AI isn’t replacing PR—it is making high-quality PR more valuable than ever.
For years, organizations have invested heavily in search engine optimization (SEO) to improve their visibility in Google search results. But as AI-powered searches become mainstream through platforms like ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, Claude, and Perplexity, the new discipline of generative engine optimization (GEO) is emerging. While SEO focuses on helping people find your website, GEO focuses on helping AI find, trust, and reference your organization when answering questions. The distinction may seem subtle, but it is one of the biggest shifts that communications professionals have encountered in decades.
What Is GEO?
GEO involves increasing the likelihood that AI systems cite your company, research, executives, or expertise when generating answers. Unlike traditional searches, AI doesn’t simply rank webpages. Instead, it synthesizes information from trusted sources across the internet to produce comprehensive responses.
That means credibility matters more than ever. Organizations that consistently appear in respected publications, publish original insights, and employ recognized experts are far more likely to become part of the information AI relies upon. These are the same fundamentals that have always defined excellent PR.
Earned Media Is Becoming an AI Asset
One of the most interesting findings from Muck Rack’s “State of PR 2026” report is that approximately 99% of AI citations originate from non-paid sources. This means that earned media—not advertising—is becoming one of the strongest signals influencing AI visibility.
For years, many executives viewed media coverage primarily as brand awareness. These days, an article in a respected publication may influence how AI platforms describe your company months or even years later. PR is no longer simply about reaching today’s audience. It’s increasingly about becoming part of tomorrow’s AI-generated answers.
Industry Hasn’t Fully Caught Up
Despite growing awareness, most organizations are still in the early stages of understanding GEO.
According to Muck Rack:
- Nearly 75% of communications professionals say GEO is important.
- About 30% say no one inside their organization is responsible for it.
- Almost 40% aren’t measuring GEO performance at all.
These findings are not surprising. GEO sits at the intersection of communications, SEO, content strategy, thought leadership, and AI. No single department has traditionally held all of those responsibilities.
Organizations that recognize GEO’s potential early will likely have an advantage as AI search continues to evolve.
Why PR Professionals Should Lead GEO
GEO isn’t a new discipline that will replace other PR practices; it’s an evolution of what great communicators have always done. Strong PR already focuses on:
- Building executive thought leadership
- Securing coverage in trusted media outlets
- Creating original research and data
- Developing credible expert voices
- Establishing organizational authority
The very same activities now influence whether AI systems recognize your organization as a trusted source. In other words, the best PR practices are becoming the foundation for successful GEO strategies.
What This Means for Businesses
Organizations should begin thinking beyond traditional media metrics such as impressions and reach. Future communications strategies should also consider questions like:
- Is our expertise consistently appearing in trusted publications?
- Are we producing original insights that others reference?
- Are our executives recognized as credible experts?
- Would an AI platform have enough trusted information to confidently cite our company?
Those questions will become increasingly important as AI changes how people discover information.
How Betancourt Group Can Help
At Betancourt Group, we’ve always believed that strategic communications is more about building long-term credibility than about generating headlines. As AI reshapes search and information discovery, organizations need communications strategies that combine earned media, executive thought leadership, content strategy, and digital authority. Trusted media coverage, authentic expertise, and meaningful storytelling have never been more valuable. The organizations that invest in credibility today will be the ones that AI recommends tomorrow.