--- title: "How managed service providers can win clients from AI search" description: "By being named when owners and IT leads describe their size, region and needs to AI, with pricing, coverage and security proof they can check." canonical: "https://underneath.agency/resources/msps-customers-from-ai-search" published: 2026-10-07 updated: 2026-10-08 publisher: "Underneath (https://underneath.agency/agent)" entity: "https://underneath.agency/.well-known/entity.json" --- Guide · AI search # How can a managed service provider win more clients from AI search? By being the MSP an AI assistant names when a business owner or IT lead describes their size, location, industry and security needs, and by publishing the pricing model, coverage and proof that let them check the answer. A managed services contract is a long, recurring commitment, so buyers compare carefully and often switch only after a bad experience. The assistant increasingly shapes who makes that comparison, though no study has yet measured how many MSP contracts start there. This guide covers recurring managed contracts: monthly support, monitoring, security and co-managed IT, priced per user, per device or by tier. One-off projects and break/fix work follow a different buying path. Advisory work such as an ERP choice is covered in how IT consulting firms win advisory clients. ## The short version 1. The market is large: Canalys estimates IT managed services will be worth [US$610 billion by the end of 2025](https://www.n-able.com/press/press-releases/n-ables-second-annual-msp-horizons-report-shows-significant-growth-opportunity-for-global-msps-with-cybersecurity-leading-the-way), with channel partners earning about 98% of it. 2. Winning clients is MSPs’ biggest worry: in [Kaseya’s 2025 State of the MSP survey](https://www.kaseya.com/press-release/kaseyas-state-of-msp-shows-what-makes-a-top-performing-msp/), new customer acquisition topped MSPs’ concerns (43%). 3. Buyers find MSPs through recommendations and search: [JumpCloud’s Q1 2025 survey](https://themspsummit.com/article/msps-gaining-steam-smes/) of 900 IT decision-makers found 45% found their MSP through recommendations and 37% through online search. 4. Most growing firms already use one: in [Barracuda’s 2025 survey](https://cxotoday.com/press-release/73-of-organizations-with-up-to-2000-employees-rely-on-msps-to-manage-the-security-challenges-of-growth-2/) of 2,000 decision-makers at firms with 50 to 2,000 employees, 73% already work with an MSP, and 45% would switch if theirs could not show round-the-clock security skills. 5. Company size changes AI answers: in [our phrasing study](https://underneath.agency/research/ai-prompt-phrasing-study), adding “I run a small business with about 10 employees” kept the original first brand only 40.6% of the time, against 68.0% for a plain rerun. ## Who buys managed services, and what is a client worth? Owners of small businesses without IT staff, and mid-market IT leaders who want extra hands, mostly for security. Three buyers stand out: - **The small-business owner.** No IT employee, a growing headcount and a sense that IT is now risky. JumpCloud found 35% of SMEs (up to 2,500 employees) use MSPs to fully manage IT, up from 29% six months earlier. - **The mid-market IT manager.** A small team that wants co-managed help with security, backup or after-hours cover. Kaseya found 83% of MSPs offer co-managed services. - **The security-driven buyer.** Barracuda found 85% of organizations with 1,000 to 2,000 employees depend on MSPs for security support, compared with 61% of firms with 50 to 100 employees. MSP buyers are no longer only small businesses. Outsourcing is common outside the US too. In the [UK government’s 2025 breaches survey](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2025/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2025), 44% of businesses had an external cyber security provider, rising to 62% of small and 68% of medium businesses. A client’s value is the monthly fee times the seats, times the years, plus add-ons. Pricing models vary. In [Kaseya’s 2023 benchmark](https://www.kaseya.com/resource/msp-pricing-managed-it-services-pricing/) of 1,091 MSPs, 22% of respondents charged $50 to $100 per user per month, and per-device pricing had fallen to 13% of respondents from 17% in 2022. Security raises the value: Barracuda found customers prepared to pay MSPs up to 25% more for the services they need, and 92% willing to pay a premium for help integrating security tools. ## Why do businesses hire or switch MSPs now? Because IT has become a security problem, small teams cannot cover it, and unhappy clients do switch. **Effectiveness over savings.** In JumpCloud’s survey, 54% of IT admins said increased IT effectiveness was their top reason for using an MSP; 41% cited cost effectiveness, down from 58% two quarters earlier. **Security demand.** [N-able’s 2025 report with Canalys](https://www.n-able.com/press/press-releases/n-ables-second-annual-msp-horizons-report-shows-significant-growth-opportunity-for-global-msps-with-cybersecurity-leading-the-way), based on 451 channel partners, found 90% expect growth in cybersecurity managed services sales. MSPs that resell staff training can see [how security awareness training vendors win buyers](https://underneath.agency/resources/security-awareness-training-customers-ai-search). **Switching.** Barracuda found 45% of customers would switch if their MSP could not show the skills to deliver round-the-clock security support. An unhappy client of a competitor is often the best prospect an MSP has, and that client is asking someone, or something, who to call next. **Growth.** Kaseya found 64% of MSPs reported revenue increases in the past year, so competition for each new client is real. ## Where does AI search sit in the MSP buying journey? At the shortlist step, alongside the peer recommendation, before discovery calls and an IT assessment. The path, as we understand it: 1. **Trigger.** A bad experience with the current provider, a security incident, an insurer’s questionnaire, a compliance audit or the departure of the one IT person. 2. **Shortlist.** Recommendations and search, per JumpCloud. AI assistants now sit inside that search for many buyers. 3. **Discovery calls and assessment.** Usually two or three MSPs, each reviewing the client’s environment. 4. **Proposal.** Seats, devices, service tier, security add-ons and response times. 5. **Contract and growth.** A multi-year agreement, then more seats and services. Across B2B purchases, [Gartner’s 2026 survey](https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-05-20-gartner-survey-finds-sixty-nine-percent-of-b-two-b-buyers-turn-to-sales-reps-to-validate-ai-generated-insights) of 645 buyers found 45% used generative AI in a recent purchase, mainly to gather information on vendors, and 69% prefer to validate what AI tells them with sales reps. For an MSP, we infer the validation happens in the discovery call and assessment: the assistant suggests, the call confirms. Buyers facing a one-off decision such as an ERP choice often look for an adviser instead; see [how IT consulting firms win advisory clients](https://underneath.agency/resources/it-consulting-firms-clients-ai-search). ## Which questions do MSP buyers ask AI assistants? Questions about size, location, industry, compliance, pricing and switching. We wrote the sample prompts below to sound like an office manager or IT lead shopping for support; none were captured from real users. | Buyer | Illustrative prompt | |---|---| | Small professional firm | “Best managed IT provider for a 60-person accounting firm in Denver?” | | Co-managed | “MSP that offers co-managed IT for a hospital with four IT staff?” | | Pricing | “Per-user or per-device MSP pricing: what is fair for 40 users and 55 devices?” | | Security | “Managed service provider with 24/7 security monitoring in Manchester?” | | Compliance | “MSP that handles HIPAA for a three-location dental group?” | | Switching | “Our MSP takes days to answer tickets. How do we switch, and to whom?” | | Growth | “When should a 30-person company stop relying on one IT person and hire an MSP?” | Each detail changes the answer. Our phrasing study shows company size alone moved the first brand. Location matters too: when [our country study](https://underneath.agency/research/ai-recommendations-by-country-study) added “in the United Kingdom” to a question, local-market brands went from 25.4% to 49.1% of the brands ChatGPT named. Regional MSPs compete inside these narrower answers, we infer, not in a national “best MSP” list. ## How does AI visibility turn into signed managed services contracts? When an assistant matches your MSP to the buyer’s size, region and needs, the discovery call starts with a fit. A qualified MSP lead has four facts settled: a seat count in your range, a location you serve, needs you cover (security, compliance, co-managed) and a reason to move now. A buyer who asked for an MSP with round-the-clock security for a 60-person firm in their city has filtered on most of them. 1. **AI answer.** A few named MSPs, with reasons drawn from their pages, reviews and rankings. 2. **Check.** Website, reviews, case studies, pricing model and service levels. 3. **Discovery call and assessment.** The buyer arrives with a size and a problem. 4. **Proposal and contract.** Seats times price, plus security and backup add-ons. 5. **Renewal and expansion.** Each year of good service compounds the value. A vague or wrong answer works against you. An assistant that says you serve only enterprises, or only one city, sends away buyers who fit. Most of this happens before any visit you can track; see [what lost clicks mean for pipeline](https://underneath.agency/resources/ai-answers-pipeline-revenue). ## What decides whether an assistant names an MSP? No platform documents how it picks MSPs; studies point to rankings, reviews and local listings. **Documented by the platforms.** Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode [may use a “query fan-out” technique](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features), running several related searches for one question. No platform explains how an MSP gets named. **Observed in our studies.** In [our hidden-searches study](https://underneath.agency/research/ai-hidden-searches-study), ChatGPT searched for a named publication, ranking or award in 43.8% of its answers and for reviews in 46.2%. The MSP trade has its own rankings, such as Channel Futures’ MSP 501 list, which are the kind of named authority assistants look for. For local questions, [our study of ChatGPT’s local picks](https://underneath.agency/research/chatgpt-local-picks-google-profile-study) found businesses with more reviews than the local median were 19.5 points more likely to be listed at the same Google Maps rank; that study covered other local trades, not MSPs. **What MSP buyers check.** Recommendations from peers, response times, security skills, compliance experience and whether the provider has served firms like theirs. Barracuda’s switching finding shows round-the-clock security is now a deciding factor. **Our inference.** A reasonable expectation is that MSPs whose size range, regions, industries, pricing model and service levels are stated plainly, and confirmed by reviews and independent mentions, give assistants more to repeat accurately. No one has tested that for MSPs. ## What does it cost an MSP to be missing? Lost discovery calls on contracts that would have paid every month for years, though no study has measured that loss. - **Recurring revenue compounds.** A missed client is not one invoice; it is seats times months times years, plus add-ons. - **Switchers decide fast.** A competitor’s unhappy client who asks an assistant and never hears your name is lost before your sales team knows they exist. - **Partial presence is invisible.** In [our consistency study](https://underneath.agency/research/ai-recommendation-consistency-study), only 25.2% of the brands ChatGPT named appeared in all five runs of the same question. An MSP named sometimes loses some buyers without knowing. - **Wrong facts filter buyers out.** Old service areas, outdated pricing pages or a missing security offer send fits elsewhere. Our guide to [correcting wrong brand information in AI answers](https://underneath.agency/resources/fix-wrong-brand-information-in-ai-answers) covers the repair work. ## How does GEO work for an MSP? It makes your fit, pricing logic and proof easy to find and check, for buyers and assistants alike. Nobody can promise a recommendation. 1. **State who you serve.** Seat ranges, industries, regions and whether you offer fully managed or co-managed IT. 2. **Explain your pricing model.** Per user, per device or tiered, and what each tier includes, even without exact prices. Payroll providers, who also sell to small business owners, show why the page layout matters: assistants quoted prices less faithfully from pages with a monthly and annual toggle, as [how payroll providers get named by AI](https://underneath.agency/resources/payroll-software-ai-search) explains. 3. **Publish service levels.** Response and resolution times, after-hours cover and how you measure them. 4. **Show security proof.** Round-the-clock monitoring, partners, certifications and incident handling, since security drives switching. If you also offer testing, see [how penetration testing firms win scoped leads](https://underneath.agency/resources/pentest-firms-leads-ai-search). 5. **Make switching easy to understand.** An onboarding page that answers “how do we move from our current MSP?” 6. **Earn independent proof.** Reviews, industry rankings such as the MSP 501, local press and vendor partner listings. See [how small brands get recommended by AI](https://underneath.agency/resources/how-small-brands-get-recommended-by-ai), [which pages AI engines cite](https://underneath.agency/resources/best-of-lists-ai-recommendations) and, if you also sell security operations, [how MDR providers win leads](https://underneath.agency/resources/mdr-providers-qualified-leads-ai-search). 7. **Test real buyer wording.** Size, region, industry, compliance and switching prompts across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot and Claude, several runs each. See [how question phrasing changes AI sources](https://underneath.agency/resources/does-question-phrasing-change-ai-sources). ## What can’t the research yet tell an MSP? How many MSP buyers use AI assistants, and how often an AI mention becomes a signed contract. No study answers either. - **Vendors fund most MSP data.** Kaseya, N-able, Barracuda and JumpCloud sell to MSPs or their clients; their surveys show direction, not neutral measurement. - **Pricing data is dated.** Kaseya’s per-user figures come from its 2023 benchmark. - **No survey isolates AI use by MSP buyers.** Gartner’s figures cover B2B buying across industries, and JumpCloud’s “online search” does not separate AI assistants from search engines. - **The revenue link is untested.** In [Martinez’s](https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.14035) review of research on AI search optimization, traffic and conversions had the weakest evidence. ## Where should an MSP start? With the questions your best-fit clients asked before they signed, including their size, city and reason for switching. Write 20 to 30 of them across your buyer types: small firms with no IT, co-managed mid-market teams, regulated industries, switchers. Ask each major assistant several times. Record which MSPs are named, which rankings and review sites are cited, and whether your size range, regions, services and pricing model are described correctly. If you want an independent read on your MSP, [get in touch with our team](https://underneath.agency/contact). We will show which buyer questions name your MSP, which send switchers and new buyers to competitors, and which gaps in your public proof are most likely costing you discovery calls and signed monthly contracts. The work after that review, from stating seat ranges and service levels to retesting switcher questions, is outlined on our [generative engine optimization service](https://underneath.agency/services/generative-engine-optimization) page. ## Frequently asked questions ### Do businesses use AI assistants to find an MSP? No study isolates them. JumpCloud found 37% of SMEs found their MSP through online search, which increasingly includes AI answers, and 45% through recommendations. ### Should MSPs publish prices? Publish the model at least. Buyers ask about per-user and per-device pricing, and assistants answer with or without your input. ### Does company size in the question matter? Yes. Adding a 10-employee business context kept the original first brand only 40.6% of the time in our phrasing study. ### Do MSP rankings like the MSP 501 matter for AI? Probably. ChatGPT searched for a named ranking or award in 43.8% of its answers in our hidden-searches study. ### Why do clients switch MSPs? Security is a leading reason: 45% in Barracuda’s survey would switch if their MSP could not show round-the-clock security skills. ## Sources - N-able with Canalys (2025-03-04), [N-able’s second annual MSP Horizons report](https://www.n-able.com/press/press-releases/n-ables-second-annual-msp-horizons-report-shows-significant-growth-opportunity-for-global-msps-with-cybersecurity-leading-the-way) - Kaseya (2025-01-07), [Kaseya’s State of MSP shows what makes a top-performing MSP](https://www.kaseya.com/press-release/kaseyas-state-of-msp-shows-what-makes-a-top-performing-msp/) - Kaseya (2023 survey data), [MSP pricing: a comprehensive guide to managed IT services pricing models](https://www.kaseya.com/resource/msp-pricing-managed-it-services-pricing/) - JumpCloud, via The MSP Summit (2025), [MSPs gaining steam with SMEs](https://themspsummit.com/article/msps-gaining-steam-smes/) - Barracuda Networks, via CXOToday (2025), [73% of organizations with up to 2,000 employees rely on MSPs](https://cxotoday.com/press-release/73-of-organizations-with-up-to-2000-employees-rely-on-msps-to-manage-the-security-challenges-of-growth-2/) - UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (2025-04-09), [Cyber security breaches survey 2025](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2025/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2025) - Gartner (2026-05-20), [Gartner survey finds 69% of B2B buyers turn to sales reps to validate AI-generated insights](https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-05-20-gartner-survey-finds-sixty-nine-percent-of-b-two-b-buyers-turn-to-sales-reps-to-validate-ai-generated-insights) - Google Search Central (2025), [AI features and your website](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features) - Martinez (2026), [Optimizing Visibility in Generative Engines: A Critical Survey of Generative Engine Optimization (2023-2026)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.14035), arXiv:2607.14035. - Underneath (2026), [Does rewording a question change AI brand recommendations?](https://underneath.agency/research/ai-prompt-phrasing-study) - Underneath (2026), [Same question, four countries: do AI recommendations change?](https://underneath.agency/research/ai-recommendations-by-country-study) - Underneath (2026), [The hidden searches AI assistants run before they answer](https://underneath.agency/research/ai-hidden-searches-study) - Underneath (2026), [Which Google Maps businesses does ChatGPT recommend?](https://underneath.agency/research/chatgpt-local-picks-google-profile-study) - Underneath (2026), [Ask an AI the same question 5 times: do the brands change?](https://underneath.agency/research/ai-recommendation-consistency-study) --- This is the Markdown twin of https://underneath.agency/resources/msps-customers-from-ai-search. The HTML page is canonical. Publisher: Underneath, https://underneath.agency/agent. Site index: https://underneath.agency/llms.txt.