Gartner(R) Ranks HawkSearch #1 for B2B Search Use Case in 2026 Critical Capabilities Report for Second Consecutive Year

WOBURN, MA / ACCESS Newswire / July 2, 2026 / Bridgeline Digital, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLIN), a leader in AI-powered product discovery and eCommerce solutions, today announced that its HawkSearch platform has been ranked #1 in the B2B Search use case in the Critical Capabilities for Search and Product Discovery 2026 report. This marks the second consecutive year HawkSearch has achieved the highest ranking.To us, the Gartner evaluation reflects HawkSearch's performance in supporting complex B2B commerce scenarios, where digital buyers with negotiated entitlements and pricing require accurate, relevant, and efficient access to large product catalogs"We are proud to be recognized as the #1 solution for B2B Search Use Case in the Gartner Critical Capabilities report for the second consecutive year," said Ari Kahn, President and CEO of Bridgeline Digital. "I believe This recognition reflects the strength of HawkSearch and the demand we are seeing from B2B organizations adopting AI-powered product discovery to improve digital commerce performance."The Shift to AI-Driven Product Discovery in Complex B2B CommerceIn our view, The Critical Capabilities for Search and Product Discovery 2026 report highlights a shift in the market toward AI-driven search architectures, hybrid keyword and semantic search, and conversational discovery experiences.The report notes that:AI-driven catalog enrichment and real-time relevance optimization are increasingly important for digital commerce organizations, as AI features and large language models (LLMs) become more widely adopted and organizations seek to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of product discovery across large, complex catalogs.The search and product discovery (S&PD) vendor landscape is moving toward unified hybrid indexes that merge lexical and vector search, delivering more relevant results.Algorithmic merchandising and AI-powered next best actions are slowly becoming expected capabilities, while conversational guided selling assistants are replacing manual product finders.We feel these trends reflect the growing importance of intelligent product discovery for organizations managing complex product data and evolving buyer expectations.Why we believe we were recognizedIn our view, HawkSearch's ranking reflects its strong continued alignment with the needs of B2B organizations managing complex product data and buyer requirements. The platform is purpose-built to support technical catalogs, industry-specific workflows, and advanced merchandising strategies.The solution serves mid-market and enterprise organizations across a range of complex commerce industries managing large product catalogs, where intelligent search and product discovery are key drivers of digital revenue growth.Continued Investment in AI InnovationBridgeline continues to expand its AI roadmap to support evolving eCommerce needs, including:B2B search assistantsAnalytics assistantsAgentic commerce capabilitiesThese innovations are designed to help customers deliver more intelligent, scalable, and revenue-driving digital commerce experiences.Gartner, Critical Capabilities for Search and Product Discovery, By Aditya Vasudevan, Sandy Shen, Mike Lowndes, Noam Dorros, 23 June 2026GARTNER is a trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any company, vendor, product or service depicted in its publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's business and technology insights organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this publication, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.About BridgelineBridgeline helps companies accelerate online revenue by improving traffic, conversion rates, and average order value through AI-powered commerce technology. Its HawkSearch platform delivers advanced search, personalization, and merchandising capabilities for B2B and B2C enterprises across high-growth industries.Learn more at: www.bridgeline.com and www.hawksearch.comContact:Kelly MaltmanSVP, Marketingpress@bridgeline.comSOURCE: Bridgeline DigitalView the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

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