Why PR is the driving force behind Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)
Generative AI is fundamentally changing the way we find information. Two-thirds of Gen Z and over half of millennials now prefer AI search to Google. Over a third of shoppers consult AI before making a purchase and nearly half rely on it for product recommendations.
In the B2B world, the pattern holds as well: 89% of buyers use AI at some stage of their purchase journey and 90% take its suggestions seriously.
This is redefining how businesses are “visible” online. What used to be about search rankings and keyword optimisation is now shifting towards being cited, trusted, and referenced by sources that AI models and generative engines rely upon. This is the essence of Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO). And that means that public relations (PR) and earned media is central to how businesses can be found online. For organisations that want to be discovered, trusted, and recommended, PR is fast becoming the lever that makes the difference.
From rankings to references
Traditional search engine optimisation (SEO) is still relevant: well-structured content, authoritative backlinks, and keywords fit all matter. But in the GEO era, they have moved from being the main picture to playing a minor part. Generative engines (tools like ChatGPT and Gemini, AI summary features, LLM-based assistants) now pull information from multiple sources and weight those sources by trust, recency, and third-party validation.
Trust is a key pillar. According to research by Edelman, up to 90% of the citations driving brand visibility on AI platforms originate from earned media, underscoring the growing importance of securing content placement on authoritative, trusted sites.
A Semrush study of over 150,000 citations across AI platforms showed that just over half of Google’s AI-Mode responses overlap at the domain level with the top 10 organic search results and only 32% overlap at URL level. In other words, showing up at the top of Google no longer guarantees that you will also show up in the answers people see from AI.
Content timeliness also plays a large role. Another recent analysis found that more than 70% of pages cited by AI were updated within the past 12 months. Pages that haven’t been updated in more than a year are more than twice as likely to lose citations.
Taken together, these trends show a bedrock shift: visibility now depends less on being ranked #1 in Google and more on being cited by trusted voices, maintained content, and third-party validation.
Earned media as the foundation of GEO
If discovery in GEO depends on trust, fresh content, and credible references, then earned media becomes more than a marketing channel; it becomes the foundation of visibility in an increasingly AI-driven world.
Independent endorsements, authentic perspectives, external validation are signals that both humans and algorithms value. When respected publications or expert voices cite your work, it boosts credibility in the eyes of everyone who sees it.
These findings mean organisations need to go beyond self-published content. Owned media (blogs, websites) and paid media (ads, sponsored posts) still matter, but they serve best when they support a broader earned media strategy. Without third-party references, even the best owned content risks vanishing in a sea of generative outputs.
PR’s strategic role in ensuring GEO success
Given what’s at stake, PR must be central in any organisation’s GEO strategy. That means PR isn’t just about managing messaging or crisis communications, but about shaping how you show up in generative engines.
Key levers for PR in GEO include:
- Thought leadership pieces in respected third-party outlets. Genuine, authoritative content by credible voices help secure references that AI tools trust.
- Timely engagement with trending conversations and emerging industry narratives. Timeliness is rewarded. If content is stale, its chance of being cited drops dramatically.
- Building relationships with media practitioners, analysts, and community creators. The more organically your perspectives are referenced by peers and experts, the stronger your reputation signal becomes. Platforms driven by community, like Reddit, YouTube, and Quora, are showing up more and more in AI citations, proving the value of authentic engagement.
- Ensuring authenticity and independent validation; not simply pushing messaging via paid content, but fostering environments where others talk about you because your ideas, products, or services genuinely matter.
What this means for organisations ready to lead
The rules of the game have changed. GEO demands credibility, consistency, and strategic earned media. Organisations that invest in PR as a driver, not just as a support function, will be the ones visible in AI-powered discovery environments.
The implications of this new paradigm include the following:
- You may need to reallocate budget from paid and owned channels toward securing earned coverage: interviews, features, expert commentary.
- Marketing and PR teams must work more closely: owned content needs to be refresh-able and aligned with themes that PR is helping to propagate via trusted third parties.
- Measurement has to catch up. It’s not enough to track search rankings alone. You also need to monitor citation share, sentiment, content freshness, and the authority of the sources mentioning you
- Reputation management matters more than ever. Being featured in a trusted publication might seem like a win, but not if the coverage is negative.
In short, GEO means that visibility is not bought, but earned. The foundational signals, like trusted references, media mentions, and authoritative storytelling, are exactly the terrain in which PR operates.
For those organisations ready to adapt, PR is no longer just part of the communications toolkit. It is the central engine powering discovery, trust, and growth in a world where generative AI controls how knowledge is surfaced.
To learn more about how PR and GEO work together, contact us here.