Public relations has always helped organizations build credibility through trusted third-party coverage. Today, that credibility is showing up in a new place: AI search.
As more people turn to AI tools and AI-powered search results for answers, brands are not just competing for page rankings anymore. They are competing to be included, cited and described accurately inside AI-generated responses. That makes earned media — the coverage a brand earns through public relations rather than pays for directly — more important than ever.
A recent Muck Rack analysis found that earned media accounts for 84% of AI citations across ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, while paid and advertorial content accounts for just 0.3%. Journalism alone represents 27% of cited sources.
The study analyzed more than 25 million links across 17 industries, reinforcing a clear point for communicators: AI systems are leaning heavily on credible third-party content when forming answers.
For clients, that means public relations isn’t just about getting media coverage. It is about building a stronger digital presence in the places where people are now asking questions, comparing options and forming opinions.
AI search is changing how people find information. Instead of typing a keyword into a search engine and scanning a list of links, users are asking full questions and receiving synthesized answers. Those answers often pull from multiple sources, summarize key points and shape a user’s first impression before they ever visit a website.
That shift is already affecting behavior. An Associated Press poll found that 60% of U.S. adults use AI to search for information at least some of the time, and that number rises to 74% among adults under 30.
Google’s AI Overviews are also turning search into more of an answer engine by synthesizing information from multiple sources at the top of the results page — increasingly appearing for commercial, transactional and navigational searches.
That matters because AI-generated answers can affect how a prospective customer, donor, student, patient, employee or community partner understands an organization. If the answer includes your brand, reflects your expertise and cites credible coverage, that creates visibility and trust.
If your organization is missing, outdated or misrepresented, that can become a reputation and growth problem.
AI tools do not simply look at what a brand says about itself. They also look across the broader web for sources that appear credible, relevant and useful. That is where earned media becomes a powerful visibility signal.
Muck Rack found that trade media can play an important role because AI often selects niche-appropriate sources for industry-specific questions.
This is important for organizations that serve specialized markets. A regional healthcare provider, college, nonprofit, financial institution or B2B company may not always need national media to influence AI search visibility.
Often, the right mix of local coverage, trade publications, executive commentary, community stories and industry thought leadership can create a stronger body of evidence for AI systems to reference.
In other words, public relations helps create the credible external footprint AI tools are reading.
Yet another study found that 93% of PR professionals believe AI will reshape how PR results are measured.
That creates a new opportunity for clients and agencies like Amperage. Traditional PR metrics such as impressions, placements, share of voice and sentiment still matter. But value is growing for emerging signals such as:
It’s important to note that this is not an either/or case. The value of earned media for AI mentions does not replace SEO, content strategy or paid media in the marketing toolbox. It simply adds another layer.
And if AI systems are heavily citing earned, third-party content, then PR should be a part of your AI visibility strategy.
If you’re interested in ramping up your public relations for AI visibility, contact us at info@AmperageMarketing.com to get started.
Author Sarah Larson is Director of Public Relations at Amperage Marketing + Fundraising. She is a skilled writer with expertise in PR strategy, media relations and crisis communications.
