In-house heads of corporate and marketing communications take note: If you haven’t allocated a larger chunk of your PR budget this year, you’d better revise your decision.
Gartner, a leading global research and advisory firm providing insights, data, and tools to business leaders across IT, finance, HR, and marketing, has predicted that by next year, mass adoption of public Large Language Models (LLMs) as a replacement for traditional search will drive a two-fold increase in PR and earned media budgets.
Why PR and Earned Media Budgets Will Increase Two-Fold by 2027
The reason is simple: people find using tools like Chat GPT easier to discover and find information so increasingly awareness and perception of your brand will be filtered through such LLMs.
In short, LLMs or AI Search will be the most influential influencer sooner and later.
The good news? You can influence this power by using PR to drive your narrative in high-authority sources official media. By securing extensive coverage, you increase your brand’s narrative and position in these sources, allowing AI to pick it up.
Issuing lots of press releases alone without making sure that the media reflects your desired narrative won’t do.
“Press releases tend to get the fewest number of citations. When AI searches specifically imply recency (e.g., What is XYZ corporation’s most recent stance on sustainability), almost half (49%) of citations are news, says Gartner in its Top Predictions to Inform 2026 Comms Strategies.
“This reinforces the need for proactive earned media efforts that facilitate ongoing earned coverage of your desired narratives,” said Gartner.
Learn more for how AI change the way to write press release
How AI Search is Changing the Media Landscape: A Growing Shift in Consumer Behavior
The exponential rise in AI-powered search tools is reshaping how people discover brands. ChatGPT’s traffic surged by 608%, and other AI-driven tools, like Perplexity, grew by 262%. Meanwhile, traditional search engines, such as Google and Bing, have seen a decline.
Meanwhile, traditional search engines like Google and Bing have experienced a slight decline in traffic.
Why is this important for your PR strategy? AI search engines, particularly those powered by LLMs, are rapidly becoming the dominant way people discover brands and information. In fact, more consumers are turning to tools like ChatGPT for everything from product recommendations to company research.
This shift is fundamental to PR strategy: AI search engines are becoming the dominant means of content discovery. It’s no longer just about SEO for traditional search engines.
Businesses must now ensure their PR strategies are optimized for AI-driven platforms, which prioritize authoritative, timely, and relevant content elements that can be shaped by media coverage.
Aligning Your PR Budget with AI Search: A Strategic Necessity
As organizations adapt to new audience search behaviors, PR and earned media budgets must increase to ensure optimal AI search visibility. Reallocating paid budgets to PR and earned media is likely a logical option for most organizations, but it will require investment trade-offs, as well as a clear perspective on measurement and the intended impact on audience behaviors.
So, what does this mean for your PR strategy? It means that simply focusing on traditional paid advertising won’t cut it anymore. Businesses need to invest more in PR efforts that provide long-term earned media coverage. This includes securing coverage in the media outlets that LLMs, like ChatGPT, consider authoritative.
The shift is clear: as AI search engines become the dominant way people discover brands and information, it's vital for brands to ensure their desired narratives are reflected in high-authority media. By doing so, brands can not only gain visibility but also influence the way their story is told across digital spaces.
To remain competitive, PR professionals must ensure that their strategies are AI-first. This means reallocating budgets, focusing on earned media, and building relationships with media outlets that help shape AI-driven perceptions.
Investing in AI-Optimized PR Strategies
So if you want your brand to remain competitive in this increasingly AI-driven communication landscape, turn to PR experts, preferably the ones well-versed in Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).
Unfortunately this is a new field and may PR agencies have yet to build their expertise. At Maverick Indonesia, however, we saw this coming from a long way back and in October last year we launched a specialized GEO service to help companies and brands increase their AI visibility and insert into AI their desired brand narratives.
If you want to know more about how to remain competitive in this changing communication landscape increasingly driven by AI, contact us and we’d love to have a conversation with you.
