Google still handles around 8.5 billion searches a day, yet how people discover and trust information is shifting fast. Generative-AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude are redefining search intent: and this is giving Public Relations a bit of a second wind.
Even Google sees the writing on the wall. Its AI Overviews feature summarises responses directly on the results page -a move that’s already cut organic clicks to some publishers by up to 80 percent.
Visibility is being driven by the notion of credibility more than ever before. As answer engines learn how to assess credibility, it’s reshaping how brands compete for attention. For PR professionals, it’s a rare second wind – and a reminder that earned authority is once again the metric that matters.
This was the focus of my recent conversation with Lizi Sprague, co-founder of Songue PR in San Francisco. Her agency helps clients solve what she calls the ‘AI visibility problem’ – ensuring their stories appear in the authoritative sources large-language-model (LLM) search engines pull from. The more discovery shifts to AI, the more valuable credible earned media becomes.
From SEO to AI visibility
Early research into Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) suggests that LLMs prioritise expert-authored and editorially verified content over brand-owned material. That’s good news for teams investing in original research, data-driven storytelling, and consistent thought leadership. These signals feed the algorithms’ definition of authority.
However, AI visibility isn’t pure meritocracy. Data-licensing deals, like those between Reddit, Stack Overflow and major model developers show that exposure can be bought as well as earned. For marketers, the implication is not to solely chase visibility. Proprietary insight and credible positioning outlast every algorithm update.
Pitchcraft in the machine age
Lizi’s early career stories – fax machines, press clippings, and pitch pods – highlight how much PR used to depend on persistence and instinct. Today, journalists can receive up to 400–500 pitches a day, many of them AI-generated.
So how do you cut through? The pitches that land are short, relevant, and written with a human ear. They solve a reporter’s problem or align with their interests rather than push a product. While AI can help test subject lines or summarise data, it can’t sense tone, timing, or nuance – the very things that help a pitch stand out.
One of the benefits though, is that automation has stripped away the manual work and brought us back to the only differentiator that matters: empathy, judgement, and a good story.
Measuring meaning, not mentions
Despite its growing strategic value, PR is still the first budget line to fall. And it’s often because measurement hasn’t kept up. Over-engineered attribution models capture clicks but ignore the halo effect of credibility – the quiet influence of seeing a name in the right context.
Qualitative insight is making a comeback. Simply asking “Where did you first hear about us?” often uncovers the reach of earned visibility more effectively than analytics dashboards. Meanwhile, new tools are starting to track brand appearances inside AI-search responses, offering an early link between PR performance and pipeline impact.
That data will help, but attribution will remain imperfect. Public relations works like baking a cake – yes, you can measure ingredients, but the flavour comes from how they mix.
Welcome to the credibility economy
We’re now at a point where AI-search platforms value verifiable, research-backed information, while audiences still respond to relevance and tone. The intersection of those two forces is where modern PR now earns its keep.
The risk lies with turning this into another numbers game – counting LLM citations in the place of backlinks. A smarter approach blends data-driven credibility with human-led craft. Research and expertise give algorithms something solid to index; empathy and story give people a reason to care.
Get those working together and PR stops being an expense; it becomes a signal of competence and authority.
When you get down to it, AI hasn’t rewritten the rules of PR – it’s simply reminded us why it matters. Credibility, context, and craft still decide who gets heard. The only difference is that this time, the algorithms are listening too.
By Dave Heywood
A marketer who’s spent his career figuring out how real growth happens – for brands and people alike. He runs Marketing Careers Uncovered, a podcast where marketers talk honestly about the work, the missteps, and what actually moves the needle.
