PR is back, baby. 

Well – did it ever really leave? No. But for a while there, it became the poor and uncool second cousin of digital marketing.  

Enter AI. 

Where SEO delivered clicks, AI delivers conclusions. And where the hell is it drawing them from? Everywhere - from that podcast you did five years ago, to the local directories your business is listed on, to media coverage you might’ve forgotten existed. And its decision to draw from all over the internet, depends on the question asked, the trustworthiness of the sites it found the answers on, your own website and more. 

AI Optimisation and PR connection 

News and media sites are amongst the most trusted (and cited) sources. AI-powered search tools like Google’s AI Overview - and conversational models like ChatGPT, draw from or summarise trusted online content. The bump it gives your brand extends far beyond the backlink you once counted on for SEO, because AI reads and interprets context. 

While every AI platform works a little differently and none reveal exactly how they source or rank information, what’s clear is that credible, consistent and well-structured content from authoritative sites (like news outlets, directories and your own website) has a much higher chance of being cited or summarised accurately. Schema, entity clarity, and human-quality storytelling all work together to help AI interpret your brand in context. Long story short, building your digital reputation is vital in an AI first world.

Live at Small Business Month  

Chasing Albert MD, Marie El Daghl, covered all this and more at Marketing in an AI World, part of the Business Chamber South’s Small Business Month series. 

Curious business owners - from professional services to hospitality - all turned up eager to learn how to build visibility and trust in an AI-driven world. 

We shared how Chasing Albert runs AI visibility audits for clients of all sizes - from Amazon Flex to Baulkham Hills Early Learning Centre and what actions move the needle – regardless of business size. 

Proceed with caution

Before a small business dives into PR or any kind of marketing, it’s critical to understand what’s being proposed, what’s being spent and what results to expect. The number of business owners who shared stories of burning through cash – for example tens of thousands on Google Ads for not a single lead - was honestly alarming.

The reason? "We just had no idea what the supplier was talking about. It went over my head." 

Someone who truly knows their stuff, should be able to communicate it to you simply and clearly. Not drown you in jargon. They should help you make informed decisions in this fast-changing landscape.

This is new territory. You’ll need people who can speak both content and code - the creative and technical sides of AI optimisation. If you don’t understand the deliverables or the expected results, don’t sign off.  

Five Big Moves to Optimise for AI right now (for starters) 

There’s a lot that goes into building visibility in an AI-first world, but if you’re just getting started, these five will make the biggest immediate impact:  

1. Clean up your act. Literally sweep the internet for incorrect or inconsistent info - wrong phone numbers, old staff, missing addresses. AI likes consistency. You don’t want it sending customers to the wrong place. There are free and paid tools online you can try to make this easier – such as SEM Rush Listing Management or LocaliQ if you want a freebie.  

   
   

2. Audit your website. Is it pretty but shallow? Does it tell your story, show your work, and demonstrate credibility? Give AI something rich to validate.   

   
   

3. Think in questions. That’s how people search on AI. Load your site with clear, credible FAQs that answer the real questions your audience is asking.  

   
   

4. Go crazy with schema. Schema markup helps search engines and AI tools interpret what your pages are about - people, services, locations, reviews and more. There are hundreds of different schema – make sure you’ve mapped the right ones to your content strategy.  

   
   

5. Delight your customers – then amplify it. Testimonials are excellent. Make sure you publish them and have the right schema on the page. But even more powerful than that – get your customers to review you on a third party review tool. We know, there’s so many to choose from. If you have a massive customer base, that’s not so much of a problem. Choose the ones that your customers are most likely to use and find convenient. If you’re a small business, just choose one and focus on that. Get your reviews through the third party and then you can either use a widget to add them to your site or just publish them as testimonials. But remember – schema, schema, schema! 

Of course, if you don't have the inhouse resources to do this, find yourself a trusted partner. Whoever it is, make sure they can help you get high-quality, credible content from earned media. This is gold and builds authority far beyond backlinks.  

There’s much more to AI optimisation than these five - but start here and you’ll have the right foundation to grow from.  

Content mapping, planning and building your digital reputation is a professional's game - more on that in our next blog. If you don't want to miss it, subscribe to our newsletter now and we'll email it to you when it's ready. The form is in the footer at the bottom of this page.

Final Thought 

AI might be rewriting the rules, but it’s also rewarding the same fundamentals PR has always stood for - credibility, clarity, and consistency. 

If you’d like to discuss your brand's visibility on on AI platforms or how you can build your digital reputation, contact Chasing Albert today. Because in a world where AI tells your story, you want to make sure it’s the right one.