Why PR Might Be a Marketer’s Best Friend in the Era of AI Search

Reputation used to be something brands earned slowly through years of consistent service, reliable products, sound governance and, of course, great marketing and PR.

But the landscape has changed. In the AI search era, reputation might be the difference between being visible – or not. This means that, now more than ever, PR is strategically essential for brands that want to be seen.

Why REputation Matters More THan Ever

We’re living in an age where we have proof at our fingertips. Whether it’s a five-star Google rating, a mention in the FT, or a glowing case study shared on LinkedIn, perception is constantly being shaped by external sources.

Crucially, as AI-powered search results, specifically Google’s AI Mode (launched last month in the US and likely to be in the UK later this year) and AI Overviews (AIOs), increasingly become the primary information source for people seeking answers, reputation is the currency through which brands will secure inclusion. With AI tools prioritising trustworthy and authoritative signals from information found across the web, building this digital footprint and reputation is where PR really comes into its own. 

Adapting to Changing Audience Behaviour

Although traditional Google search results pages (SERPs) aren’t obsolete (yet – although we don’t know the extent to which conversational search engines might replace them), there has been a significant shift in user behaviour over the course of the last few months; AIOs are now being used 1.5 billion times per month.

The traditional top few ‘blue link’ ranking positions marketers have been striving to hold are being superseded by AI-generated responses. From conversational AI interfaces (e.g. ChatGTP and AI Mode) to AI search platforms (e.g. Copilot) or AI-powered search results (e.g. Google AIOs), people are finding answers to their questions in a different way.

Research into how users are interacting with Google AIOs has shown that click-through rates are much lower and the majority of people are only reading the first third of an AIO. This ability to get a brief summary in response to a question, rather than sifting through a list of links to other web sources, is proving irresistible to users. And while the research suggests that older demographic groups are more likely to still look for ‘blue link’ results, it seems likely their behaviour will also change as the AI summaries become more familiar.

How Can Marketers Build Brand Reputation for AI Search?

AI is changing the search landscape, but this isn’t about starting from scratch. Many techniques marketers have been using to rank well for traditional SEO remain applicable. But AI is moving the dial towards a broader need for trustworthy, authoritative online reputation across the web.

There’s nothing wrong with a great PR stunt or a big campaign moment that will secure media coverage, but building long-term brand equity through public relations means focusing on consistent visibility. It’s about layering moments of credibility via your earned media strategy through high quality coverage, valuable content, and reliable sources.

A positive digital footprint and reputation is built on strategy, clarity of messaging, and consistency:

• Earned Media: A hard-working media relations strategy, whether its product placement for consumer brands or specialist trade sector positioning for B2B, is essential for organic discoverability. It’s about getting the right messages in the right places to reach the right people. While backlinks have been the holy grail in the past, this might not be the case in the AI era, as contextual relevance and related content becomes more important.
• Thought Leadership: Especially relevant in B2B PR, where people are seeking expertise, deep insight, and guidance, thought leadership can carry real weight and build authority.
• Owned Content: While earned channels – particularly trusted (high domain authority) media outlets – will carry weight with AI searches, using owned channels effectively is important to maintain your site’s relevance and encourage AI search to reference your content. Wikipedia and LinkedIn are both trusted sources, so asses your brand presence there and within online directories while also thinking well-structured blogs, videos, whitepapers, plus the optimum mix of social platforms, to reinforce brand messaging and personality.

Ultimately, what brands need to be aiming for is a large, high quality, and informative digital footprint that AI can read as relevant and reliable in response to people’s questions.

WHat Marketers SHould Do Now to Embrace AI Search

• Be Influential: We’ve all become accustomed to thinking about keywords for rankings and visibility. As the focus shifts to a more nuanced assessment of credibility and influence, we need to update this approach. Owning the discussion space around relevant topics, being quoted by authoritative sources, and providing reliable answers to key questions will all be important.
• Be Consistent: From what we’re seeing now, there is still correlation between traditional SERPs and what’s getting pulled into AI summaries. This might evolve but, for the time being, maintaining traditional SEO activity to hold core rankings seems sensible. We’re also identifying ways of structuring on page content that will lend itself to being cited by AIOs by ensuring clarity and usability.
• Be Adaptable: Changes in user behaviour will mean changes in the metrics that matter. There’ll be a learning curve here because nobody knows quite what the full implications will be, but a drop in traffic is (probably) inevitable as fewer people click through to links. Branded search volume and mentions in AI summaries (currently difficult to measure but this will improve) are likely to become more important.

Marketers are being pulled in 101 directions and the rapid pace of AI-generated change is astonishing. But many of the steps that will serve brands well in the AI era are sound, fundamental PR strategies and techniques. As a PR agency, we’ve been shaping and building reputations for decades; we know how to do this. How these cues are used might change, but the core principles remain, and the brands which embrace strategic PR and invest consistently, will see long-term gains going beyond awareness raising to deliver lasting influence.

If you’d like to talk about how you can build your brand’s reputation and online presence, get in touch – we’d love to help.

The author: Jane Ainsworth is managing director of WPR. She has over 20 years’ experience in developing and delivering communications strategies for consumer brands including Dunelm, Tesco, Mothercare, Greene King, John Lewis, Bullring, Beaverbrooks and Westfield.