The New Reality: From Paid to Earned

Over the past decade, businesses shifted their marketing focus from traditional brand-building to short-term acquisition tactics like PPC. But as the ROI of paid channels declines, especially with AI summarising the web, businesses are pivoting.

AI tools powered by LLMs are programmed to trust reliable sources and that means they’re pulling answers from earned media, not ads or SEO-stuffed content.

Why Earned Media Wins in the Age of AI

Here’s why AI-generated search results prioritise earned media:

• Credibility – Trusted by audiences and search engines alike.
• Influence – Reflects expert insights and organic narratives.
• Authority – Built on domain trust and audience engagement.
• Integrity – Less susceptible to manipulation compared to paid content.
• Visibility – Brands frequently mentioned in reputable media are more likely to appear in AI-generated results.

The takeaway? If you’re not showing up in news stories, interviews, features, or customer case studies, you’re missing out on the new front page of search.

The Foundation of Brand: Know Who You Are

Strong PR starts with strong branding. If you don’t know what your company stands for, what differentiates you, or why customers choose you, it’s impossible to connect with audiences – let alone stand out in the eyes of an AI system trained to spot relevance and resonance.

How to Build a Brand That AI Will Notice

It starts with talkability. Here’s how to uncover and amplify what makes your brand worth talking about:

1. Talk to Your Teams and Customers
   • Your sales and customer service teams have direct access to your most valuable insights. What are customers saying? What problems are they solving with your product? Sometimes, customers use your product in surprising ways you didn’t anticipate – that’s a story.
2. Find the Real-World Impact
   • Are customers choosing you because of fast delivery, personal service, or a niche capability you’ve never marketed? Those stories are often more valuable to media outlets than your official brand pitch.
3. Turn Insights into Headlines
   • These stories can become:

1. • 1. Customer case studies

1. • 1. Testimonials for trade media

1. • 1. Award submissions

1. • 1. Thought leadership articles

1. • 1. Interview opportunities

1. Be Present, Not Perfect
   • You don’t need to be in Tier 1 outlets like The Times to gain AI visibility. Niche trade publications, regional press, and respected blogs all contribute to your earned media footprint and that’s what LLMs are learning from.

Where to Start

If you’re unsure what’s worth sharing, bring in an outside perspective. A PR or brand consultancy can help uncover the golden nuggets you might be overlooking and turn them into media-ready stories.

The good news? You likely already have the material, you just need help shaping it and getting it out there.

The Time to Act Is Now

You’ve spent years building SEO strategies. Now it’s time to build your LLM strategy and that starts with earned media. Your future customers may find you not through search ads or your website, but through the AI that’s summarising what others say about you.

Make sure those stories exist … and make sure they’re worth reading.  For more information please visit https://studio-mccann.com