Instead of AI creep, Google seems to be going for AI sprint – and the sudden pivot to AI Search will catch businesses out that haven’t prepared for the coming shift in how users will discover and interact with search results in the near future.
Google is phasing AI into the search experience, originally with basic search summaries provided by AI Overviews and now with AI Mode, which provides AI-generated responses in a conversation form to help answer complex queries.
Google’s AI Mode was launched to all users in the US in May 2025 and then in the UK in July 2025. The move is already proving controversial. As marketing commentators debate over whether-or-not SEO is dead (spoiler alert: it isn’t), news publishers are already reporting that their site traffic has been devastated by the changes.
This, along with the news that OpenAI will be releasing its own web browser in a bold attempt to take on Google, shows how AI could reshape the way users browse the web. If people wish, they will no longer need to visit websites to find the information they’re looking for. It’s a scary prospect for many businesses.
AI Search isn’t a trend, nor is it a pet project of a few tech giants that will be forgotten in a few years’ time, as there is already evidence to suggest that more and more users are turning to AI when they’re looking for information.
So, what do businesses need to do to prepare themselves for AI Search?
In this article, we explain PR’s role in helping to shape the knowledge base AI platforms scrape and why PR is now essential for keeping your website optimised and visible in AI Search results like Google’s AI Mode.
Why are more people turning to AI for search?
In the last few years we’ve started to see a big shift towards AI models being used as alternatives to traditional search engines. Even before the launch of Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode, AI models like ChatGPT, Gemini and DeepSeek have been reshaping the way in which people search for information.
In July last year, OpenAI introduced SearchGPT, a search engine that integrates traditional search functionalities with the capabilities of generative pretrained transformers (GPT), competing directly with the likes of Google and Bing.
Deepseek, on the other hand, hasn’t launched its own standalone search engine, but it has integrated into existing platforms to enhance search functionalities. Tencent’s Weixin app, China’s largest messaging platform, initiated beta testing of DeepSeek’s AI model in mid-February this year, for example.
What these updates tell us is that people are now more keen than ever to explore AI models over traditional search engines. And there are a number of reasons why this may be the case, including the fact they:
- Provide conversational responses in a much more interactive and personalised way.
- Offer a single, cohesive response vs users having to sift through multiple links to find relevant information.
- Can remember context within a conversation, making follow-up questions easier.
- Are far better at processing multi-layered or nuanced questions that don’t have straightforward answers.
- Are better at cutting through the ‘commercial noise’, vs search engines which are increasingly dominated by ads and SEO-optimised content.
How PR can help shape the knowledge base AI platforms scrape
In the world of PR, this shift in the way people are discovering, consuming and trusting information matters, and for more than one reason.
Firstly, PR can help shape the knowledge base that AI platforms draw from. Unlike traditional search engines, which present you with a list of ranked links, AI models synthesise information from multiple sources to provide a single, authoritative answer. What this means is that the narratives, tone and prominence of a company’s presence online can directly influence how AI perceives and presents its brand.
For PR professionals like ourselves, as well as established brands with ongoing PR efforts and even startups debating whether PR is necessary early on in the company’s journey, this very point shows us all how important proactive reputation management is. Ensuring that accurate, positive and strategically framed content appears across high-authority sources – whether that be via news articles, thought leadership pieces, blogs or social media – will help reinforce a brand’s position within AI-generated responses.
Of these sources, we believe that, while securing traditional media opportunities will remain important, thought leadership pieces in particular will be key going forwards. Thought leadership – which should not only demonstrate expertise, but also have the power to shape and influence conversations – has long been one of our most powerful PR tools when it comes to positioning clients as trusted authorities. But with AI platforms now increasingly prioritising expert perspectives and authoritative sources, it looks set to become even more powerful. This means PR teams must prioritise contributing to industry discussions in digital formats that AI pulls from; contributed written articles, podcasts, webinars, etc. Check out our recent blog about the value of thought leadership for more on that.
As well as focusing on boosting the positive, PR is also often about managing the negative – i.e. addressing misinformation, mitigating negative coverage and managing crises effectively – and this too affects AI-generated responses.
Unlike human-led search results, AI lacks the nuanced editorial judgment that we have and doesn’t always distinguish between legacy issues and current realities correctly. This means AI-generated content can include outdated or misleading narratives, amplify negative sentiment or completely misinterpret context.
With this in mind, PR teams must be more vigilant than ever in monitoring online reputation and address any misinformation, crises or negativity quickly, before it embeds itself into AI-generated summaries.
Is AI Search a turning point for PR?
Over the years, we’ve heard various commentators periodically claim that PR is dead. But the reality is quite the opposite – PR isn’t disappearing, it’s evolving. As AI reshapes how people search for information – synthesising narratives from vast datasets – the role of PR has never been more important.
If you’d like to talk to us about using PR for AI search (SEO), please feel free to reach out.
By Kirsty Jarvis
Kirsty, our CEO and founder, has spent the past two decades in PR and marketing roles, resulting in a wealth of experience leveraging the power of media and creating impactful campaigns for hundreds of startups and well-known brands.
