AI is making PR more valuable, not less

When AI became sophisticated enough to generate content on behalf of brands, there was a sudden wave of panic. Did this mean trained (human) writers would be out of a job? Was there even a need for PR anymore? 

Fast forward a few years, and the hysteria around tech taking over seems to have died down a little, and what we’ve actually discovered is that AI is making PR more valuable, not less. 

Your search results are PR-powered

One of the most effective ways of uncovering information about a brand in 2026 is to ask a generative AI programme to share an overview of the company. This might include details of its products or services, some recent news stories, and perhaps even sources which verify its level of success.

And that applies whether it’s a potential customer, a would-be investor, or even a competitor who’s doing the searching.

To uncover exactly what was appearing when people turned to AI to find out about a company, Muck Rack analysed 25 million links, and the results were somewhat surprising. A total of 84% of all citations across ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini were sourced from what’s known as earned media, which includes editorial content, journalists’ stories, reviews and industry publications.

This research alone underscores why PR is so essential in the age of AI – because the very programmes we once feared would take over the role, are now relying heavily on the content that agencies secure on behalf of their clients. 

It’s also worth remembering that, while 23% of people use AI tools to search for information about a company (according to Bright Local research), 52% actually begin their search using Google. This means well-written website content, regular positive reviews, and a strong social media presence are also still essential.

Authentic or AI?

Another assertion by those convinced that technology has diminished the value of PR is that they can simply get AI to write the content that appears in industry publications.

And that would be a fair point, if so many media outlets didn’t have strict policies barring the submission of AI-generated articles. It’s also an argument which completely overlooks the relationship-building element of the PR role: until AI can interact with journalists in the same way that a real person might, then the latter will always have a better chance of securing a space for their client’s content.

More than that: even if an AI-generated piece somehow made it through the editorial vetting process, if it’s recognised as such by readers then this automatically reduces its perceived value, diminishing the authenticity which people are so keen to see from brands.

The jury is still out on whether readers can reliably tell whether a piece has been written by a human or not, but the risk hardly seems worth taking – an overwhelming 91% of the public told Emplifi that brands should declare when they have used AI to generate content, with any hint of concealment negatively impacting customers’ trust level and purchase intention. And with 90% of people saying authenticity is key when deciding which brands to purchase from, we can’t underestimate the value of content which genuinely reflects the opinions, values and knowledge of a company representative.

Because even though AI can come up an article in mere seconds, and can be prompted to do in the same tone and style as the company normally uses, there’s still something lacking in most tech-generated content that we read. Whether it’s the overuse of certain phrases and words which makes it stand out, or simply a sense that it’s not quite conveying ideas in the way a real person would, there’s a way to go before we can ever claim that a digital tool has the same way with words as a trained writer.

Credibility through comms

AI works by scanning for everything it can find on a specific topic, summarising it, and then feeding it back in a concise manner. That means if your competitors have regular thought leadership articles, new blogs on their website, contribute to wider expert discussions about trending news, and generate social media posts which engage audiences, then it has far more information to utilise.

If by contrast, you have no PR presence to speak of – then the information AI can provide for those searching for your brand (or more widely for information within your sector) is limited. When prompted to uncover the biggest and best companies in an industry, the programme will base it on what it can find – with a heavy bias towards earned media, as we have already uncovered.

All of this lends credibility to your company if it’s able to find a wealth of information. Add that to the authenticity of PR compared to AI, the consumer trust this engenders, and the ‘realness’ of human-written content, and it’s clear that we are nowhere near a stage where technology is ready to take over from the professionals.

Maybe one day, AI will be able to draft a perfectly emotive, balanced and knowledgeable article like a content writer, or curate relationships with the media like an account manager. Perhaps at some point, it’ll have the ability to call up and ask your senior leadership team the right questions to uncover a brilliant angle for a story, or will become so invested in your company’s future that it becomes an extension of your existing team. But until then, you might want to trust your reputation to real people rather than risk devaluing your company by relying on AI to do the job for you.