AI is making PR a lot easier. That’s a problem |
Something interesting is happening to PR. At exactly the moment earned media is becoming more valuable to brands, getting the attention of the journalists and newsrooms who produce it is becoming significantly harder. AI is partly responsible for both.
Brands and organisations are suddenly asking how they appear when someone asks ChatGPT, Claude or another AI platform about their company.
Given the AI systems draw on, retrieve and cite information from credible news coverage, industry publications, expert commentary and other third-party sources when answering questions about brands and categories, this now gives earned media a new important job.
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A story in the Sydney Morning Herald, the Herald Sun or The Australian has always influenced what people think about a brand, and a CEO appearing on television has always built credibility.
Now, that news coverage is also part of the information AI systems use when forming answers about brands, products and categories. This means earned media isn’t just influencing what people think about your brand anymore, it is helping to influence what machines know about it.
But there’s a big problem. At the exact moment brands want earned media more than ever before, technology is making it incredibly easy for everyone to chase it. Which makes it hard.
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