Because trustworthy brand authority requires accuracy, context – and facts
Trust is hard-won anywhere, and in the world of PR spin and B2B marketing now basking in the rapid increase in AI-generated content, it’s under more pressure than ever!
Don’t just take our word for it. In a new help document Google states:
- “Keep in mind that generative models don’t retrieve facts, but predict a likely sequence of words based on their training data.”
- “Because of this, generative AI outputs may contain inaccuracies (also known as hallucinations).”
- “It is critical to manually fact check and review all AI-generated content for accuracy and trustworthiness before publishing.”
Hot off the digital press, Cision’s 2026 State of the Media report found 53% of journalists indicate they are opposed (either somewhat or strongly) to AI-generated content, suggesting a distrust of its source.
Recently even marketing pros have been turning to long-form content to help them regain the top spot for brand authority over short-form for depth, clarity, and authority.
The reality? You can’t avoid AI content. It’s embedded in external research, text enhancements, or even AI overviews when searching on Google.
But when Google itself joins the sceptics and asks us all to consider manual fact-checking AI-generated content, we should listen!
As Search Engine Land reports, Google has revealed new site guidance confirming that manual fact-checking of AI-generated content is becoming critical for brand trust, authority, and accuracy.
Here’s the human checklist.
1. Fact vs Fiction: fact-checking can’t be an afterthought for brand trust
While AEO is quickly transforming the landscape of visibility, it’s crucial to remember or, in the words of Google, it’s critical to understand that LLMs don’t retrieve facts – they output sequences based on their training data models.
When creating content for your brand’s website, social media, or for a media outlet, accuracy, quality, and relevance are vital, especially in the age of AI search.
When AI outputs inaccuracies, also known as “hallucinations”, B2B marketers and PR pros risk having their brand image misrepresented in AI search! There’s no substitute for manual fact-checks of any AI-generated copy to ensure accuracy and lock in trustworthiness before hitting publish!
In modern B2B marketing, cookie-cutter content won’t cut it – pardon the pun! Creativity and trust are no longer soft brand values, but brand buy-in ones.
AI-generated content can’t be cheaply retrofitted without human oversight!
2. In the era of content overdrive, context matters!
The content cycle is bursting at the seams, as modern B2B buying behaviour no longer follows a linear model. B2B brands often assume more content means more visibility and conversation, but this can generate a context mismatch.
We’ve been tracking how so many topics are still up for grabs in AEO-driven search and citations, and yes, being in the right places for models to find company content is important. But in order to answer accurately, the model needs context – so ensuring a consistent message across all content formats and mediums is key.
AI answers questions with an unbiased output. So, its representation of a brand may be misaligned or off par with actuality, and inaccurate AI-generated content and research only make brand authority worse!
A lesson to not believe everything you read on the internet – or the AI answer in this case!
3. It must be true – I read it on the internet didn’t you!
Likewise, marketers and journalists who have spent a life-time not believing what they read in the papers, now simply cannot believe everything they read on the internet.
If brands are constantly using AI to write and think for them, AI could be diluting their thought leadership and credibility. The question every PR professional should ask themselves is: can B2B marketers risk their hard-earned reputation and brand image for a quick fit with AI content?
The answer is clearly no. While brands shouldn’t banish AI completely from workflows, the age-old B2B tech narrative applies – AI should be used as an enhancement, a tool, not a replacement!
When brand authority and trust take so much time to build, an AI fast-track can damage it in minutes. Remember, it doesn’t have your company expertise and the scar tissue of industry subject matter experts! And it certainly can’t replicate the lived examples in copy generation.
Technology cannot lead without direction
AI search continues to reshape the landscape of B2B marketing and PR, from visibility all the way to how content is created. The takeaway isn’t to ditch AI altogether or veto it from content creation, because when used correctly, AI is an effective tool to parse huge volumes of quantitative or qualitative data to zero in on key insights or messages.
But technology cannot lead without direction. Google has put its marker in the ground already. Now PR pros and marketers have a duty of care to their brand image to manually fact-check AI-generated content for accuracy, context, and real leadership insights, or risk a tarnished brand reputation.
Watch out – the humans are coming!
Daniel Bellamy is PR Executive at IBA International.
