Why PR should be top of the marketing agenda.

Several years ago, as part of my Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) qualification, I wrote an article about what AI would mean for the future of Public Relations (PR). At the time, I concluded that we needed to see AI as a member of the team that we were coaching rather than something that could make our role obsolete.

Fast forward to today and the reality is that AI powered search tools have made the role of PR more important than ever before. Answer engine optimisation (AEO), where expertise is extracted into AI overviews on search engines like Google, and generative engine optimisation (GEO), getting cited in in detailed AI-generated recommendations like ChatGPT, is transforming how audiences discover information. As a result, Gartner has predicted that by 2027 this shift will drive a 2x increase in PR and earned media budgets, as brands prioritise visibility in AI-generated answers.

Unlike traditional search, AI engines favour earned and organic content. Gartner said over 95% of cited sources were non-paid and 27% came directly from earned media. Tools like ChatGPT have witnessed explosive traffic growth (+608%) while traditional search engines show marginal declines.

As a result, Gartner found that communications leaders were increasingly reallocating budgets towards PR, brand storytelling and owned platforms to strengthen AEO and maintain narrative control. Credible third-party coverage from high-trust sources will be critical for brands aiming to stay relevant in the AI-first discovery era.

I have always been a big fan of PR, thought leadership and earned content when it comes to marketing, perhaps it stems from my journalistic background. These tactics have been central to my marketing strategies while working for healthcare technology companies as I believe they build credibility and trust. At the end of last year, I carried out an AEO/GEO audit of my existing company’s website. It showed that my focus on thought leadership and PR over the past few years had positioned the business in a strong position, with earned content frequently cited in AI answers.

To get content featured in AI-generated answers, summaries and conversations, creating high quality thought leadership content is key alongside a PR strategy that targets authoritative third-party domains. Earned media is influencing what AI models learn and surface and this points to a need for a greater focus on PR.

PR is a specialist skill and it is not something that can be replicated by simply typing a prompt into an AI Search engine so it can churn out generic content. Back in 2019, when I wrote my CIPR article, I stated:

“AI cannot compete with us PR professionals when it comes to skills that require emotional intelligence like creativity, empathy, critical thinking, artistic expression, listening or leadership capabilities. These skills could become the most prized and highly valued over all other skills in the future, becoming differentiators as AI takes over other tasks.”

That remains the case today. In fact, the most critical skill in PR is something that is learned and honed over time and is often something that cannot be taught – a PR Mindset. This is the ability to look at everything through a 'PR lens', allowing you to find the relevant news hook to gain earned coverage rather than paid, to develop stories that connect with audiences and build trust, to make complex messages readable and to identify risk before issues arise.

Social media already revolutionised PR, putting and end to the one-way communications model used in PR for so long and replacing it with something that was two-way and interactive. AI is changing the way we work again and this time it is moving PR and the PR Mindset to the top of the agenda. Businesses that don’t recognise the importance of PR in an AI-first discovery era risk getting left behind.