Last week, I participated in a panel discussion hosted by the Austin chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) that centered on a fundamental question: How do you ensure your brand appears when ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity answers questions in your category? The answer lies in understanding how these AI systems actually work.

Joining me on the panel, titled "The Evolution of PR Metrics in an AI World," were Anne Lasseigne Tiedt, the Senior Director of Strategic Communications at Raise Your Hand Texas, and Leigh Ann Acosta, Director of Public Relations at Cloudflare. Moderated by Texas State professor Paul Villagran, our discussion revealed something that validates what we've long believed at Treble: the brands dominating AI-generated recommendations aren't the ones with the best SEO strategies. They're the ones with the strongest earned media presence.

AI Engines Trust Editorial Sources, Not Marketing Copy

When an AI engine recommends your cybersecurity solution over a competitor's, it's not pulling from your website or paid ads. It's synthesizing information from sources it considers credible—industry analyst reports that mention your company, news articles quoting your executives, case studies covered by trade publications and expert commentary from your team in breaking news stories. It's citation-driven authority, not keyword optimization.

The Business Impact is Already Clear

Companies seeing traffic from AI platforms report conversion rates six times higher than traditional search traffic. When an AI engine positions your brand as "the solution" to a specific problem, you're not just getting a click—you're getting an algorithmic endorsement.

Yet most brands remain focused on traditional SEO metrics that are becoming irrelevant. As Forrester's research indicates, "SEO teams have been caught flat-footed. Traffic and ranking and average position and click-through rate…none of those metrics make sense going forward."

What PR Teams Need to Change

The panel highlighted several key shifts:

Stop counting impressions. Start tracking citations. Monitor how often your brand appears in AI-generated responses. The companies that understand this shift first will have a significant competitive advantage.

Position experts, not products. Our research shows 45% of journalists value expert commentary from credible sources above all other content types. Fast response times to breaking news are crucial—42% of journalists cite availability as a key differentiator when selecting sources.

Dominate the long tail. AI engines surface brands for very specific queries—exactly the kind that drive high-intent prospects. This is where press releases become particularly valuable.

Press releases provide AI engines with factual, timestamped information—capabilities, partnerships, certifications, funding rounds, technology integrations. These authoritative details become the building blocks that help AI engines recommend your company for highly specific use cases.

AI as Your Early Warning System

AI tools are becoming invaluable for monitoring when and how your company is discussed across digital channels. Leigh Ann shared how Cloudflare can nearly predict when they'll receive calls from reporters based on social media chatter that AI monitoring tools surface hours or days before traditional media alerts.

The key is sophisticated search strategies and prompt engineering. Traditional keyword alerts miss nuanced discussions about your industry or competitors. Poorly constructed AI prompts return irrelevant results or miss critical conversations. The most effective monitoring combines precise Boolean search parameters with carefully crafted prompts that help AI tools understand context, sentiment, and relevance to your brand's positioning.

This predictive capability allows PR teams to get ahead of emerging narratives—whether amplifying positive coverage or correcting misinformation before it spreads. AI-powered monitoring goes beyond keyword tracking to understand context and sentiment, helping companies identify when mentions signal potential media opportunities or reputation risks.

The most sophisticated teams use these insights to position executives proactively, preparing expert commentary on emerging issues before journalists even know they need it.

The Window is Closing

Most brands haven't connected these dots yet. They're treating AI visibility as a technical problem rather than a credibility and authority opportunity.

Anne emphasized how this extends beyond earned media to owned content strategy. Companies often focus exclusively on building domain authority, neglecting the page-level authority of individual blog posts and website pages. AI engines don't just evaluate your site as a whole—they assess the credibility and depth of specific pages when determining what to cite. Your thought leadership articles, case studies, and resource pages require their own authority-building strategies, including targeted internal linking, authoritative external sources, and comprehensive content that other sites want to reference and link to.

The companies that establish themselves as frequently-cited, credible sources now will dominate AI-driven brand discovery as adoption accelerates. This window won't remain open indefinitely.

As Ben Smith noted in Semafor: "The best way to get your client's message into the output of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and the rest is by talking to journalists." This reinforces what has always been Treble's approach—authentic earned media remains the most powerful vehicle for technology brands seeking to build credibility, visibility, and influence.

What This Means

The emergence of AI as a primary information source doesn't change our fundamental approach. It validates it. By focusing on quality earned media coverage while understanding how AI processes and presents information, we remain positioned to help clients navigate this evolving landscape.

For technology companies seeking to build their reputation in both human and AI-mediated conversations, the path is clear: authentic, strategic earned media remains the most powerful tool in their communications arsenal. AI isn’t replacing the fundamentals of PR—it’s making them matter more.

Interested in discussing how Treble can help your company navigate earned media strategies in the AI era? Contact us at newbiz@treblepr.com.