. The intent is explicit, not inferred from general web browsing. ‍
• Timeliness: The data is fresh, allowing your teams to respond rapidly while buying interest is at its peak. ‍
• Competitive Intelligence: The "Comparisons" data provides a direct window into your competitive landscape, which is invaluable for sales enablement. ‍
• Third-Party Trust: The data is based on real user behavior on a trusted, neutral platform, giving it a high degree of credibility.

Limitations and Critical Considerations

• Account-Level, Not Contact-Level: This is a crucial limitation. G2 tells you which company is browsing (e.g., Acme Corporation), but not who within that company (e.g., Jane Doe, the VP of Marketing). Your sales team still needs to invest time and use other tools to identify the right decision-makers and influencers within the account. ‍
• Dependent on Category Popularity: The volume of intent data you receive is directly tied to how popular your software category is on G2. A widely searched category like "Project Management Software" will generate thousands of signals. A niche category like "Civil Engineering Design Software" will generate far fewer, potentially making the investment less valuable if your pool of searchers is small. ‍
• Reactive by Nature: G2 data is inherently reactive. It’s excellent at capturing existing demand—identifying buyers who are already in the market. However, it does not help you create demand. It won't identify companies in your ideal customer profile that should be looking for a solution but aren't yet. You are waiting for the signal to appear. ‍
• The "Walled Garden" Effect: G2's visibility is limited to its own website. The modern B2B buyer's journey spans countless other touchpoints—industry blogs, analyst reports, webinars, and social media. G2 provides a deep but narrow slice of this journey. ‍
• Actionability Requires Integration: The data provides little value sitting in the G2 dashboard alone. To be truly effective, it must be integrated with your CRM (like Salesforce), marketing automation platform (like HubSpot), or sales engagement tool (like Outreach). This requires a technical setup and a clear operational plan.

👉 Want better B2B targeting? Take a peek at Bombora intent data.

How to Put G2 Buyer Intent Data into Action

Having data is one thing; using it to drive revenue is another. Here’s how different teams can turn G2's insights into tangible results.

For Marketing Teams 🎯

• Hyper-Targeted ABM: Prioritize ABM campaigns on accounts that are actively showing buying signals on G2, rather than relying on static firmographic data alone. ‍
• Personalized Ad Campaigns: Run targeted ads on platforms like LinkedIn to companies that viewed your G2 profile. Your ad copy can be highly relevant: "Shopping for a new marketing automation platform? See why G2 users rate us #1." ‍
• Smarter Lead Scoring: Integrate G2 signals into your lead scoring model. A contact from a company showing G2 intent is far more qualified and should be fast-tracked to sales.

For Sales Teams 📈

• Prioritizing Outreach: Help sales reps focus their limited time on accounts most likely to close. An account that compared you against your top competitor yesterday should be their first call. ‍
• Crafting the Perfect Pitch: Open a conversation with unparalleled relevance: "I saw your company was exploring solutions in the project management space on G2. I'd love to share how we stack up against the alternatives you were looking at." ‍
• Re-engaging Lost Deals: Get an alert when a deal you lost six months ago suddenly reappears on G2 researching your category. It could mean their chosen solution failed, creating a perfect opportunity to re-engage.

For Customer Success Teams 🤝

• Proactive Churn Prevention: This is a powerful, often overlooked use case. If you see an existing customer actively researching your competitors on G2, it's a major churn risk indicator. This allows your Customer Success team to proactively reach out, address their concerns, and reinforce your value before they decide to leave.

G2 vs. Other Intent Data Providers

G2 is not the only player in this space. It’s crucial to understand how it differs from other types of intent data providers.

1. Broad Intent Providers (e.g., Bombora): These platforms collect data from a large cooperative of B2B websites (blogs, publications, etc.). They track which companies are consuming content about specific topics (e.g., "account-based marketing"). This provides a wide, top-of-funnel view of interest.

• Analogy: They tell you who is reading books about cars.

2. G2 Intent Data (First-Party Intent): G2 collects data from its own marketplace, a destination for active software evaluation. The signals are about specific products and categories.

• Analogy: They tell you who is at the dealership, test-driving specific car models.

3. Demand Creation Platforms: Other tools focus on helping you generate intent. They allow you to run targeted ad campaigns to specific individuals within your target accounts and then track their engagement as an intent signal. This is a proactive approach.

• Analogy: They let you send a personalized invitation for a test drive to the exact person you want to reach.

The Verdict: These tools are not mutually exclusive; they are complementary. A mature strategy often involves using broad intent data to identify early-stage interest, G2 data to pinpoint accounts in the final evaluation stage, and demand creation platforms to engage key accounts that aren't yet showing any signals.

G2 Intent Data Pricing and ROI: Is It Worth It?

G2's intent data is a premium product. It is typically not sold as a standalone service but is bundled into G2's higher-tier subscription packages, which can represent a significant investment.

To measure its return on investment (ROI), you must track the right metrics. Compare the performance of accounts influenced by G2 data against a control group. Measure:

• Conversion Rate (Lead-to-Opportunity): Do G2-flagged leads convert at a higher rate? ‍
• Sales Cycle Length: Do deals close faster when you engage at the right time? ‍
• Win Rate: Do you win more competitive deals when you have intelligence from G2?

For many organizations, the ability to identify and win just a few high-value deals they would have otherwise missed can easily justify the annual cost.

The Final Verdict

After a comprehensive review, G2 intent data stands out as a high-quality, high-potency data source for B2B companies. Its primary strength is providing specific, bottom-of-the-funnel buying signals from a trusted source where buyers are actively making decisions.

However, it is not a complete solution. Its value is maximized when you understand its limitations: it is reactive, it provides account-level data, and its utility depends on the popularity of your category. It is a powerful tool for capturing existing demand, not for creating it.

G2 intent data is most valuable for:

• Companies in well-established software categories. ‍
• B2B SaaS and technology companies whose buyers conduct online research. ‍
• Organizations with mature sales and marketing teams ready to act on real-time data.

In conclusion, G2 offers a powerful lens into the critical final stages of the buyer's journey. When integrated into a broader strategy that also includes demand creation, it can provide a significant competitive advantage, helping you connect with your future customers at the most decisive moment.