Artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept hovering at the edges of communications strategy. It’s here, fully integrated into the way people search, consume, verify, and share information. And whether brands are ready for it or not, AI has become one of the most influential forces shaping reputation, media narratives, and public perception.
This is not just another technological shift: it’s the next era of media.
For years, brands invested heavily in SEO, social media, influencer partnerships and content strategy. Now, they must think about something new: what does AI say about you? How does it summarize your brand? Who does it compare you to? Does it surface your latest news? Does it trust your sources? Does it even recognize you?
Whether we like it or not, AI engines such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude are quickly becoming the “front door” to information. As Gartner’s Emerging Technologies research notes, generative AI is one of the fastest-adopted tools ever recorded — and it is now reshaping search behavior on a global scale. At the same time, public trust dynamics continue to shift. Edelman’s Trust Barometer shows deepening distrust in traditional institutions and a growing reliance on alternative information sources.
AI and public relations now intersect in a way that can drastically influence how a brand is understood before a journalist calls, before a customer visits your website and even before someone clicks a Google result. (If they even click or use Google at all, that is.) This is why brands cannot ignore AI: and why the role of a strategic communications partner has never been more important.
At LaRue PR, we see AI not as a threat but as an opportunity to elevate storytelling, strengthen brand credibility, and protect reputation in a world that is moving faster than ever.
AI Is Transforming Discovery & Brands Must Adapt
The first fundamental shift is how people discover information. Increasingly, they aren’t “Googling”… they’re asking AI:
- What’s the best skincare brand for sensitive skin?
- Which wellness brands are worth the splurge?
- Who are the top founders in sustainable fashion?
Generative engines respond with synthesized answers pulled from across the internet, often shaping opinions before a user ever lands on a website. PR Daily cites this shift as one of the defining trends of 2026, noting that brands must prepare for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): the practice of optimizing messaging for AI-driven search. If AI can’t understand your brand clearly, or if your digital footprint is inconsistent, AI tools will either misrepresent your story or skip over you entirely. That’s the new reality.
Journalists Are Using AI Every Day & Expect More from Brands
AI isn’t only shaping public behavior, it’s transforming journalism. Reporters now rely on AI to research, verify facts, analyze documents, and scan press releases. The Cision State of the Media Report confirms that journalists want cleaner, clearer, more structured information because they’re using AI to help them parse large amounts of content quickly.
This means that messy messaging, overly promotional language, or inconsistent facts are no longer minor annoyances—they’re dealbreakers. If AI can’t interpret your content accurately, journalists won’t either. For brands, this raises the bar significantly. Messaging has to be sharp, structured, credible, and consistent across every channel. It must be intuitive not only for humans but also for the AI systems journalists rely on. That’s a new skillset and a new opportunity.
AI Is Changing How Stories Spread Across Media & Social Platforms
AI doesn’t just influence what people search, it drives what they see. Social platforms use AI to recommend posts and determine which content reaches audiences. Media outlets now depend on AI to analyze performance and shape editorial priorities. Hootsuite’s Social Trends Report underscores that AI-powered distribution increasingly dictates reach, visibility, and engagement. This creates a new dynamic: the best story doesn’t always win. The most optimized one does.
Brands who understand how AI interprets tone, structure, authority, and engagement can dramatically improve the spread of their earned media, thought leadership, and brand narratives. But brands who ignore AI risk creating content that performs quietly, even when the story itself is strong.
AI Raises the Stakes of Reputation Management
Perhaps the most urgent reason brands cannot ignore AI is the rise of synthetic media: AI-generated content that looks real, sounds real and spreads fast. According to the Brookings Institution, the proliferation of deepfakes and AI-generated misinformation poses significant strategic and reputational risks. A single piece of synthetic content can damage years of brand equity in minutes. And once misinformation spreads, retracting it becomes immensely difficult. Monitoring reputation is no longer something brands can do weekly or monthly, it must be continuous, cross-platform, and AI-augmented.
This is where narrative intelligence matters: tracking sentiment, mapping narratives, identifying misinformation, and anticipating shifts before they become crises. It’s also where a strategic PR partner becomes essential.
AI Has Changed What Audiences Expect from Brands
AI has conditioned consumers to expect instant answers, personalized recommendations, and contextually relevant communication. The Deloitte Global Marketing Trends Report highlights that modern customers expect more precision, more speed, and more utility from brand communications than ever.
In the world of AI and public relations, this translates to:
- more authentic storytelling
- more transparent messaging
- more humanized brand communication
- more consistency across touchpoints
Audiences no longer respond to generic corporate language. They want specificity, vulnerability, purpose, and clarity. AI simply accelerates the pressure to deliver all four.
AI Is Transforming Thought Leadership & Executive Visibility
Executives who embrace AI are already producing more content, contributing to more conversations, and building stronger digital footprints. HubSpot’s Marketing Trends Report reveals that leaders who use AI thoughtfully see higher engagement and recognition across digital channels. Thought leadership is no longer about publishing occasionally: it’s about creating a consistent drumbeat of insights that are backed by clarity, originality, and authority.
This is where strategic PR and AI intersect powerfully. LaRue PR works with executives to strengthen their POV, structure their messaging for generative engines, and create visibility that feels both human and scalable.
How LaRue PR Helps Brands Navigate the New Era of Media
Brands don’t need to become AI experts, they need strategic partners who understand how AI changes the media landscape and how to adapt without losing authenticity.
At LaRue PR, we help brands:
- Strengthen their narrative architecture so AI can interpret their story clearly.
- Optimize digital assets for generative search engines and journalist workflows.
- Integrate AI responsibly into communications strategy without sacrificing brand voice.
- Monitor reputation in real time through sentiment analysis, narrative tracking and misinformation detection.
- Create human-centered storytelling that stands out in an AI-saturated world.
- Build high-impact thought leadership that leverages AI without sounding AI-generated.
- Design activations, campaigns, and narratives that resonate across human and machine audiences.
We don’t use AI to replace creativity. We use it to strengthen clarity, amplify visibility and protect reputation. In a world where algorithms increasingly dictate what audiences see, trust, and believe, brands must communicate with more strategy and intentionality than ever before.
Work With Us
AI isn’t replacing public relations but it is rewriting it. Brands who adapt early will earn visibility, credibility, and cultural relevance. Brands who resist the shift will find themselves overshadowed by competitors who learned how to communicate in a world where AI acts as the first reader, first filter, and first reputation judge.
If your brand is ready to navigate this new era of media with purpose, clarity and confidence, LaRue PR is ready to lead the way.
