Overcoming PR’s Identity Crisis in an AI World
- Craig Daitch
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Public relations has always had one core responsibility: to shape public opinion through
credible storytelling. If you haven’t noticed, though, the tools and platforms have evolved. Now, a user’s first interaction with your client might come through an AI-generated summary in ChatGPT, Gemini, or Copilot, and these summaries rely on cited, third-party sources. If your client isn’t among them, they effectively disappear from that view.
Evidence supports this shift. A study reported by The Guardian found that AI overviews have led to significant traffic drops for publishers, in some cases up to 80 percent, as users consume information without clicking through. Search Engine Land highlights that AI assistants often draw from high-authority editorial sources, with brand-owned content rarely making the cut.
Platforms like Copilot in Microsoft Word and Outlook are also driven by structured, authored content that can be easily parsed and cited. PR’s traditional strength — getting credible stories published — directly supports this requirement.
Over the years, many PR agencies absorbed SEO, content marketing, and social media into their offerings, sometimes sidelining the craft of pitching to trusted outlets. But generative AI is making those pitches and well-structured content indispensable again. My colleague Chris Terry’s Seven Habits series is a reminder of this. In “Using Data to Tell a Story”, he explains how verifiable insights strengthen a narrative. In “Believe and Be Relentless”, he focuses on persistence and conviction as qualities that matter when securing meaningful coverage.
To stay relevant in this AI-first information environment, PR professionals can:
Identify hooks that will capture a journalist’s attention
Craft stories with clarity, structure, and credible authorship
Target publications whose citations carry weight with AI systems
This trend, called Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), reframes PR as a driver of what AI tools present to the public. Michael Brito describes AI outputs as “reputation snapshots” that shape perception before a user ever clicks.
After years of self-reflection, self-doubt, and industry reinvention, PR is back as the conductor guiding the orchestra. SEO, social media, and messaging are the instruments. The conductor ensures the melody (e.g., the client’s story) lands in the right places, including AI summaries.
For practitioners willing to focus again on storycraft and authoritative placement, AI is not a threat. It is an opportunity to influence not just headlines but the very answers people receive when they ask a question without friction.