Can PR Help Your Business Get Found in ChatGPT?
For years, businesses have invested in SEO to help customers find them through search engines, but the way people discover brands is changing.
Increasingly, consumers are turning to AI-powered tools such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini and other large language models (LLMs) to ask questions, research products and make purchasing decisions. This shift creates a new challenge for brands.
How do you make sure your business is recognised, trusted and recommended in an AI-driven world?
The answer is increasingly linked to something PR has always specialised in, building reputation.
Search is changing and brands need to adapt
Research from Gartner has highlighted the scale of the shift towards AI-powered search and digital experiences. Gartner has predicted that traditional search engine usage will decline as consumers increasingly use generative AI tools to find information and recommendations.
For marketers, this means visibility is no longer just about ranking highly on Google. It is about being understood, referenced and trusted across the wider digital ecosystem.
LLMs are trained on vast amounts of information from across the internet. While the exact way individual AI systems select and present information varies, one thing is clear - brands with a strong, credible online presence are better positioned to be recognised.
And this is where PR comes in.
PR builds the credibility AI systems look for
At its core, PR is about creating independent validation. A brand’s own website can explain what it does. Its advertising can tell customers why it is great. But third-party coverage carries a different level of authority.
Articles, interviews, expert commentary, reviews and industry recognition all contribute to a broader picture of a brand’s reputation.
For years, PR professionals have understood the importance of this digital footprint. Now, people increasingly ask AI tools questions like:
“What are the best sustainable skincare brands?”
“Which supplements should I consider?”
“Who are the experts in this industry?”
“What companies are leading this category?”
The importance of being visible in credible places has never been greater, especially as consumers have begun making purchasing decisions based on recommendation alone, without ever needing to visit the brand’s website directly.
The future of PR is reputation optimisation
SEO has traditionally focused on keywords, technical performance and rankings. The next evolution is reputation.
Brands need to think about:
Are we being talked about by trusted sources?
Are our founders recognised as experts?
Are journalists aware of our story?
Is there enough credible information online about our business?
Would an AI system understand why we matter?
This doesn’t mean chasing coverage for the sake of it. It means creating meaningful stories that demonstrate expertise, relevance and trust.
Start-ups and challenger brands have an opportunity
Interestingly, this shift may benefit smaller businesses. Large companies often have awareness, but they can struggle to appear authentic. Start-ups and challenger brands often have exactly the stories that perform well, but struggle with visibility. PR helps turn those stories into credible digital assets, helping even the smallest brand to be recommended over a big player in their industry.
PR is no longer just about yesterday’s headlines
The role of PR has always been to influence what people think and say about a brand. Today, that influence extends beyond journalists and consumers.
It increasingly includes the systems people use to discover information. As AI becomes a bigger part of the customer journey, brands that invest in reputation, authority and meaningful visibility will be better placed to succeed.
The future of PR isn’t just about getting noticed. It’s about making sure your brand is recognised, trusted and understood, wherever people are searching and making decisions.
At Full Volume PR, we help ambitious brands build the stories, and communicate them with consistency and clarity to shape how audiences view brands, driving growth in a changing digital landscape.
