95% of AI citations come from PR content

In this solocast episode, On Top of PR host Jason Mudd discusses why 95% of AI citations come from PR content and how brands can lead with media relations in the age of AI.

Tune in to learn more!

Listen to the episode here:

5 things you’ll learn during the full episode:

1. Why 95% of AI citations come from PR-driven content
2. The six types of content AI trusts most for brand visibility
3. How earned media, thought leadership, news coverage, and press releases shape AI search results
4. Why reviews, social media, and web content boost generative discovery
5. Seven steps to ensure your brand and not your competitors gets cited

Quotables

• “PR has become the front door to artificial-intelligence-powered discovery.” — @JasonMudd9
• “PR isn't just part of the marketing mix anymore. It's the backbone of your visibility in 2025, the age of AI.” — @JasonMudd9
• “AI is shaping first impressions of your brand, and PR determines what AI learns and repeats back to them.” — @JasonMudd9
• “When you combine earned PR content with the supporting signals, you're feeding AI the content it needs to cite your organization.” — @JasonMudd9
• “You must feed AI platforms the content they crave that's credible, quotable, and consistent.” — @JasonMudd9

Watch the episode here:

About Jason Mudd, Axia Public Relations

Jason Mudd is a trusted adviser and dynamic strategist for some of America’s most admired brands. Since 1994, he’s worked with brands including American Airlines, Budweiser, Dave & Buster’s, H&R Block, Hilton, HP, Miller Lite, New York Life, Pizza Hut, Southern Comfort, and Verizon. 

Jason founded Axia Public Relations in 2002. Forbes named Axia one of America’s Best PR Agencies. At Axia, Jason oversees strategic communications for national clients and leads top PR talent. Clients love his passion, innovation, candor, commitment, and award-winning team. He consults with leadership teams at billion-dollar global business-to-business and business-to-consumer brands, advising them on spokesperson training, crisis communications, analytics, social media, online reputation management, and more. 

In an increasingly tech-forward world, Jason’s grasp of the technological demands companies face helps his multiple-sector clients reach their target audiences. After teaching himself HTML in 1994, Jason helped pioneer internet marketing strategies as an early adopter of e-commerce, search engine optimization, and social media, inspiring tech giants like Yahoo. He speaks to corporations and industry groups and writes about PR trends and best practices for American City Business Journals and other national outlets.

Resources

• Axia AI Visibility
• MuckRack’s Generative Pulse Report 
• AI Platforms: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Gemini
• Review Platforms: Google, Facebook, Yelp, Glassdoor
• Axia’s Autocomplete Search Box Optimization service
• Jason Mudd on X
• Jason Mudd on LinkedIn
• Axia Public Relations 
• 1:1 consultations and training with Axia

Disclosure: One or more of the links we shared here might be affiliate links that offer us a referral reward when you buy from them.

Our On Top of PR sponsors:

Production sponsor: Axia Public Relations, one of America’s Best PR Agencies, according to Forbes Magazine

Presenting sponsor: ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews

Coffee Sponsor: Fans like you fuel our efforts using buy me a coffee.

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Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;09;28

Announcer

Welcome to On Top of PR with Jason Mudd.

00;00;09;28 - 00;00;38;28

Jason

So hello and welcome to On Top of PR, I'm your host, Jason Mudd. We're diving into a powerful shift happening right now and how people discover your brand. Here's the headline 95% of artificial intelligence generated citations come from PR content. Let me explain. When tools like ChatGPT Google Perplexity generate answers, almost all of the sources they cite are rooted in public relations content.

00;00;39;01 - 00;01;28;04

Jason

So if your brand isn't prioritizing PR driven content, you're invisible in the AI discovery. This isn't speculation. This comes from a comprehensive study done by Muck Rack's Generative Pulse Report, which found that 95% of AI citations originate from PR driven content. In this episode, I'm going to explain four themes why AI relies on PR content, what content types it trust the most, how this changes the rules of brand visibility, and lastly, and most importantly, the steps you can take to ensure your brand shows up in the modern era of generative AI.

00;01;28;06 - 00;01;51;12

Jason

All right, let's start with the shift. AI search is not like traditional Google search. You type in a question and instead of getting a list of blue links, you get an answer. And that answer is composed from sources AI systems are trained to trust. Here's the kicker those sources are not your ad or marketing copy. They're not your keyword stuff.

00;01;51;12 - 00;02;15;19

Jason

Search and optimization blog post. They're not even your social media posts. Instead, AI overwhelmingly cites six different types of content. If you're somewhere you can take notes, I recommend you do, especially if this is something you're responsible for, accountable for, or aspire to dominate for your organization.

00;02;15;21 - 00;02;48;10

Jason

The first one is earned media coverage in reputable outlets. Second is analyst reports, industry analyst reports. Third is executive thought leadership like quotes, op eds, and bylines. Fourth is going to be news releases and newsroom content, especially when those press releases are distributed via credible top tier commercial newswires. Fifth is podcast show interview transcripts. Six is going to be trade publication stories and interviews.

00;02;48;12 - 00;03;17;08

Jason

Folks, that's PR, plain and simple. All six of those things. So what you're seeing is that PR public relations has become the new front door to AI powered discovery. And honestly, I'm here for it. I'm so excited about how the resurgence in demand and the relevance of PR and PR professionals and public relations agencies are now at the forefront of smart, savvy, digitally thinking corporations and organizations.

00;03;17;10 - 00;03;50;18

Jason

Bottom line if artificial intelligence doesn't see you, your customers, employees and investors won't either. Now let's go deeper. What exactly does I trust? First earned media when The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, New York Times, or your leading industry publication writes about your brand, that's money. It's gold. AI systems know those outlets are credible, and they're not going to cover organizations that aren't visible or credible either.

00;03;50;20 - 00;04;19;28

Jason

Number two, thought leadership. When your executives provide data, insights or commentary, whether that's through a byline, an article or a quote and a journalist story, I picks that up as authoritative. Third, credible news coverage and press releases. Not every press release gains traction, but when your release is distributed through a respected third party newswire and picked up in online newsrooms, AI treats that as a trustworthy source.

00;04;20;00 - 00;04;52;27

Jason

Now think about known household brands like GE, Coca-Cola, Google, Disney, target and others. They've built strong reputations by consistently putting out credible, newsworthy content. There's such large, well known and respected organizations. They have dedicated journalists called beat writers that will pick up news whenever they post it to a newswire. Now, for smaller businesses and organizations, you probably don't have a dedicated journalist standing by waiting for you to put something on a newswire.

00;04;52;29 - 00;05;24;14

Jason

But don't worry, we've got other ways that you can raise your eye visibility. But basically, these dedicated journalists called beat writers pick it up, AI model, cite it, and suddenly their brand visibility multiplies. So let me ask you, when AI answers questions in your industry or to your ideal buyer or target audience or buyer persona avatar, is your brand being cited to them or are they seeing information about your competitor?

00;05;24;16 - 00;05;53;14

Jason

Now, if you want, take a moment, pause this episode and start noodling around a little bit. Typing in questions. Typing in topics. And just like you would test back in the old days how your research, how your keywords are coming up in phrases and search terms, people are using, in search engines for search engine optimization. Take a few minutes and let's see how your geo generative engine optimization is going for you.

00;05;53;17 - 00;06;14;28

Jason

Now, whether or not you did that, that's fine. Welcome back. If you did. If not, make a note to do this later. If you're not already actively doing this. But let's expand beyond PR alone. Now, PR is the backbone of AI discovery, but it's not the only factor. Let's widen the lens. I also pays attention to other credibility signals.

00;06;14;28 - 00;06;54;16

Jason

And this is where holistic public relations strategies matter. For example, at Axia PR we think in terms of news, social and web content. News content is like media relations. News releases earned media coverage, crisis communication management, thought leadership, speaking engagements and award recognition. When we think about social, we're thinking about social media, but also user generated content, including and not limited to reputation management, online reviews, social media presence content, post engagement and community, as well as influencer engagement.

00;06;54;18 - 00;07;24;08

Jason

The third bucket we think about is web content. This is your website, your blogging efforts, your on page and off paid search and optimization, even leveraging newer and unique features we have it actually like our autocomplete search box optimization, where the we're optimizing what the search box suggest on Google searches and other platforms, including YouTube. So when people start typing in the keywords, perhaps we can make it so your company name is suggested.

00;07;24;11 - 00;07;51;20

Jason

This type of web content, digital authority and branded podcast, are a deeper way of thinking about digital storytelling and digital PR. Let's break these down a little bit. Online reviews. Reviews are part of the credibility ecosystem. Positive reviews on platforms like Google, Facebook, Yelp, Glassdoor, and others show up in search and can influence how I perceives your brand.

00;07;51;22 - 00;08;23;16

Jason

It's a side note. Google has considered your organization's online reviews for years. It only makes sense for generative engine optimization or geo to do the same. Website content and structure is next. I crawlers love authoritative, well structured websites. That means clear navigation, mobile friendly design, content that's not fluff, but genuine expertise. And they also like it organized in proper data structure.

00;08;23;16 - 00;08;54;29

Jason

And we can talk more about that on another episode. Social proof is next. You want consistent activity on social media and partnerships with influencers because this also matters. It's not about vanity metrics. It's about being part of the public conversation. When you combined earned PR content with these supporting signals, you're feeding the generative AI tools the content it needs to cite your organization.

00;08;55;01 - 00;09;20;16

Jason

Let me say that again. When you combined earned PR content with the supporting signals, you're feeding AI the content it needs to cite your organization. So what do you do with this information? What do leaders need to know next? Here are the steps I recommend. Step one audit your earned media footprint. Where have you been cited, quoted, or covered?

00;09;20;19 - 00;09;45;14

Jason

Do a quick search in ChatGPT or perplexity, Google Gemini or some other platform and I would recommend that you treat each of these as individual search engines, just like you have in the past. Whereas, you know, perhaps ChatGPT or Google are the leaders in this space right now. But things can change quickly. When search engines first came out.

00;09;45;17 - 00;10;09;21

Jason

It wasn't Google that was the leader. At first it wasn't Yahoo, but eventually it became Yahoo! And then later Yahoo got unseated by Google, where the next thing you need to ask yourself is, what does I say about your employer's brand today? If the answer is silence, that's your wake up call. Step two would be develop quotable thought leadership.

00;10;09;22 - 00;10;26;28

Jason

Make sure executives are providing insight that can be cited. This can include publishing byline articles commenting on industry trends, offering original data that the company has provided or sourced, and can share with the with others.

00;10;26;28 - 00;10;54;01

Jason

And of course, step third, which I mentioned earlier is securing coverage and trusted news outlet, whether that's the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg or an industry trade publication like Franchise Times Fund, World Insurance Journal, Becker's CIO or builder magazine, whatever it might be for your industry. Invest in consistent media relations. That doesn't mean you do it one time and you're done.

00;10;54;01 - 00;11;20;20

Jason

It means you have to do it consistently and ongoing. Just like search optimization and other and social media, you don't do it once and say you're done. You have to continue to amplify. Continue to engage. Continue to improve. Step four optimize your press releases. News releases aren't dead. In fact, they may be becoming more important than ever because they feed AI systems when distributed through reputable newswires.

00;11;20;22 - 00;11;50;15

Jason

Next. Step five I would strengthen your reviews and reputation. I would monitor customer and employee reviews and actively work to improve them. You can't just have a whole bunch of reviews that are all positive, but they're from several months ago. You need to be seeking to get regular, fresh, positive reviews from both customers and employees. Personally, I would make sure that you're seeking reviews daily so that you can get new reviews weekly.

00;11;50;17 - 00;12;26;23

Jason

I doesn't ignore reviews, and neither will. And do your future customers and investors and potential employees. Step six build a stronger web presence. Make your site a source of credible truth. Blog with substance. Publish research. Host press releases in your newsroom. Step seven prepare for Geo. Just like search and optimization reshaped marketing 20 plus years ago, 20, 30 years ago, Geo generative engine optimization is reshaping PR and marketing today.

00;12;26;25 - 00;12;58;02

Jason

It's not about ranking for keywords. It's about being relevant and retrievable. When I answers questions. All right. Looking ahead, the future of PR is here. Some call it PR, we call it AI relations. We have a new product AI service. We're offering called AI visibility, where we integrate all of these efforts into one service or solution. We call it AI relations, but either way, the point is the same AI is shaping first impressions of your brand.

00;12;58;09 - 00;13;28;20

Jason

It's just not how people perceive you from hearing about you, from friends, or seeing your physical location, or doing a Google search for you and what your online reputation says. Instead, AI is shaping first impressions of your brand, and PR determines what I learns and repeats back to them. Let me say that again. AI is shaping first impressions of your brand, and PR determines what I learns and repeats back to them.

00;13;28;23 - 00;13;51;17

Jason

If you want to lead in your industry, or you want to have the best reputation for customers in the marketplace, you can't sit still and you can't sit back and wait for it to happen. You must feed AI platforms the content they crave that's credible, quotable, and consistent. PR driven material. Because here's the truth you don't need more content.

00;13;51;20 - 00;14;17;05

Jason

You need to be cited, quoted, and trusted in all the right places. All right, quick recap here. 95% of AI citations come from PR driven content. That's not from me. That's from Mook Rack. They did millions of generative AI searches. They ran servers. We did a whole episode talking about the entire process that they went through. I'll be sure to link to that in the episode notes of this episode.

00;14;17;07 - 00;14;44;16

Jason

I trust earned media thought leadership, press release, analyst reports, and interviews. PR has become the front door to artificial intelligence powered discovery. Again, PR has become the front door to AI powered discovery. And if you're not being cited, your competitors are it. Axia. We help brands strengthen their new social and web presence so they show up where it matters most.

00;14;44;19 - 00;15;09;27

Jason

We've been doing this for 20 years and it's now more important than ever. I'm extremely excited about this opportunity. I hope you are too. If you need a trusted advisor, we're here to help. If you want to learn more, I encourage you to visit Axia pr.com/resources you'll find helpful guides, insights, and tools to position your organization's brand for success in this new AI driven era.

00;15;10;00 - 00;15;31;01

Jason

Hey, thanks for joining me for this solo cast of On Top of PR. I'm Jason Mudd helping you stay on top of PR. If you found this episode helpful, please be sure to share it with a trusted colleague who might benefit from tuning in. And remember, PR isn't just part of the marketing mix anymore. It's the backbone of your visibility in 2025, the age of AI. Thank you for listening.

00;15;31;01 - 00;16;26;23

Announcer

This has been On Top of PR with Jason Mudd presented by ReviewMaxer. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode, and check out past episodes at ontopofpr.com.

About your host Jason Mudd

On Top of PR host, Jason Mudd, is a trusted adviser and dynamic strategist for some of America’s most admired brands and fastest-growing companies. Since 1994, he’s worked with American Airlines, Budweiser, Dave & Buster’s, H&R Block, Hilton, HP, Miller Lite, New York Life, Pizza Hut, Southern Comfort, and Verizon. He founded Axia Public Relations in July 2002. Forbes named Axia as one of America’s Best PR Agencies.

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