AI Needs PR, and So Do You

Public relations has always been about getting someone else to tell your company’s story for you. A well-placed story in a respected news outlet can be far more impactful for your brand story than simply placing a splashy ad. At Anthologic we’ve known this for years. Turns out, AI knows it, too.

As we turn to generative AI for help with everything from our workflows to asking which lawn mower to buy, large language models (LLMs) like Gemini, ChatGPT and Claude, are turning back to PR pros to develop answers. Increasingly, LLMs are citing third-party content, such as product reviews and feature stories in media outlets, to shape and inform their answers.

LLMs are not only referencing your brand’s owned content, but searching for what others are saying about you across the digital landscape, from reputable digital media outlets to trade publications. That means authoritative mentions are driving your brand’s discoverability. If you don’t have a PR strategy building trust and shaping
narratives on your behalf, then you’re actively falling behind. Because if you’re not there in the news articles, podcasts and review sites when the LLM comes looking, you won’t be in the answer it provides either.

When it comes to the future of search and discoverability, PR is at the very heart of it all. Trust can’t be generated by a machine, influence can’t be faked and credibility can’t be invented. Those are uniquely human characteristics, and the AI engines not only recognize that, but are seeking it out in reputable media spaces. Which means if you aren’t deploying a well-rounded content strategy that shares a consistent brand narrative across earned and owned channels, pretty soon you’ll become invisible to the LLMs. And as LLM queries start to overtake search, that means you’ll become increasingly invisible to your audience.

AI knows it needs PR to be credible. Do you? ABI