Insights

Corporate communications always evolved with technology. From newspapers to Google search rankings, every shift forced organisations to adapt how they built visibility and trust. But the latest disruption – AI-powered search – marks a turning point.

And for industries where credibility is everything, the role of public relations has never been more vital.

With traditional search engine optimisation (SEO) built on keywords, businesses could climb rankings by engineering website copy and building backlinks. But with Google’s new AI Overviews to platforms like Perplexity and ChatGPT – things work differently. They don’t just match keywords; they interpret context, weigh authority, and deliver synthesised answers, shaped by the sources the AI trusts.

PR – the new SEO

Here’s the critical shift: AI draws from the wider ecosystem of digital content and multiple sources including media articles, trade publications, and expert commentary all of which are signals of credibility. If your brand isn’t part of that landscape, you risk disappearing from the conversation altogether.

Customers, clients, and stakeholders don’t just want a polished website; they want reassurance from independent, credible voices that you’re the real deal. When your company is quoted in respected media or contributes thought leadership in a trade outlet, that coverage does more than reach readers in the moment, it becomes part of the permanent record AI systems draw upon.

Where once SEO teams talked about “backlinks,” today we need to be talking about AI optimisation. Every credible mention in media outlets tells AI models: this is a trusted authority in the field. And when future users or policymakers ask an AI about best practices in your industry, those mentions can make the difference between you being part of the conversation or ignored.

The tiers of earned media content

In an AI-driven search world, we can think of earned media in three tiers:

Tier 1: National & Mainstream Media
Mentions in outlets like The Guardian, ABC News, or The Sydney Morning Herald signal broad authority. These publications have strong domain authority and are heavily weighted by AI algorithms when assembling answers.

Tier 2: Industry & Trade Media
Sector-specific publications may not reach the same mass audience, but they carry immense subject-matter credibility. AI engines use these as expert voices when tailoring answers for specialised industries.

Tier 3: Regional & Community Media
Local papers, radio, and online outlets deliver trusted, grassroots visibility. They also often remain online indefinitely, becoming long-tail content that AI continues to index years later.

The most resilient PR strategies work across all three tiers. National media offers broad visibility, trade media cements expertise, and regional outlets ground organisations in local trust. Together, they form a layered digital footprint that algorithms can’t ignore. Sot when this AI-first PR strategy is integrated into the broader marketing mix, it ensures your brand is seen where it matters.

What companies must do now

• Prioritise earned media: Invest in proactive PR strategies that secure placements in national, regional, and industry press.
• Leverage niche outlets: Don’t overlook trade publications – specialist media is highly trusted by AI crawlers and by the audiences that matter most.
• Build a credible voice: Provide expert commentary, publish data-driven insights, and contribute thought leadership that journalists and AI alike can reference.
• Think long-term: Unlike ads, which vanish when budgets end, PR coverage remains visible, searchable, and indexable – providing compounding returns in an AI-driven search ecosystem.

The Future of Visibility

We are moving into an era where visibility can’t be bought; it must be earned. AI has made it harder to manipulate algorithms with technical tricks and easier to reward organisations that demonstrate genuine expertise and authority. That’s great for reputation building if you do it right.

But this isn’t just about marketing – it’s about ensuring your voice shapes the public conversation in your field. As AI systems increasingly act as gatekeepers to information, PR has re-emerged as a powerful tool that guarantees your expertise and values are recognised, indexed, and surfaced where it matters most.

In short: if you’re not being written about, you’re being written out. Businesses that invest in PR today will be the ones AI remembers tomorrow.