By Sarah Seventko | Amp Agency
Something important is happening in search right now.
People are still searching, but they are doing it differently. Instead of clicking through pages of links, they are asking platforms like OpenAI ChatGPT, Anthropic Claude, and Google Gemini to summarize information for them. In a recent interview with BBC News, Kipp Bodnar, Chief Marketing Officer at HubSpot, shared that queries that trigger AI overviews see a 60-70% lower click-through rate. Users are getting what they need without leaving the interface.
For years, digital visibility was mostly tied to rankings and traffic. A brand published content, optimized it for search, and tried to earn the click. Now there is another layer in the middle. AI systems are deciding which companies, sources, and perspectives deserve inclusion in the answer itself.
And those systems lean heavily on trust signals they can verify across the web.
That is one reason earned media now matters in a much bigger way.
Why Earned Media Carries More Weight in AI Search
AI systems are built to recognize patterns.
They look for information that appears consistently across multiple trusted sources. That includes media coverage, expert commentary, interviews, reviews, research, and public conversation. A 2025 analysis by MuckRack found that nearly 89% of citations in AI-generated responses originated from earned media sources. Most of what AI references isn’t brand-created, it’s journalist-validated.
If a company continuously shows up in credible places, AI systems are more likely to associate that brand with authority in a category.
This is where the idea of AI citation share starts to matter. In simple terms, it is how often a brand appears in AI-generated responses and recommendations.
That visibility is not coming only from owned content. In many cases, it is shaped by what others are saying about the brand online.
A company might publish dozens of blog posts about its expertise, but a strong article in a respected publication can carry more influence because it acts as third-party validation.
PR, SEO, and Content Are Starting to Overlap
The old boundaries between communications, SEO, and content marketing are getting blurry.
A website and search optimization are still significant considerations, but AI systems also evaluate whether a brand’s messaging holds up across external sources and broader online discussion.
That means earned media, owned content, and community conversation are all feeding the same ecosystem.
One weak or inconsistent area can affect the overall picture that AI systems build around a brand.
This is part of why so many marketing teams are rethinking how they operate. PR can no longer sit in a separate lane from search and content strategy because all three now influence how brands appear in AI-generated answers.
AI Systems Reward Structured Content
There is also a practical side to this shift. For example, research from a 2026 study by Kevin Indig found that 44.2% of all large language model citations come from the first 30% of a piece of content. This implies that structure is now the primary driver of visibility in brand copy.
AI systems also favor information that is easy to interpret and summarize. Clear headlines, direct language, strong sourcing, and consistent messaging all help.
Content written for humans still wins, but clarity matters more now because machines are reading it too.
That applies to media coverage as much as brand-owned content.
A well-placed quote, a clearly stated point of view, or consistent positioning across interviews can reinforce how AI systems categorize and describe a company later on.
What Marketing Leaders Should Pay Attention To
The bigger issue here is not traffic loss alone, even though declining click-through rates are already becoming a concern across search.
The larger shift is influence. According to eMarketer, when an AI chatbot recommends a brand, nearly half of users indicate they would try it.
If more buying decisions take place within AI platforms, brands need to consider whether they are accurately and consistently showing up in those environments.
That changes the role of earned media.
Coverage is no longer just about awareness or reputation. It also contributes to the broader body of information that AI systems draw on when generating recommendations and summaries.
Companies that build strong visibility across trusted publications, industry conversations, and owned channels are likely to have an advantage because their signals are easier for AI systems to recognize and reinforce.
The Bigger Shift
This does not mean SEO disappears or that websites stop mattering. People will still research brands directly. They will still visit websites before making decisions.
But discovery is becoming more layered and the impact of getting this right is already measurable. After implementing a focused AEO strategy, HubSpot saw a 433% increase in AI citations, according to AdWeek’s AI Power 50 2026.
That is why earned media is becoming more strategic. It helps shape how brands are understood before a customer ever clicks anything.
