Guest Articles

Fast-forwarding through the advent of the Internet, the proliferation of digital content and the era of asking Jeeves, crawling the web and googling the best suppliers and service providers, we have now moved from search engines that give us a list of answers, to AI engines that increasingly give us what they consider to be the answer.

From search results to tailored recommendations

A friend of mine recently asked ChatGPT for recommendations for an interior designer. One of the businesses suggested was a company she subsequently contracted. When she mentioned how she had found them, the response was revealing; it was the third commission they had received in as many weeks that had been attributed to ChatGPT.

This is a striking example of a much bigger change. Rather than presenting you with a page of blue links and leaving you to do the research, AI synthesises information and tells you what you should consider. It is not only helping people to find businesses, it is also helping them to decide which businesses are worth exploring.

So, where is AI getting its information? Research suggests that earned media can have a disproportionate influence on shaping brand narratives. ChatGPT reportedly derives as much as 63% of its answers from traditional media sources, according to a report by Channel V Media. For UK businesses building their brands in the UAE, this creates both an opportunity and a challenge.

Why earned media matters

AI draws on the digital footprint that businesses, customers, journalists and other third parties create around a brand. A company website can tell the world how innovative or experienced it is, but when an independent publication, journalist or industry commentator says the same thing, it carries a different weight. That makes earned media increasingly valuable.

Good PR creates a body of credible, third-party information about a business; what it does, why it matters, who is behind it and what expertise it brings to the market. Those stories can then become part of the information ecosystem from which AI forms its answers.

Every business has a story

So where do you start? Our own motto is ‘every business has a story’ and that is where we begin with each client. Sometimes the story is obvious; a founder that has identified a gap in the market, solved a problem or created something genuinely new. Sometimes it is buried beneath the detail of the product or service, and sometimes the most compelling story is the entrepreneur themselves; their journey, their experience or the insight that led them to build the business. The job of PR is to find those stories and make them relevant.

We tell our clients’ stories through earned media, positioning founders and senior leaders as experts in their fields. We identify the issues they can comment on, the trends they can explain and the experiences they can share. In doing so, we are not simply promoting a business; we are building the authority and reputation that sit around it.

PR does not stop when the article is published

Securing the coverage is only half the story. Every piece of earned media should have a life beyond the publication in which it first appears. It can be shared across LinkedIn and social channels, incorporated into websites and presentations, included in sales materials, used in newsletters and referenced in future content. It becomes another credible digital footprint for the business and its leaders.

This matters because visibility is now cumulative. One article may not transform a brand, but a consistent stream of credible stories, expert commentary and third-party validation can build a much stronger picture over time.

The journey from ABC to GPT has made visibility considerably more complicated, though the underlying principle has not changed. In a crowded market, people – and now increasingly, machines – need a reason to notice you, and ultimately, recommend you.

Author: By Rachel Lloyd, Partner at The Loop