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by Erik Carlson on Mar 5, 2026 3:17:11 PM
The beginning of 2026 feels like one of those moments where you can sense the ground shifting. But we’ve been here before.
Over the past two decades, corporate communications has evolved again and again - from digital newsrooms and social media to mobile-first experiences and real-time storytelling. Each evolution changed how we distribute and discover information.
But what’s happening now is different. AI search and answer engines aren’t just changing where content appears. They’re changing how it’s interpreted - and whether it’s surfaced at all.
That’s creating real pressure for communications teams. Trust is harder to earn. The volume of content keeps growing. And visibility is no longer guaranteed by a strong headline or a top search ranking.
At the recent Mastering GEO for Comms Pros event in New York City, I had the chance to lead an important discussion on this very topic, exploring how generative search and AI-driven discovery are reshaping brand visibility.
Keep reading to learn the top takeaways from the conversation.
1. The Rise of GEO: Why AI Search Is Reshaping Corporate Communications
Before we go further, it’s worth defining a new term many teams are hearing: GEO, or Generative Engine Optimization.
If SEO was about ranking in search results, and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) focused on helping content appear in featured snippets and direct answers, GEO goes a step further. It’s about ensuring your narrative is included when large language models (LLMs) generate a synthesized response.
However, it’s clear AI-powered search is moving faster than most of us expected.
According to Gartner, just 18-to-24 months ago, about 1% of searches were happening inside AI engines. Last year, that rose to roughly 6%. This year, estimates suggest it could reach 28%. And by 2030, some projections point to as much as 80% of searches taking place directly inside large language models (LLMs).
This changes the game.
When someone asks AI about your company or industry, it doesn’t return a list of links. It reads what’s available, decides which sources look credible and generates a clear answer. In many ways, these systems act as consensus builders - pulling from content that is structured well, reinforced across trusted channels and seen as authoritative.
If your narrative isn’t clear, consistent and credible, you don’t just rank lower. You risk being left out of the answer altogether.
That’s the visibility challenge in the age of GEO.
2. From Placements to Citations: The New AI Search Scoreboard
At Notified, we recognized early on that traditional PR metrics were becoming less predictive in an AI-driven environment. Reach, placements and clicks still matter - but they don’t tell you if your narrative is showing up inside AI-generated answers.
So, we asked a different question:
How often is PR content actually being cited by AI engines?
We didn’t approach this shift alone. We partnered with Profound, a leader in AI visibility and brand monitoring, integrating their citation intelligence within our GlobeNewswire analytics to help clients understand how press releases are referenced across AI platforms.
This collaboration gave us a clear view into how brand narratives show up inside AI engines - grounding our analysis in real citation behavior, not assumption.
Together, we tracked more than 150 million AI citations in a relatively short period of time. Through our research, what we found was clear: AI citation patterns aren’t random. They follow identifiable signals tied to structure, authority, reinforcement and timing.
This insight became the foundation of our SOAR Content Framework™.
3. The SOAR Content Framework: A Practical Approach for Maximizing AI Visibility
When it comes to publishing content, AI visibility is consistently aligned with four controllable factors: structure, originality, authority and recency (SOAR).
First, structure matters. AI engines reward clarity: clear headlines, logical flow, concise executive quotes and clean formatting make content easier to interpret and more likely to be referenced.
Second, originality drives differentiation. Proprietary data, first-party insights and distinct perspectives create citation gravity because they add something new to the broader conversation.
Authority also plays a critical role. AI models lean toward trusted domains - established newswire distribution, reputable media coverage and consistently governed owned channels to determine credibility.
And finally, recency follows a different rhythm than traditional PR. Citation visibility often builds gradually, peaking around day 15 to 20 and remaining active for weeks.
Together, these signals reinforce a simple truth: in the AI era, visibility isn’t accidental. It’s engineered through disciplined, credible and consistent storytelling.
Photos by Andrew Xon
4. Why Press Releases Are More Important Than Ever
In the age of AI search, the press release carries new weight. It’s structured, factual, time-stamped and distributed through authoritative channels - signals AI engines use to determine credibility.
But publishing a release is no longer enough. If AI systems are interpreting and synthesizing information before audiences see it, your content must be clear to LLMs, useful to journalists and strong enough to hold its message through summaries and citations.
That’s why we built the AI Press Release Optimizer inside Content OS™. Grounded in the SOAR Content Framework, it strengthens structure, clarity, authority and quotability - improving how releases are understood, cited and surfaced by AI search and answer engines.
Embedded directly into the drafting workflow, it provides clear, AI-powered recommendations you can apply in real time with tracked changes, accelerating approvals while keeping you fully in control of your brand voice.
This is the direction we’re moving: AI-aware workflows that help you protect your narrative and compete in a generative search environment.
The Future of Corporate Communications in the Age of GEO
This is not simply another short-term shift in digital behavior. All signs point to a deeper transformation in how brand narratives are interpreted, reinforced and surfaced.
For communicators, that changes the responsibility - and the opportunity.
If you want to learn more about how corporate communications is uniquely positioned to lead in this moment, watch the full presentation below.
About Notified
We are Notified, and your story goes here. As the only technology partner dedicated to both investor relations and public relations professionals, we help you control and amplify your corporate narrative. Our fully integrated PR and IR platforms streamline every step—whether it's reaching the right media, press release distribution, and measurement or designing new IR websites, managing investor days, earnings releases, and regulatory filings. Connecting both worlds, GlobeNewswire is one of the world's largest and most trusted newswire distribution networks, serving leading organizations for over 30 years. Together, we empower communicators to inform a better world.
Notified is an affiliate of Equiniti Group Limited (EQ)
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