Last month we highlighted a Gartner report that detailed how PR budgets must shift to raise company visibility in AI-powered searches. Now we’ll delve deeper into the findings.
AI search is a key tool for buyers when evaluating companies and their products and services. As more searches are answered by AI-generated summaries, the goal is no longer to attract clicks to your site. Now your company must be referenced in the sources that AI agents use to generate answers.
Gartner says that when searches imply recency, almost half of AI citations (49%) come from news stories (also known as earned media) published by reputable publications (think TechTarget, CIO, Computer Weekly, Light Reading, RCR Wireless News, Venture Beat, among others). So, if a buyer wanted to understand a company’s current stance on sustainability, AI agents are likely to draw heavily from independent news coverage rather than the company’s own website.
In contrast, press releases and other company-created collateral, such as blogs and website content (owned media), tend to receive the fewest citations by AI agents. The same is true for advertorials and other sponsored placements (paid media).
Both AI and people place greater weight on independently verified information. A 2025 Muck Rack study reinforces Gartner’s findings, reporting that more than 95% of AI citations come from non-paid media sources, meaning the company did not pay for the opportunity to appear in the publication. Additionally, the study found that 85% of these citations came from third-party coverage, analysis and commentary about a company. Separately, a PR Week study found that 78% of marketing leaders believe that content published by authoritative third-party media sources and journalists is more effective than traditional advertising.
How Marketing Activities are Evolving
Rather than reducing its importance, AI-powered search is shifting the focus onto the PR activities that generate third-party validation. Gartner suggests reallocating your marketing budget. We believe this means focusing on:
Identifying the Sources Cited by AI Most Frequently: Understanding the reputable publications that your customers tend to go to is one thing, but which ones do AI agents use? Create searches, posing as your target buyers to identify which news sites, journalists, analysts and other industry influencers are most frequently cited.
Building Strong Relationships: Focus on cultivating existing media and analyst relationships and building new ones. Read articles and research from prominent journalists and analysts, follow them on social media sites and comment and share pertinent pieces. Introduce yourself with a relevant perspective on topics they usually cover and stay in contact, offering useful market insights without constantly pitching. Your objective is to be the go-to source when journalists or analysts need a comment.
Enhancing Company Owned Content: While press releases, advertorials and corporate site data may receive the fewest citations, they become more valuable when supported by independent research. Customer case studies, original research or analyst endorsements can strengthen the credibility of company-generated content.
Writing Pitches Manually: Become familiar with each journalist’s content so that when you do write pitches, you use a hook relevant to them and their writing. Use AI to generate ideas and people to write them. You need this to gain the attention of journalists and analysts, who see hundreds of pitches each day, most of which are now AI-generated. The strongest pitches are timely, relevant, personalized and clearly demonstrate the ways your company is solving an industry challenge.
AI-powered search defined by human-built relationships
Media coverage alone is no longer the end goal of PR. Now the focus is on generating credible coverage that increases company visibility in AI search. Relationships with journalists, analysts and other industry influencers have become even more valuable as it’s their endorsements that will help to place your company in the sources that AI uses.
Contact us to discuss your strategic shift to optimize AI search visibility for your company and leverage the industry relationships we’ve been building for more than two decades.
Calysto is currently offering a free analysis of the success of your current PR program as well as a free Share-of-Voice report on your company (or product) vs. its key competitors.