Earned media, trade publications, and relevancy still rule in the age of AI search – and they all affect brand visibility
It’s no secret that GenAI is dramatically reshaping the way people find and consume information. No matter what side of the media lens you sit, PR, journalism, marketing, or social media, the ripple effects of AI-powered search are impossible to ignore. These GenAI tools are creating a constantly changing data-driven ecosystem that influences not only what content is cited in response to a query, but which online sources become visible and trusted in the process. The implications on brand visibility will be huge!
Brand visibility is no longer just about social media and appearing in the top Google search results. AI search has rapidly transformed information discovery.
Today’s strategies must ensure that content is “readable” by GenAI models. Time to find out what AI is reading so we took a deep dive into Muck Rack’s “GenerativePulse 2025” report which explores what exactly AI is reading, and why.
Examining over one million links used in responses by AI tools incl. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, the study provides vital insights into which types of content get visibility, how recency matters, and what this means for brands, PR teams, and communicators.
Here’s our key findings and takeaways.
Drum roll! Earned media dominates
A standout takeaway – and music to our IBA ears – earned media still dominates! The report found that over 95% of links that were cited by AI tools are from non-paid sources, with roughly 89% coming from earned media. This includes coverage in reputable publications, trade press, and other editorially independent outlets.
So, what we’re hearing is that AI trusts earned media – a big tick in the PR box from us!
The credibility that earned media carries with both humans and AI makes it indispensable in a modern PR strategy.
And the same goes for journalistic copy! Around 27% of citations come from journalism overall, rising to nearly double at 49% for recent or news-related queries. When broken down to industry level, the technology industry cited journalism content more than any other industry. Not surprising we know – it’s classic journalism – timely copy, vetted, and designed to inform, all the things AI-generated content can’t replicate.
Outlet authority still matters – and never forget the power of the trades
Getting cited in authoritative third-party publications will continue to boost brand authority as the report finds that GenAI tools tend to cite well-known and generally trusted sources. High-authority brands such as Reuters, Gartner, Forbes, TechRadar.com, Associated Press, Axios, and the Financial Times are frequently referenced.
However, in industry-specific queries, niche trade publications often prove more influential than mainstream ones. Yes, credibility matters but that isn’t always down to the UVPM. It’s the classic debate of vanity PR vs. industry publications.
We’ve already seen that GenAI tools do in fact favor earned media, and it now seems the same goes for targeted trade publications. Editorial PR coverage in high UVPM outlets that lack a target audience and provide no real value for that article, will provide no real value for the GenAI query.
Too often, PR efforts can fall victim to chasing vanity metrics, and B2B organizations get caught up in shiny UVPM figures, or going after the top national and international media outlets. But the benefits of targeted, industry-specific PR pitching are two-fold. Being present in the right vertical media can now not only make your brand more visible to human audiences (remember, the people reading these trade publications are the execs who make purchasing decisions on your product/solution) but also to AI algorithms – win-win!
GenAI rewards recency – it pays to remain active!
Among cited journalism content, there was a strong bias towards stories published in the last 12 months, particularly for queries that required advice or recent updates. But this wasn’t uniform across all models.
Overall, OpenAI models were more likely to cite recent coverage than Anthropic’s GenAI model, Claude. The report found that 56% of journalism citations by OpenAI were published in the last 12 months, compared to only 36% for Anthropic.
It takes us back to a blog we wrote last year, when GenAI models were really starting to ramp up, which honed in on the debate between classic and evergreen content. While we coined ChatGPT the home of evergreen copy, systems are now smarter in how they search information, and they require consistently updated and timely material.
Outdated coverage, no matter how authoritative it was at the time, now quickly loses its influence in AI answers. To survive the AI search engine battle, brands need to ensure a steady flow of fresh, relevant newsworthy content, to remain top of mind for both human audiences and AI systems.
Where do PR pros go from here?
GenAI is not replacing traditional PR—what we are seeing is that it is actually amplifying its importance.
But traditional media hits are just one piece of the puzzle, PR teams should now be thinking about how press releases, interviews, blogs, social media etc. create a picture or pattern of activity that contribute to a brand’s digital footprint across the broader web.
Don’t forget, brands can get their content seen in other ways. Multichannel distribution provides a platform for originality, repurposing content and sharing across various channels such as social media, communities, podcasts (shameless plug for our own Talking Propellor Heads), and newsletters.
At IBA, we develop a content strategy tailored to your brand and audience and ensure we are consistently creating, placing, and repurposing content across many platforms. We call it matrix-based PR – strategic content repurposing and consistent delivery, that help signal leadership and strength, and drive inbound and outbound marketing success. In the era of AI-powered search, this strategy has never been more important!
Georgia Harris is PR Lead Themes at IBA International.
