A few weeks ago, I received an email from a senior director at a UK-based PR agency. They were reaching out on behalf of a major client looking for regional support across the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Naturally, I was curious: how did they come across us? I assumed it might be through recommendations from our clients in the region or perhaps one of the articles we’d published in the local media. The answer was quite unexpected: apparently, the agency had asked ChatGPT to recommend a PR agency in the Middle East, and our name came up. It was a surprising but welcome reminder of how visibility is shifting in the age of AI.
I was also pleased because this case validated the scenario we’ve been preparing our clients for since the artificial intelligence (AI) boom began in 2022. The way people discover information, brands, and partners is rapidly changing. Not long ago, if someone wanted to find a cybersecurity firm in Dubai or robotics developer in Riyadh, they would Google it. They’d scroll through links, check websites, and maybe scan testimonials. Today, more and more people ask ChatGPT or other AI tools such as Claude, Perplexity, because instead of a list of blue links, they receive a single, concise answer. This shift isn’t anecdotal; it’s supported by data. According to Statista, around 15 million adults in the U.S. used generative AI as their primary tool for online search in 2024. By 2028, this number is projected to exceed 36 million.
Given this data, PR as a discipline must evolve to make sure brands are visible not only on Google, but on AI platforms. But how? The AI era has just begun, so we’re still learning and experimenting to find the right answer. One step we’ve added to our process helps guide us: when developing a strategy for a new client, we now ask ChatGPT what it knows about the company. What tone or narrative does it reflect? After months of PR efforts, we check again to see how the perception shifted. Are our key messages now part of the AI’s response? In other words, has our work been recognised and absorbed by AI? This helps us to learn what efforts led to results and what left invisible for the machines.
What we’ve learned so far, is that thought leadership matters more than ever. Meaningful commentary, participation in industry panels, and sharing expert insights in reputable media elevate a brand in the eyes of AI. They help to recognise a company as an authority in its field. In addition, our experiments confirm that Tier-1 media have become even more important because AI is trained on trusted publications, reviewed by respected voices, and cited in reputable reports. In this context, the credibility of the media source now outweighs the amount of traffic it generates.
Finally, consistency across your entire digital footprint is crucial. This has always been important: brands shouldn’t change their narrative every other month or convey conflicting messages across different platforms (although many try to). Now, however, it’s even more critical to align what you say on LinkedIn, what’s on your website, and how others talk about you. AI tools are incredibly sensitive to inconsistencies; they analyse tone, structure, and messaging often more accurately than humans.
That said, this shift doesn’t mean we should abandon traditional search engines altogether. Recent surveys show that people still often combine AI tools with Google, and preferences vary greatly by age group. For example, Gen Z is highly comfortable with AI tools and frequently uses social media for product discovery. Millennials blend both approaches, especially for professional and educational queries. Gen X tends to favor traditional search but uses AI occasionally, while Baby Boomers, though beginning to explore AI tools, stay loyal to Google and other search engines. So, before overhauling your entire PR approach, take an effort to understand your audience. If they are early adopters of AI, your strategy should reflect that. If not, carry on with your life and tools you know the best.
By Evgenia Zaslavskaya, Founder of Zecomms Agency.
