AI-driven search is reshaping how brands are discovered, and PR is emerging as a key driver of that visibility. Cara Corbett, partner growth manager at SUSO Digital, explains why marcomms teams need to go beyond traditional earned media to optimize content, accessibility, and brand consistency for generative engines. Read on to discover how agencies that master this blend of editorial, technical, and strategic work can gain a crucial edge in the new search landscape.
Public relations is finally getting the recognition it deserves thanks to the fact that our work is directly influencing how brands show up in AI search results on tools like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews. Studies from major platforms like Muck Rack and Ahrefs confirm it: brand mentions in trusted editorial sources are a major driver of AI visibility.
This is a sea change for the industry. For the first time, PR outcomes aren’t just helping brand reputation or awareness; they’re now influencing discoverability at scale. That means PR agencies are no longer just a “nice to have” in the marketing stack. We’re now squarely in the middle of GEO (generative engine optimization) strategy and uniquely positioned to help our clients show up in these new platforms.
And yet…just as we’re stepping into the spotlight, and many PR agencies are sinking their teeth into the opportunity, we’re still missing a massive part of the equation.
The smartest PR teams are already pivoting quickly. They’re positioning their agencies as the go-to partner for brands who want to be mentioned and cited in AI responses. They’re targeting outlets that have partnerships with OpenAI for pitches and thought leadership pieces. Some are even proactively tracking where and how their clients are cited by AI tools with emerging platforms like Profound or Scrunch AI.
But here’s what most aren’t doing yet:
Optimizing Owned Content for LLM preferences
Not only do AI platforms pull from the most authoritative source, they also choose the clearest one. This is because they don’t think in full pages like Google does. They actually break content into “chunks” and retrieve the most relevant pieces that directly answer the user’s query. This means your content needs to follow suit, and be clearly structured and easy for AI to understand and extract. This looks like having a key takeaways section at the beginning, using proper subheadings (H2s and H3s), and ensuring each section of content stands completely on its own, addressing a single concept. These subheadings and concepts should ideally address the questions your audience would ask AI about your brand, phrased exactly as they would ask them.
Technical Accessibility and Crawlability
One of the most important pillars of AI search is making sure that your owned media, such as your website or content, is accessible and easy to understand for LLM crawlers (which are essentially internet robots that visit, read, digest and store the content on the web so that they’re able to pull it for their answers). Some of the things that make this successful are fast loading site speed (under 2.5 seconds is the minimum target), using proper coding language (these bots can’t read javascript very well), and using schema markup (a piece of code that helps you tell the model what is on the page). It really doesn’t matter how great your content is, or if you’ve structured it perfectly. If those robots can’t access it, you’re effectively going to be invisible.
Consistent Brand Messaging Beyond Editorial
Conversations about our clients are happening everywhere, and the models are trained on all of this data: reddit threads, trust review sites, comment sections, etc. Therefore, we must ensure that their brand messaging is consistent and clear across all online platforms, and we need a strategy that goes beyond editorial. Things like review management, forum contributions, and mentions in more niche publications and websites are all part of this broader picture. It’s also key to ensure that your client’s About Page, FAQs and Google Business Profile are all up to date with the most important bits.
Historically, some of these things have been SEO’s domain, so I don’t blame PR agencies for being slower to the punch, or apprehensive to dip their toes into new territory. But the walls are coming down. AI search visibility isn’t just earned, it’s also engineered. And the teams that understand how to combine brand + content + technical accessibility are the ones that will create the most value and visibility for their clients. And I believe that PR agencies are more than capable of leading that charge.
Let’s be honest with ourselves: PR missed the SEO train the first time around. From 2012 to 2020, most agencies stayed in their lane, focusing on brand mentions and coverage while “digital PR” and link-building took over the SEO world, sometimes at the cost of quality and brand fit.
But this AI Search Era brings us a clean slate. A major do-over. And PR is better positioned than ever. We already know how to shape narratives. We’re experts in long-form storytelling. And now we’re learning how much influence earned media has on AI-generated content. But unlike the last time, this moment isn’t just about “earning links.” It’s about making sure the content we create, and the platforms we guide our clients to build, are AI-readable, technically sound, and reinforcing the right reputation signals.
The big win for PR is that we now have a direct line to influence how brands appear in AI-driven experiences. But to claim that space, we need to go beyond the headline.
That means:
This is PR’s moment to shape the future of search, not just contribute to it.
Let’s not miss the train this time.
