Artificial intelligence is changing how your message is discovered, writes DEBBIE BYERS
Having worked in the public relations industry for more than 30 years, I’ve seen a lot of major changes take place across the media, marketing and communications landscape, from the growth of the internet and the dot.com boom to the explosion of social media and influencer culture. Each one created a seismic shift in the way I advised businesses on how to communicate with their audiences.
I see the same momentous change taking place now as artificial intelligence (AI) changes the way people discover companies, products and expertise. It’s no longer simply about Google rankings. Increasingly, it’s about whether AI understands – and can reference – your story.
For business leaders, this shift has real consequences: it affects who finds you, who trusts you, and ultimately who chooses to work with or invest in you.
Now, I always ask clients to think about how their potential investors, employees and partners are researching their company. They’re not just typing queries into search engines and scrolling through blue links. They’re asking ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google’s AI Overview for recommendations and insights.
So, the big question for your company now is: when AI answers, does it mention your business?
Recent research suggests that on average, 34% of journalistic citations in AI responses come from a single news source, while countless businesses with equally compelling stories remain invisible. This isn’t about the size of your organisation. It’s about whether you’re telling your story in places where AI systems can find, trust and cite it.
For years we obsessed over clicks. Now, whether we like it or not, visibility is increasingly about citations – about being named, not just found. When someone asks an AI assistant about solutions in your sector, being mentioned in the answer is the new front page.
This is where storytelling and public relations become essential. Media coverage in trusted publications – like Daily Business – creates the digital footprint that AI systems draw upon. Every article, every interview, every piece of earned media becomes a potential source that large language models reference when answering queries about your industry.
Brands succeeding in this new landscape share common characteristics. They understand that generic messaging won’t build connection. They know that real stories, told by real people, create the authenticity that both humans and AI systems recognise as credible.
Consider what this means for your business. When a potential investor researches your sector, when a talented candidate evaluates employers, when a potential partner assesses collaborators, they’re increasingly turning to AI. These aren’t casual browsers. They’re decision-makers using sophisticated tools to gather intelligence. Your visibility in these AI powered research journeys directly impacts your ability to attract investment, talent and partnerships.
The good news is that the principles of effective communication haven’t changed. What has changed is the urgency. Businesses can no longer afford to sit on remarkable stories. In an AI driven discovery landscape, if you’re not visible, you’re missing a huge opportunity.
Public relations isn’t about vanity metrics or occasional press releases. It’s about using storytelling to build a sustained presence across trusted sources that AI systems cite. LinkedIn articles, industry publications, business media, expert commentary: these create the layered digital presence that makes your business discoverable.
One of the more interesting findings I’ve seen recently is that AI-cited content covers 62% more facts. This isn’t about keyword stuffing or gaming algorithms. It’s about substantive storytelling that demonstrates expertise and provides genuine value.
For businesses, this presents both challenge and opportunity. While major news brands dominate AI citations, there’s significant scope for businesses to build authority through consistent, authentic communication. When your internal culture and external voice tell the same story, people don’t just notice, they care. And increasingly, AI notices too.
This isn’t about creating content for machines. It’s about ensuring your human stories reach the channels where both people and AI systems look for credible information. As the workplace changes and AI develops, the power of storytelling and human voices becomes ever more vital.
In an age of AI-led discovery, telling your story is no longer optional. It is fundamental to being found, trusted and chosen. The question is not whether your story matters – it’s whether it’s showing up where decision-makers are looking.
Debbie Byers is founder of To Be Continued…, a communications and culture agency for
purpose-led businesses
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