Cairn's Will English: How PR can help brands stay visible and discoverable in the age of AI

Drawing on the agency’s new report, Will English, MD of specialist home interest agency Cairn, explores why PR has become increasingly important in the new online discovery landscape.

For more than 2 decades, search engine optimisation (SEO) has been a major driver of digital visibility, but AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity are increasingly changing how people research, compare and make buying decisions. This shift is especially significant in KBB, where buyers often spend weeks or months researching projects, gathering inspiration and comparing options before making their purchase.

As AI becomes a more influential part of that journey, the signals that shape reputation, trust and expertise matter more than ever, and PR has become central to this process as an increasingly important driver of visibility, credibility and authority.

Reputation in the age of AI discovery
For KBB brands, reputation has always mattered. What’s changing is how that reputation is discovered. Rather than scrolling through pages of search results, consumers are increasingly turning to AI-powered tools for answers, comparisons and recommendations, and the data is starting to show that many don’t make it as far as a brand’s website.

When Google displays an AI-generated summary, Pew Research found users click a traditional search result just 8% of the time, compared with 15% when no summary appears. Research from Semrush also found that 77% of users combine AI tools with traditional search, while Forrester reports that 94% of B2B buyers used generative AI during their most recent purchasing process.

AI visibility is shaped by a broad information ecosystem rather than a single ranking factor, generally drawing on a combination of pre-trained knowledge, web content, search results and third-party information to answer user queries. This means AI-generated responses are influenced not only by a brand’s own website, but also by the consistency and credibility of signals across the web.

Independent mentions, expert commentary, industry recognition, reviews and media coverage are all signals, which help AI systems assess authority and relevance.

PR creates evidence, not merely exposure
For decades public relations has been valued for its ability to build awareness, shape reputation and influence perception but now it has taken on a key, additional strategic role: helping to create the evidence layer that AI systems use to understand and evaluate brands.

Research from Muck Rack’s 2026 analysis of more than 25 million AI citations illustrates this shift, finding that 84% came from what it broadly categorised as earned sources, including journalism, academic and Government publications, Wikipedia, social platforms and other third-party content.

Journalism alone accounted for 27% of all citations. The implication is not that media coverage guarantees AI visibility, but that independently validated information plays a significant role in the sources AI platforms draw upon. PR activity should therefore be viewed as evidence-building and every piece of earned coverage contributes to a wider body of information that helps define what a brand is, what it stands for and why it should be trusted.

It becomes particularly powerful with thought leadership, original research and expert perspectives, establishing credibility and strengthening a brand’s association with key topics. For the KBB industry, this could include a brand sharing consumer trends, sustainability, renovation, design and product expertise.

Once a brand’s name has landed as an authority alongside particular topic, it’s more likely to be discovered within AI search. PR therefore goes beyond awareness, building category authority and the third-party validation that supports visibility in AI-generated responses.

Cairn’s 5 principles for effective PR

1. Own a clear area of expertise
2. Create evidence worth citing
3. Earn relevant third-party recognition
4. Build consistency over time
5. Connect earned and owned content

For brands in the KBB space, the AI discovery shift is especially significant and makes PR more valuable than ever as a way of building the evidence layer that AI platforms use when making recommendations. How buyers discover information, compare suppliers and build confidence before making purchasing decisions is changing.

To better understand these changes, download Cairn's new report.