AI Search Is Changing PR Whether You Like It Or Not

Who needs another article about AI? Nobody, that's who. But here we are, talking about how AI is supposedly changing PR. As if PR people don't have enough to worry about—pitching stories nobody wants to hear, chasing journalists who never call back, explaining to clients why their boring product update isn't front-page news. Now they've got to figure out AI too? Give me a break!

THE END OF SEARCH AS WE USED TO TOLERATE IT

Let me tell you what's happening with search engines. They're dying. Not completely dead—they're on life support. Those traditional search results with their ridiculous paid rankings and keyword stuffing? They're becoming obsolete. And what's replacing them? Something called "credible sourcing."

Credible sourcing! Can you believe it? After decades of garbage content ranking at the top, suddenly the internet cares about credibility! What a concept! It only took twenty-five years and billions of dollars to figure out maybe we should value information from sources that actually know what they're talking about. Revolutionary thinking, really.

PR PEOPLE SHOULD BE THRILLED, BUT THEY'RE PROBABLY TOO BUSY COMPLAINING

For public relations professionals—the people who've spent careers trying to secure legitimate media coverage—this is actually significant. Third-party credibility has always been their whole thing. "You need trust? You need visibility? You need sales? Get some media coverage!" They've been saying this forever like a broken record, but now it suddenly matters more than ever.

These generative AI systems don't just give you a list of websites like some digital phone book from 2002. They give you actual answers! And where do they get these answers? From sources they think are trustworthy. I mean, who decided what's trustworthy? Some programmer in Silicon Valley who probably thinks kale is a legitimate food group? But I digress.

YOUR MEDIA COVERAGE IS TRAINING THE ROBOTS

Here's where it gets interesting, folks. All those media placements PR people have been securing? All those quotes they've been landing in respected publications? Guess what—they're becoming the foundation for what these AI systems "know."

Think about it. The stories that appear in reputable media are now priority inputs for these knowledge systems. Your company gets mentioned in The Wall Street Journal? That mention gets parsed, stored, and recycled into AI responses that could reach way beyond whoever subscribes to that paper.

It's like when I tell a story at a dinner party, and then I hear someone I barely know repeating it at another event three weeks later. Except this is happening at global scale! It's preposterous! But also kind of impressive, in a terrifying way.

GEO: JUST WHAT WE NEEDED, ANOTHER ACRONYM

And now there's this new thing called "generative engine optimization" or GEO. Just what we needed—another three-letter acronym to worry about. SEO wasn't annoying enough? Now we need GEO too? What's next, TEO? XYZ? LMNOP?

But look, this isn't just another trick for gaming algorithms. This is about understanding how influence works now. It's asking PR people to think about:

• Where and how companies get mentioned in AI-generated content
• What sources these AI engines prefer (probably not my blog)
• How structured, quotable content increases chances of getting cited
• Whether thought leadership is both relevant AND retrievable

I've never understood people who chase media coverage just for the sake of it. "Look at me! I was on page 94 of a magazine nobody reads!" Great job, you made your mother proud. In this new world, quality matters more than ever. It's not about how many times you appear—it's about WHERE you appear and WHAT you say when you get there.

Thank goodness PR people are adaptable. They've had to be, dealing with journalists and their absurd deadlines all these years. "I need a quote in 15 minutes for a story I've been working on for three weeks!" Who operates like that?

TRUST ISSUES THAT EVEN MY THERAPIST CAN'T SOLVE

Let's take a step back here. With all this technology changing faster than my neighbor's ridiculous lawn decorations, it's easy to forget why communications even matter. Trust doesn't go out of style—it just finds new channels. Kind of like how my distrust of automatic soap dispensers hasn't changed, I just encounter them in more places now.

As PR professionals, you're the guardians of that trust. You make sure what's said is clear, credible, and consequential. Now you're also making sure what's surfaced by people AND platforms lines up with those values.

That means rethinking how you measure impact. It means seeing visibility as a combo of reach, relevance, retrievability, and resonance. And like always, it means viewing media coverage not as a one-time hit but as infrastructure for the bigger picture—the foundation that tomorrow's AI will reference.

This isn't totally reinventing the wheel. It's more like putting new tires on a car that's headed in a different direction. The skills that make PR effective—storytelling, relationship building, strategic thinking—are still crucial. But they need to be applied with an awareness of how information travels in this new landscape, similar to how content strategies adapt to changing technologies.

THE QUESTION NOBODY WANTS TO ASK BUT I WILL ANYWAY

The question isn't "How do we chase AI?" That's like me trying to keep up with fashion trends—pointless and exhausting.

The real question is: "How do we stay visible and valuable as everything shifts?" The answer starts with understanding that your role is evolving—not away from human connection, but toward better alignment between the stories you tell and the systems that now help tell them.

PR people have always had to figure out how disruption affects different industries. In this case, you're perfectly positioned to maximize impact for clients. The tools are new, but the opportunity is familiar: shape the story, build trust, and anticipate where attention is going next.

For those willing to engage with this reality, instead of hiding under the covers like I do during thunderstorms, this is another chance to lead. The future of search isn't just algorithmic. It's editorial. And that's your home field.

So maybe, just maybe, this whole AI search revolution isn't so terrible after all. Unless, of course, these AI systems start developing personalities. Then we're all doomed. And I'll be the first to say "I told you so."

Look, I'm not going to sugar-coat this for you. If your PR strategy isn't ready for AI search, you're already behind. Way behind. Like showing-up-to-a-party-that-ended-yesterday behind. But Winsome Marketing can help you catch up, even if you're the type who still prints out MapQuest directions.

Ready to make your PR work in this AI search nightmare? Contact Winsome Marketing today. Our team of PR experts actually understands this stuff so you don't have to. We'll make sure your company doesn't disappear into the AI void while your competitors get all the attention. Don't wait until it's too late—although for some of you, it probably already is.