Managing your brand’s narrative in the AI age

Earned media has always been hailed as the holy grail of PR due to its unparalleled ability to build trust. Most recent surveys state that 40%–60% of the population still trusts organic content the most, depending on the country.

However, I see significant business risks in relying on organic PR only, especially now that various AI systems are on the rise. Robots don’t distinguish between earned and paid content when using it to generate answers. And that’s a wake-up call for us all to revise our PR strategies.

The potential dangers of earned-only PR strategies

The primary advantage of earned media, which is the journalist’s independence, is also its greatest strategic liability. When a business relies strictly on organic coverage, it hands over total control over its narrative to a third party. That’s not always positive. 

Imagine you wanted to highlight certain product features in an article, but the journalist highlighted less important ones because they fit their story better. You got an article? Yes. Does it align with your marketing objectives? Not really.

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The outcome is often unpredictable, as it is filtered through the subjective lens of a journalist. That lens may be in your favour, and it may not be. 

The disappointing part is that you still pay for the negative outcome. Even though earned PR is considered free, it’s not. You pay with the time and effort you invest into reaching out to the right journalists, building relationships, and sending infinite pitches. 

If you’re lucky, your story will be published within weeks; if not, it could take months. Not every business can afford such a luxury.

In the current technological landscape, speed has become a competitive necessity. AI systems need to receive consistent, repetitive signals about a brand from the media in order to use them in their answers.

If your product gets mentioned in an organic article once a quarter, you may have already lost the battle. That’s not enough for AI to recommend your product. 

In my opinion, these factors make earned-only strategies highly unreliable. PR should become more than that.

Owned media: The starting point of your brand’s narrative for AI systems

Being a proponent of the PESO model, developed by Gini Dietrich, I believe that in a perfect PR strategy, all four pillars – Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned – should complement each other. However, when it comes to appearing in AI answers, I’d start with the “O”. Your own website provides the foundational data points about your brand and products for AI systems.

At the same time, I disagree with the assumption that websites should be somehow specially optimised for search engines or AI systems by adding robots.txt or even llm.txt files. There hasn’t even been any real evidence that these strategies work. 

What I see in practice is different: if your website speaks clearly enough that a human visitor immediately understands what you sell or what services you offer, an AI system will likewise understand it. If the content is well-structured and easy for a person to digest, it is already optimized for robots.

While owned media establishes the narrative, earned media validates that narrative through third-party authority. However, just like in real life, you must first ensure that your own house is in order before seeking external validation. 

The non-obvious benefits of paid PR strategies

Once your owned media is established with clear, digestible content, it’s time for paid media to step in. There is often a snobbish attitude within the industry, suggesting that if a placement is paid, it is somehow of low quality. However, this isn’t exactly true. 

Obviously, when you pay for a placement, you have full control over its narrative and the context in which it will appear. You can highlight the more important aspects of your product and disregard the less important ones. But you still have to follow the media’s guidelines.

The higher the media’s authority, the stricter its quality standards for sponsored content are, as you have to deliver genuine value to the audience. An industry insight, a fresh opinion, a new approach to a situation, something besides your product that will make content interesting.

As I mentioned before, as AI answers are becoming more popular, the second critical benefit that paid media offers is speed. It allows PR teams to transform their PR strategy from a “wait and see” game into predictable media planning.

This is especially critical in terms of geographical expansion. Cultural differences and the time-intensive nature of building organic relationships can create significant barriers to entry, while paid media acts as a shortcut to AI answers.

Such predictability, combined with the possibility of integrating UTM links into your content in certain media outlets, makes PR a data-driven communication channel. Even without custom links, certain media provide reports on the content performance, which is vital for the overall communication strategy. 

Paid media is vital for strengthening a brand’s presence in AI answers

Due to all these often overlooked factors, I consider paid media to be a strategic amplifier for the narrative established through owned and earned media. If your goal is to appear in AI-generated answers, speed is the most critical factor.

As AI systems rely on repetitive signals across various trusted sources, you have to spread your word in as many relevant outlets as possible. This ensures that AI systems will index your brand faster than the brands of competitors relying solely on organic outreach.

It doesn’t mean, however, that paid strategies will replace organic efforts. They rather serve as a predictable support system. When executed well, it moves beyond the stigma of “buying coverage” and becomes a calculated investment with a measurable ROI.