Why Integrated PR is Your Secret Weapon for AI and Search Visibility
By Anna Crowe, CEO of Crowe PR
Investing in press coverage isn’t just traditional PR anymore; it’s about future-proofing your brand’s discoverability in an AI-first world, ensuring that when AI talks about you, it says what you want.
In today’s search landscape, brands need to show up everywhere their customers and stakeholders are, be it Google, generative AI, you name it. And while earned media (articles, interviews, reviews, podcasts) has always built credibility, it’s especially critical today for discoverability in both search engines and AI answers. Industry insights show that majority of AI-generated answers (80-90%) hey come from what others say about the brand instead of a brand’s website.
Consider this:
Structured Messaging Shapes AI Results. While we think we may have a special relationship with Chat or Claude (I know I do!), AI models don’t truly understand brands; instead, they mimic what they read. Clear, consistent, well-placed messaging with strong headlines and quotes helps ensure AI summarizes your brand correctly, especially when it appears on high-domain-authority sites that signal trust and expertise to both users and algorithms. Did you know, AI platforms prioritize third-party validation over self-published claims?
Press Builds Authority in a Zero-Click World. We’ve seen this with Google search over the years and now it’s time for generative AI. With AI summaries and rich snippets, however, users don’t always click through. Links are critical, but what’s even more relevant today is focusing on building authority and securing placements on reputable, high-authority publications/sites. This enhances credibility and ensures that even without clicks, a brand is seen as the go-to expert, driving higher-quality, more conversion-ready traffic when people do visit.
Personalization is Changing Search. Search results are more personalized than ever. You can’t just check your own results; today, you’ve got to track mentions across regions and AI outputs. Niche, thoughtful content is more likely to reach the right audience as personalization grows. Securing diverse, high-authority placements ensures the brand shows credibility no matter who’s searching.
Thought Leadership and Content Diversification. We know that high-quality press can do a great job of demonstrating expertise. And earned media isn’t just mainstream press. It also includes niche industry sites, podcasts, YouTube interviews, and even optimized LinkedIn posts. Using clear formatting and bullet points can make key points easy for humans while allowing AI to understand.
And of course, quality continues to rule over quantity. The key is to focus on unique, valuable content that builds trust and drives real results. AI platforms prioritize third-party validation over self-published claims. Yes, earned media is a long game, but in an AI-first world, it’s also a lasting one. Every strong mention, every quality article, every thoughtful response becomes part of the massive training data shaping what people see when they ask Google, ChatGPT, or any future AI: “Tell me about this brand.”