How is AI search influencing your reputation?
If 2023 was the year we started talking seriously about large language models (LLMs) and 2024 was the year businesses began experimenting with them, 2025 is the year that we are starting to learn more about how they are influencing our perceptions of businesses and brands.
Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the emerging discipline of influencing how Large Language Models (LLM) like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini respond to questions. Every day we are learning more about how these models source, process and present information, which in turn, gives us more tools to position brands and leaders more favourably to ensure they are visible and credible in their industry.
While SEO has long been a cornerstone of discoverability on Google, GEO is the equivalent for the conversational AI era. And it’s becoming increasingly apparent that PR can be a very powerful tool in maximising LLM visibility.
Why GEO matters for corporate reputations in 2025
When someone asks an LLM about your business, your industry, or a relevant topic, they are seeking a detailed and trusted answer. Not a list of links. That answer is generated from patterns in the data the model has been trained on and the real-time sources it’s able to access.
If your organisation isn’t visible in that mix, through editorial coverage, compelling owned media as well as sources such as customer review sites, analyst reports and awards lists, the LLM has no reason to mention you. In a world where more decisions, from supplier selection to investment research, will start with “What does ChatGPT say…?”, that absence could mean missed opportunities, diminished influence and reputational drift.
For those of us entrusted with maximising and maintaining a business and its leaders’ reputation, this means that the game has changed. If we aren’t considering how to maximise visibility through LLM search, we’re missing a key piece of the puzzle that is only likely to get bigger.
This isn’t about perfection, GEO is still a developing practice. Everyone, from AI developers to comms professionals is still learning and we may never know exactly how these models retrieve and weight information. However, early research into the sources driving LLM visibility from Hard Numbers suggests that editorial and owned media are the most cited sources in LLM responses. The principles we’re uncovering now should be shaping how businesses plan their content and PR.
What can you do about it?
PR: the GEO superpower
Ultimately, PR is emerging as an effective way to influence generative outputs. By shaping narratives, securing authoritative coverage and reinforcing brand credibility, PR is an effective channel to deliver what an LLM is looking for.
The way communications professionals build brand awareness and reputation has not fundamentally changed. Impactful thought leadership and a consistent brand narrative, delivered through a mix of top-tier media titles and owned channels, remain the foundation. But GEO is already adding a new dimension to the discipline. Those who act early by experimenting, monitoring and refining their approach will be the ones whose brands AI voices choose to amplify.
Join our webinar Are you keeping up? How audiences discover brands in the age of AI to learn actionable marketing and PR strategies that will help you stay ahead.