How PR Shapes AI Visibility: A Q&A with Carly Morabito and Courtney O’Gorman

In our last Provoke article, we looked at the different signals that can shape how AI search understands a brand. One of them was corroboration: what credible sources outside a company say about it.

That naturally raised another question: What does this mean for PR?

I sat down with DS+CO PR supervisors Carly Morabito and Courtney O’Gorman to talk about what they’re seeing, what still feels familiar and what PR teams may need to start thinking about differently as AI-powered discovery evolves.

We don’t pretend the playbook is finished. It isn’t. But there are already some interesting implications for earned media, brand reputation and the authority brands build outside their own channels.

COURTNEY: Awareness is still one outcome of PR, but getting noticed is only part of its value. A brand can tell people what it’s good at, but buyers rarely take that claim at face value. Effective PR helps build the credibility, trust and reputation that support it.

Earned media coverage, expert commentary, rankings and partnerships are all third-party signals that help build a broader public record around what your brand should be known for. AI-powered discovery adds another layer because those sources can also shape the information available to AI search.

This doesn’t mean one media placement will suddenly earn a brand an AI mention or recommendation, but it raises the stakes for reputation management and keeping messaging consistent and up to date across channels.

As we explored in our recent article, individually accurate pieces of information can still add up to a brand story that is no longer accurate. Outdated coverage, old positioning and inconsistent descriptions can remain part of the public record long after a company has evolved.

AI gives us a new reason to pay closer attention to the information environment PR has always helped shape.

CARLY: AI platforms don’t all find and cite information in the same way. It can depend on the question, the platform, how recent the information is and the credibility of the source. But earned media has a place in that mix.

Muck Rack analyzed more than one million links cited by AI models and found that journalism appears in 46% of citations for industry-trend questions—more than twice the rate for how-to and comparison-based searches. If someone asks “What trends are shaping the future of banking?” credible news and trade coverage may help inform the answer.

COURTNEY: A mention is an occurrence. Authority is a pattern that starts to emerge when credible sources repeatedly and consistently connect your organization with a specific area of expertise over time.

For example, a company might earn coverage for a launch, expansion or major milestone. That’s valuable visibility, but it doesn’t automatically make the company an authority. That reputation builds through sustained visibility—leaders or subject-matter experts commenting on industry trends or challenges, useful proprietary research and customer proof points, for example.

Over time, the organization becomes trusted for what it knows, not just for what it announces.

CARLY: Yes, but PR can only do so much if the brand itself isn’t clear. We can create visibility, but creating the right visibility is much harder.

If a company’s website says one thing, its executives say another and its older media coverage puts it in a completely different category, that’s confusing for people before we even bring AI into the conversation. That’s why positioning has to come before amplification. We need to know what a brand wants to be known for and have the proof to support it. From there, PR can help build that story externally through credible voices and third-party coverage.

The clearer the brand is internally, the more intentional we can be about building that story externally.

COURTNEY: The good news is that much of the PR playbook is still relevant. The fundamentals haven’t changed: strong relationships, timely stories, clear messaging, useful data, expert sources and a compelling angle all still matter.

What may need to expand is how we define the media ecosystem itself. The strategic question becomes not only “Which reporter or outlet should we target?” but also “Who and what shapes how people understand this topic?”

Depending on the industry and audience, that might be a trade publication, podcast, analyst, professional association, niche newsletter or influential creator. Traditional media still matters, but PR teams may need a broader view of where credible conversations are happening—and where the brand has a legitimate reason to participate.

CARLY: Each team influences how a company is understood, so they should be working from the same strategy: what the brand wants to be known for and what proof supports that position.

And each team plays a different role. Brand defines the story, content brings it to life, SEO helps people find and understand it, and PR builds third-party credibility around it. But it can’t be a series of handoffs. These teams need to share insights, align their language and build the story together.

Thankfully (Whew!), that doesn’t mean I need to know every technical detail of SEO, or that our SEO team needs to become media relations pros. We don’t need to become experts in one another’s jobs, but we do need a shared understanding of the story we’re telling and the evidence behind it.

Otherwise, the disconnects show up quickly: SEO uses one language, PR pitches another story, executives say something else and the website tells a fourth version. AI search can make those inconsistencies even more visible by pulling information together across sources.

CARLY: Like a lot of professions, communications and PR have had their world rocked by AI. There is so much changing at once, and I don’t think anyone can honestly say they have it all figured out yet. But that’s the opportunity.

Credibility, trust, reputation and clear storytelling matter more than ever, giving PR an opportunity to earn a stronger seat at the table. Now, that same work may also influence how a brand is understood in AI-generated answers.

I’m paying attention to which stories continue to show up, which sources carry influence and how we connect that visibility to meaningful business outcomes.

COURTNEY: What I’m especially curious about is how communicators begin measuring AI search and whether the things we already do—earned coverage, executive visibility and reputation work—show measurable influence over time.

I’m also curious about how optimizations may influence coverage, conversations and sentiment down the line.

Some days, it still feels like the Wild West: You learn or try something new, then the landscape changes again the next day. There’s still a lot to learn, which makes this an interesting space to watch—and an exciting time to be in PR.