Brand discovery is being rewritten – and the brands paying attention are already benefiting. PRHub.ae’s data shows that 58 per cent of consumers now use AI tools to find brands and products. What makes this especially significant for communications professionals is the source material these systems draw on: earned media appears in over 90 per cent of AI-generated brand responses. In a landscape where paid and owned channels have dominated strategy for the past decade, this represents a compelling rebalancing in favour of the work that PR has always done best.
At PRHub.ae, our 2026 UAE PR trends survey drew responses from companies across SaaS, fintech, retail, healthcare, logistics and real estate, with more than a quarter of respondents from IT and SaaS (27.3 per cent ), followed by fintech, banking and insurance (9.1 per cent ). What the data reveals is a market in active, intelligent transition – recalibrating toward the channels and capabilities that create durable brand presence rather than short-term visibility.
Why earned media now drives AI discoverability
AI systems synthesise brand reputations from publicly available, third-party validated information – which makes earned media not just useful for discoverability, but foundational to it. Press coverage, analyst commentary, founder interviews and sector-specific editorial all feed directly into the signals these systems use to assess authority and relevance.
Two findings from recent AI-media research are particularly instructive. First, niche, sector-specific media – the kind many brands have historically deprioritised in favour of flagship titles – is cited twice as often by AI systems as mass media. Second, earned media in the right outlets now delivers up to 40 per cent higher B2B impact than equivalent mass media placements. Together, these findings make a strong case for a more targeted, trade-first media strategy.
For UAE brands operating in specialised verticals – fintech, logistics, healthtech, proptech – this is an immediate opportunity. Building consistent presence in the sector publications that matter to your specific audience creates an earned media footprint that serves both human and AI discovery simultaneously. The brands doing this well today are not necessarily the largest spenders; they are the most strategically placed.
- 58 per cent of consumers now use AI tools to discover brands and products
- 90 per cent + of AI-generated brand responses feature earned media
- 2x more often: niche sector media cited by AI vs. mass media
The UAE market is already responding
The findings from our 2026 survey suggest that UAE brands are increasingly aware of this shift. Over 72 per cent overhauled their communications strategy in the past year. Media relations ranked as the most in-demand capability (63.6 per cent ), while 54.5 per cent of respondents identified increased AI adoption as a major market shift. These numbers reflect an industry actively building toward the communications model that AI discovery rewards.
Social media remains the most important channel for 78.8 per cent of companies, followed by owned platforms – websites, blogs and newsletters – at 63.6 per cent . Traditional media holds strong for 51.5 per cent of respondents, and 42.4 per cent continue to invest in events. Rather than a displacement story, this points to a thoughtfully layered channel architecture where each format reinforces the others – and where earned media coverage in credible outlets underpins everything.
The rise of digital PR and creator-led communications (cited by 51.5 per cent of companies as a major shift) adds another dimension. Founder-generated content, executive interviews and expert commentary in sector media are all forms of earned presence that feed the AI systems now mediating brand discovery. The discipline and the technology have arrived at the same conclusion about what credibility looks like.
Reputation is under the microscope – and that is a good thing
Investment-related reputation monitoring is up 25 per cent year on year. For brands in the UAE’s active venture, M&A and growth capital environment, this means that communications strategy has a direct line to commercial outcomes. Stakeholders, investors and potential partners are conducting more systematic due diligence on brand reputation – and the quality of a company’s earned media footprint is one of the clearest signals available to them.
Our survey found that 14.7 per cent of brands identified strengthening authenticity and reputation as a top priority, alongside 14.7 per cent focused on business stability and stakeholder communications. Around 20.6 per cent cited brand awareness as their primary objective. These priorities are well-aligned with the AI discoverability model: authentic, consistent, expert positioning in credible media is precisely what both investors and AI systems reward.
Analytics and measurement ranked third among in-demand skills (45.5 per cent ), which reflects a broader shift toward quantifying communications outcomes. Brands are increasingly able to connect earned media activity to pipeline influence, investor sentiment and competitive positioning. This is welcome news for an industry that has long deserved a stronger seat at the strategic table.
Executive visibility as a discovery engine
One of the clearest growth opportunities identified in our survey is executive communications. 27.3 per cent of respondents said that executive social media now plays a key role in their communications approach, and 21.2 per cent identified executive communications as one of the market’s most sought-after capabilities.
In an AI discoverability context, this makes immediate sense. Founders and executives who publish consistently, speak at industry events and contribute editorial commentary create a multi-source, cross-platform earned media presence that AI systems actively surface. This is personal authority functioning as a brand discovery channel – and it is one of the most cost-effective ways for growing companies to build AI-visible credibility.
The UAE’s founder culture gives regional brands a natural advantage here. The region has a deep pool of articulate, technically credible executives with genuine industry expertise. The opportunity lies in developing this strategically – with editorial support, a consistent presence in sector media, and a content approach that positions leadership as a genuine resource for their industries.
The Arabic-first opportunity
Looking ahead, the intersection of AI discovery and Arabic-first communications represents one of the most significant untapped opportunities in the MENA market. AI systems that serve Arabic-speaking audiences draw on Arabic-language earned media. Brands that invest in genuine Arabic-first storytelling – not translation, but authentic content construction for regional audiences – are building a discoverability advantage in a language space that remains underserved by most regional communications strategies.
Short-form video and founder-led content are both flagged as emerging priorities by our survey respondents, and both translate effectively into the kind of platform-native, audience-specific content that reinforces earned media presence. The most forward-looking brands are thinking about these formats not just as content channels but as additional layers of the earned media ecosystem that AI systems index.
The case for earned media has always been strong. What has changed is that it is now measurable in new ways – through AI citation rates, investment monitoring data and B2B impact attribution. For brands that have invested consistently in genuine media relationships, expert positioning and sector-specific coverage, this is a moment of validation.
For those that have not, it is a well-timed opportunity. The brands that build their earned media foundations now will be the ones that AI systems surface first – and in a market as dynamic and competitive as the UAE, that advantage compounds quickly.
By Vlada Lomova, CEO, PRHub.ae
