If you are a brand or own a company, you’ve probably already done the present-day equivalent of googling yourself. That is, asked your friendly neighborhood AI service pointed questions about your company, hoping to hear glowing recommendations.
Even if you aren’t, your potential customers probably are turning to AI with questions about your field of work. In the worst case, the AI model confidently recommends your biggest competitor to solve the exact problem you exist to solve, and you don’t even get a courtesy mention.
So what are these AI models pulling from when someone asks about you or your area of expertise, and what determines your AI brand visibility? Part of the answer depends on earned media, and if Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), the practice of shaping what AI finds and says about your brand, isn’t already part of your communications strategy, it should be.
AI reads the news: most citations come from earned media
MuckRack has now published three editions of its report What Is AI Reading?, the most recent in May 2026, analysing over a million links cited by ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini across a wide range of industries and query types. It found that roughly 99% of AI citations come from non-paid sources, with paid and advertorial content accounting for just 0.3% of all citations.
The largest share of that non-paid majority, 84%, is earned media, which means content a brand didn’t pay for and doesn’t own. Journalism alone accounts for around 27% of all citations, consistently across every edition of the study.
The route to AI visibility, in other words, runs largely through non-paid content such as earned coverage. What journalists and editors have decided is worth publishing is also, to a significant degree, what AI has decided is worth knowing. Communications teams have spent years making the case for investing in PR. Now, the data is here to back it up.
MuckRack recently published its State of PR 2026 report, an annual survey of nearly a thousand PR professionals that tracks how the industry is thinking, working and adapting. Nearly three-quarters of PR professionals say GEO is at least somewhat important to their communications strategy. Yet 29% say no one at their organization actually owns it. Which means the window to get ahead of this is still very much open.
Cutting through the noise to get AI visibility
Getting coverage is also genuinely hard right now with everyone chasing the same journalists and the same headlines. According to the report, 71% of PR professionals say low response rates from journalists were their biggest barrier to securing coverage this year, with 61% pointing to shrinking media lists in relevant beats.
And yet, that difficulty is precisely the argument for having the right people in your corner. Earned media was never meant to be easy, and the brands that feature in AI-generated search results are showing up for a reason. It’s because of the work being done by someone who knows how to build a relationship with a journalist, who understands what makes a story land, and who has spent years figuring out what story angles and subjects the editor (and the outlet’s audience) cares about.
In a media landscape where coverage is harder to secure, and AI is increasingly the first place your potential customer goes for answers, knowing how to earn credible media coverage matters more than ever.
Find out how PR Operations can help your brand stay in the conversation
AI rewards fresh coverage, not yesterday’s headlines
One of the more interesting findings in the research is that more than half of all AI citations from journalism in the study came from content published within the previous twelve months, with the highest citation rate occurring within the first seven days of publication. AI models are continuously pulling from fresh, relevant coverage.
That changes how brands should think about media relations. A flurry of press around a product launch, followed by months of silence, leaves a growing gap in what AI can find when someone asks about you.
A story does not tell itself
Consistency has always been one of PR’s less glamorous truths. It rarely makes for an exciting presentation, but if AI increasingly reflects today’s stories, a steady stream of credible coverage can become a powerful driver of AI brand visibility.
The companies showing up in AI results are not there by accident. The MuckRack report also revealed that 55% of PR professionals are already adapting their media strategy specifically to improve visibility in AI-generated responses. The companies that will be ahead are the ones that have someone making sure their story is being told, heard, and landing in the right places.
If you want to make sure your story is being amplified consistently and with impact, get in touch for a free consultation.
READ more: What are the most common mistakes that companies still make in PR?
