There’s a quiet revolution reshaping how brands can be seen online, and it’s no longer based on Google rankings alone.
With the rise of AI assistants like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity and others, we’re entering the era of AI-powered search. These tools don’t behave like traditional search engines and don’t simply scan pages for keywords or offer a list of blue links. Instead, they collate information from across the web to generate direct, conversational responses, often without sending users to company websites at all.
So where do they source that information?
Internet searches are no longer traced simply through company blog posts or landing pages, for example, but more often than not, AI learns about your brand from third-party sources. This includes trade publications, media interviews, award wins, analyst quotes, and thought leadership in well-regarded outlets. These sources all enable AI systems to decide who to trust and which companies to recommend, marking a fundamental shift in how brands must think about search visibility.
From SEO to GEO
This shift is what we call generative engine optimisation, or GEO (an emerging concept). While traditional SEO is about ranking in search results, GEO is about being included in the answers AI platforms generate. As a result of this change, PR becomes more than just a support function for SEO but a crucial component of company visibility strategy.
When your CEO or company representative is quoted in a reputable outlet, that article now becomes a source AI can cite. When your company is recognised in an industry award list, that recognition carries weight. When you’re included in a trade roundup or quoted in a market analysis, that also becomes part of the data pool AI references.
It all adds up to what we call AI trust equity, and the more credible mentions a business brand earns in trusted external sources, the more likely they are to appear in AI-generated responses when someone asks about the best solutions in a given category, for example.
Why this matters now
According to TechDay, more than a quarter of their syndicated site traffic comes from bots and this bot traffic is growing quickly. In one recent snapshot, they logged over 82,000 visits from AmazonBot, 44,000 from BingBot, 42,000 from Meta’s external agent, and nearly 30,000 from GoogleBot. They also recorded thousands of visits from bots linked to ChatGPT, Claude, and other generative platforms.
In other words, bots, rather than humans, are now often the first to engage with company content, and they’re gathering data that helps shape how AI platforms understand and represent businesses.
This means that if a brand’s competitor is being cited more often in respected outlets, they’re not just getting more traditional media visibility; they’re also becoming more prominent in AI-generated responses.
What this means for your PR and marketing strategy
To influence AI search outcomes, brands need to be visible in high-trust, third-party sources, including expert commentary in industry press, company mentions in analyst insights, appearances in best-of roundups, and thought leadership published in reputable media environments.
When these materials are indexed, they don’t just improve your credibility with potential customers, they become fuel for AI systems, which increasingly rely on this content to power their generative capabilities.
PR becomes the bridge between your brand and these environments and is the mechanism that gets company thinking, innovations and expertise into the places AI learns from.
Different platforms, same principle
Whether someone is using ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or another assistant, the logic is the same. These systems are not pulling only from company websites but drawing from the broader ecosystem around business brands.
At Origin Comms, tech and cybersecurity PR specialist agency, we enable our clients to navigate this by not only aiming for valuable media coverage but also playing the long game with an added focus on building a digital footprint that is both visible to customers and trusted by machines.
Looking ahead
The companies that dominate generative searches will be those investing in long-term visibility. That’s why we’re helping clients rethink PR not just as a brand-building exercise, but as a strategic tool for influencing AI.
We’ll be digging deeper into this too in our next blog by looking specifically at Reddit and its role in this space. This is yet another piece of the PR puzzle and a powerful platform in its own right for building presence and authority in places AI respects.
If you’re ready to make sure your brand shows up where it matters, in media, in AI and potential customers, building this into your PR strategy is a must.
For more information, contact the Origin Comms team at team@origincomms.com. We look forward to hearing from you.