The landscape of online search is undergoing a profound evolution, as consumers increasingly opt to bypass traditional search engines like Google in favor of advanced AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude.

This evolution means brands must reconsider their digital presence, as large language models (LLMs) prioritise credible, consistent and authoritative content found on multiple platforms when making recommendations.

In this first episode of our two-part series, we delve into the nuances of these changes in consumer behavior, and talk about the criteria that AI employs to include brands in its search responses.

Furthermore, we provide a glimpse into effective tactics that companies can adopt to enhance their visibility in AI searches.

Join us as we lay the groundwork for a more detailed action plan in our second episode, where we will equip brands with helpful tactics to be found in AI search.

Takeaways:

• The landscape of online search is evolving as consumers increasingly prefer AI search engines over traditional search engines like Google.
• Large language models, such as ChatGPT and Gemini, prioritise credible and authoritative content when generating recommendations for users.
• Brands must understand that their entire digital footprint, from media coverage to expert commentary and more, directly influences their visibility in AI search results.
• A strategic communications plan with relevant digital tactics is a crucial first step in ensuring that brands are effectively pulled through in AI recommendations.
• As the reliance on AI for product comparisons grows, brands must adapt their content strategies to enhance their discoverability in this new environment.
• Our next CRUNCH episode is part 2 of this discussion and will provide actionable insights for companies seeking to enhance their presence in AI-driven search results.

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• HMC
• ChatGPT
• Gemini
• Perplexity
• Reddit
• Friends that Invest
• One NZ
• Briscoes

You're listening to Crunch, a podcast by award winning public relations agency hmc.

Crunch stands for Crucial Chats over Lunch.

These are bite sized discussions for business leaders that can easily be digested over your lunch hour, on your morning commute, or whenever you listen to your favourite podcasts.

Crunch tackles a variety of topics to help business leaders build their knowledge in strategic communication and public relations.

On behalf of the HMC team, it's our privilege to welcome you into Crunch.

So welcome to Crunch, everyone.

In this episode, we're diving into a question every business leader and their comms manager should be asking.

Will your brand show up in an AI search?

Because here's the reality.

More and more people are skipping Google and turning to large language models or LLMs such as ChatGPT, Gemini and cloth to find what they need.

Whether that is choosing a product, finding a service or solving a problem.

AI is doing the hard yards.

But AI doesn't crawl your website in real time.

It pulls from past content, from what's already been said and said well about your brand online.

And that's where strategic communications becomes critical.

Today we're talking about how people are searching differently online, what large language models actually use to generate answers, and how your company's digital footprint, from media coverage to expert commentary, can be the difference between being invisible and being the AI's top pick.

So let's get into it before we get too far.

I'll just introduce myself.

I'm Heather Claycomb, the Managing director of HMC PR Agency located in Hamilton, New Zealand.

And joining me today are three of our senior account managers here at hmc.

We've got Emma and Vicki and Natalie.

So I guess just to start out, guys, like, there's a bit of a revolution happening online when it comes to search.

What are you guys seeing, seeing out there?

I would say it's more of an evolution rather than a revolution.

Yeah, that's a good way to put it.

I've always been across SEO as something important that needs to be in the comms mix.

And so for me, I feel like it's kind of business as usual because all the good things that you should be doing for SEO, it's the same across the board for aio.

Aio, yes, that's right.

The new SEO is aio.

Yeah, Artificial Intelligence Optimization.

That's maybe a key message that we'll probably be talking about later is the answer here is nothing new.

So that's the good news, I suppose.

Yeah.

I think it's made it clear to me that SEO, which used to be Sort of traditionally in the marketing wheelhouse, opposed to pr, is all of our jobs.

Now it's all cooks in the kitchen.

And strategic comms has a really big role to play because we know that it's that really credible, authoritative content that is given preferential treatment in these generative AI platforms.

So, yeah, I guess as PR professionals, SEO is not something that's squarely landed in our remit in years gone by.

Now it very much is.

Yeah.

Because the content that's our expertise is the stuff that is getting the real cut through for brands.

So we're finding that more and more.

I think there's also that excitement for us around about the importance of relevance and strong messaging and relevance that we can really focus on and we can really add some value, us as communication professionals.

So that's kind of cool.

Yeah.

Going back to what Natalie was saying too, like, yeah, as comms professionals, we're not SEO experts in the technical sense of the word, but we are experts in developing content that helps you to be found online.

So that's a bit of what we're going to be talking about today.

And I guess those who are sort of following this new AI search and how it's sort of changing things, in our research, some people are saying, you know, Google is not only relevant, but it's not.

It's still very relevant.

Just going back to that Google point that you made.

We've said about people attending to use Google more and more for shopping or direct asks, and there was a piece of research from an article that I was reading the other day, and they said about the types of searches and how they differ between a search engine such as Google versus ChatGPT, for example, because I don't know about you guys, but I'm a bit of a geek with my ChatGPT.

It's got a name.

I say please and thank you to it.

And it kind of has built up, I don't want to say a relationship because that's really creepy, but it kind of knows what I like, what I don't like.

It's my biggest cheerleader, my hype woman.

So for Google, people have more defined searches, whereas with an AI platform, it tends to be more conversational in terms of the search and so the type of language that we need to be using.

I guess back in the early days of SEO, people would do like all the crafty tricks like keyword stuffing, planting white text in the backgrounds of websites and doing all those things which worked initially, but with AI and the way that these models work it's really looking for natural language and so that's where good writing skills and good PR people, they shine.

So it leads onto the conversation of people thinking, well, AI is going to come and steal our jobs.

AI can't write as good as me yet and definitely not as good as you guys either.

So there's still a lot of room for us as pr.

I think the fact that it offers a kind of intelligent analysis as well, whereas it feels like Google just comes back with fact, fact, fact.

Yeah, this is what I found that matched some keywords.

Whereas the AI searches are clearly a little bit more explorative and a little bit more in depth and a little bit more strategic, which kind of aligns well in our industry.

Yeah, which that's, I think a really good segue to like, I guess if those listening today are not really on ChatGPT a lot, like, how are people using it?

Like, what sort of searches are they doing?

How is it becoming such an important tool as opposed to Google?

I think it changes every week.

I think it's been used in different ways by different sections of society.

Every weekend we'll continue to do so and we'll blow our minds because there's.

Been that definite shift from rewriting my bad prose to actually giving me in depth knowledge and growth and insight or.

Both, or even being my psychiatrist or my counsellor.

You know, there is that kind of psychosis that's creeping in as well.

Easy to get caught up in that.

I think the thing we have to remember is that these models still, the term is hallucinate.

So they make up stuff.

They can't be trusted 100%.

There's still the human element that needs to be put in there.

But I guess at this point in time it's what can we do as much as possible to get listed or referenced by the AI models We're starting to find.

People are going in there to find recommendations.

They're wanting to maybe make product comparisons in there.

So, you know, think about the relevance to your business.

You know, if someone's comparing your.

He wants to do a product comparison in your product category.

That's the thing we're talking about today.

Like, are you showing up in.

That gives you the ability to do market research on the fly.

Yeah.

Opposed to like, is my store open today?

Like, I would still use Google for very factual, simple checks.

Where a year ago I probably would have used Google to compare brands and do my sort of market research before I buy a certain product.

And now I definitely wouldn't because you would have to weed through so much to get anything that looked vaguely reliable.

I kind of think of it as if I know what I want.

I will go to Google.

You know, if I want to go buy a new set of sheets at Briscoes, I'm going to Google.

Right.

But if I'm doing that research, I think people are turning to those AI.

If you want to know the difference.

Between, like, Egyptian cotton.

Yeah, you know, I want to know a little bit more.

Sateen.

Yeah, I will ask AI.

I think that's interesting too, because it goes into the concept of trust.

So we seem as users, we're putting a lot of trust into these AI models.

But then on the other hand, if you look at the different demographics, who's using this to do these searches, because there's a lot of backlash from Gen Z. I hope you don't mind me saying this, but you were having a conversation with your daughter and her friends about using chat, and they were just really anti it.

Like, this is gonna steal our jobs.

And ruin the planet.

Yeah.

And then there's the older generations, boomers who are seeing, you know, AI generated video clips that some of us in younger generations can look at and go, that's obviously AI, but falling for it, you know, so who is using ChatGPT?

Is it that middle demographic then?

Is it millennials?

And I don't know.

Well, I've got even younger children, so we' early teens.

They are using it for everything from how do I have this tricky conversation with a friend, break up with my girlfriend, give me a script to goodness, I have to do a presentation about a dead composer in my music class tomorrow.

What key points do I need to cover?

Go.

And not feeling at all guilty about using that as their guide, you know, not submitting anything written.

Cause that'll trip you up.

That'll flag the AI bots.

But yes, I think the younger generation is just part and parcel of.

Of life in all the ways.

There was a research survey done in May that came out from Perceptive, and it was commissioned by one NZ and they surveyed a thousand people.

And when you talk about who's using AI, the article I found online did not say who they interviewed, but a thousand people.

So you would think there'd be a wide range.

And they said 77% of respondents are saying they used AI in the last year.

So I'm just assuming that's sort of widespread.

Right.

But the funny thing about that is the survey also found that only 34% of New Zealanders trusted AI.

And that's one of the lowest scores globally.

So that's really interesting too.

It's a bit of an aside of what we're talking about today, but it's something to keep in mind.

But I think that's something that we'll see shift as just understanding and acceptance.

I've read something around about how when the first calculator came out, we were all really cynical about it and did we trust it?

And it was going to make us lazy because we wouldn't be able to do maths anymore.

So every kind of new development like that's had its risk and barriers.

But I think even like the types of generative AI, the platforms that are available are going to evolve at a rate or not.

So like Perplexity, for instance, is my personal favorite.

But it pulls from a whole bevy of like other LLMs.

So it's sort of the best.

It's doing that check where we would often corroborate by trying lots of different, seeing what each spit out and then compare.

We don't even have to do that anymore.

So that will just continue.

There'll be more sophisticated ways to keep us feeling safer about the reliability.

Yeah, Going back to the ways that we're using it.

So AI just covers such a wide range of uses really, so we can use it for research purposes.

But a lot of the backlash seems to be coming from using it to generate content.

People still want that human element involved in content creation.

There was a post by Megan Loist, I hope I'm not butchering her name.

And she was saying about how consumers of all ages are attacking brands for using AI generated images.

So I found that really interesting.

And I think humans do look at these AI things and it's kind of like an uncanny valley feeling.

It's like there's something not quite right there.

So the trust is lacking in that area.

But we seem to be okay with using AI to help us with research.

I think that's the key, isn't it?

We might say we distrust it, but we're still using it every day.

So it's the imperfections we're almost looking for because they show us something real and authentic.

Right.

It's the lo fi content that we're now seeing as like it smacks of realness.

Somebody said to me once that it's almost like the university professor who might have had 30 years of research in his field, but he can still forget something or make a mistake.

And you should never trust anybody implicitly when it comes to knowledge or doing Your research?

Yeah, yeah.

I guess a key reason why we've done this podcast today is even just in the last couple months, we're starting to see in some of our clients Google Analytics, analytics like ChatGPT being a place they're coming to websites from, you know, so that's a good sort of proof point, I suppose, that this is becoming a thing.

And I had this one kind of way to describe AI search.

I want to know what you guys think about it.

AI is now the gatekeeper between curiosity and conversion.

Explain what you think that means, I.

Guess for me, because it's so much more personable, the AI, you know, with its ability to tap into what, how you want to be spoken to and you give it a lot more trust.

And so if it's telling you these ones are really good, because all these people have said that they're good and I think they're really good for you, then it does become a gatekeeper.

Yeah, it's kind of like a new step in that sales funnel sort of thing, isn't it?

Or part of the discovery awareness sort of phase, I suppose, because it's also.

Going beyond the curiosity factor in that depth and breadth of the knowledge that it can feed on and the more information that is available to it and the more from our clients perspective, the more sources they're providing for ChatGPT and the like to go and find information about them, the better.

Yeah.

So LLMs are finding, you know, need to find you online.

Right.

And I guess one key thing to point out is that this is not about Google Ads.

It's not looking at your Google Ads because you might have a really great, you know, you got your online advertising sorted on Meta and Google and wherever else you're.

You're advertising.

ChatGPT is not looking at that a.

No, it's looking at all the organic stuff, so organic social media.

It's looking at what you're saying on your website, what others are saying about you.

So for PR people, again, that's our area to shine reviews, media coverage, anywhere else, that's got really good credibility if you get yourself there.

Yeah.

And most of the time with that earned coverage.

Yeah, you can't pay for that kind of credibility, so.

Right, yeah, just adding to what you're saying.

It's like getting your news articles on authoritative websites.

Your leaders are providing that expert commentary.

If someone's ranking the top 10, whatever's in your industry, there's an article, then you're included in it sort of thing.

If your leaders are speaking at High profile events that'll all get captured.

Yes, for sure.

Yeah, you're on the website for the conference.

That sort of thing is going to be all part of this.

Because we've talked for years around about the value of backlinking and partner recommendations through your business partners and your relationships, also sharing your word on their websites or their socials.

But now this is amplified even further because you're only going to get a good result if you're across lots and lots of different voices and platforms.

Yeah, thinking about it because I use Perplexity a lot too.

It's one of our favorites, definitely.

But thinking about the sources that it throws up, sometimes if I'm looking for a person, it does show up their LinkedIn profile.

It'll show up their bios on their website, Instagram profiles too.

So when I was always talking about SEO, I was talking about the web of your whole environment.

You need to be thinking about where you are in all of these different places.

It hasn't changed in terms of aio.

It's still the same if you're trying to build a personal brand.

For example, if your LinkedIn isn't optimized, if you're not publishing articles or posts, you need to be thinking about putting stuff on there to help feed those machines that are looking for information.

Right.

And I guess like a key part of that, you know, someone's listening today and they think, oh yeah, okay, I need to get more stuff out there.

But it, I guess a really key, important part of that is it's consistent, consistent voice and consistent information and information that corroborates the different sources and that sort of thing, that's a really important thing because that LLM is, is looking for that consistency and then it will pull it through.

I did see something around about quality in that too.

And the fact that if it's weak content across lots of places, then that can almost confuse the system because it doesn't know what's valid and what's really good.

And oh my gosh, what do I pick out to present here?

But if it's good, strong, widely spread, it makes its job a lot easier to find valuable responses.

Yeah, that's a good point.

You know, again, in reading about things for this podcast too is is getting your stuff on websites that have a high domain authority.

And if you don't know what that means, it just means you, you are seen as a.

By the Internet, by Google, by AI, as an authoritative website.

So if you think of like the New Zealand hero stuff, the really high authority websites.

But yeah, like you're saying there, Vicki, if you're on a lot of little websites that no one's going to, you know, that low domain authority isn't going to really help you out either.

It'll probably learn over time to know whether when there's.

It might be a small website, but if it's absolutely relevant for the people that you're wanting to talk to, then ChatGPT will, whatever will go to it.

But that must come down as well to what you ask it, because if you're asking it for please find me very specialist targeted information, it's going to go to those resources.

One thing that's been interesting, particularly we keep talking about perplexity, but we've been using that a lot as a team to do research.

But one surprising thing for me is how much credence that platform in particular puts on Reddit and, you know, transparency.

We're not doing a lot of on Reddit.

We're not doing anything on Reddit for our clients.

But you think, oh gosh, you know, that's a bit of a rabbit hole sort of platform.

But is there something we should be doing on there?

So that's something to be thinking about as well.

I think sometimes it's really good place to do research in terms of like answering or like figuring out problems for your audience and how you, your company can solve them too.

So you don't always need to be on Reddit cause that might not suit your brand, but it's a really good place for mining ideas and information about your target audience or seeing how people.

Are reacting to different subjects or that sort of thing as well.

Yeah, it's a good test bed.

I just want to finish off by bringing up this other post.

I'm chronically online, guys.

That's good.

It's by Simran Kaur from Friends that Invest.

She posted something on LinkedIn about she was talking to a SaaS company who said that AI can now look at a software and replicate it within days.

And so now it's your personal brand or your company's brand that's setting you apart.

It's not your product or your service or your technology because it can be replicated by AI so easily now.

And so that's where the PR and marketing and comms people and the people that are experts at building community really have the advantage because it's going to be very same same from now on.

The difference is going to be the quality perception of your brand.

So today we've talked about how online search is changing, and that means brands need to change the way they plan and place their online content so that they can be found.

In part two of this episode, we'll talk about the actions you can take now to start appearing in those AI searches.

So join us next time.

Thanks for joining us today for the Crunch Podcast, brought to you by New Zealand PR agency hmc.

Make sure you hit the subscribe button so you don't miss our next episode.

See you next time.