As technology evolves, so does the way audiences discover brands. In 2025, more and more consumers, buyers, and even journalists are turning to AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude to make decisions. Instead of scrolling through pages of search results, people are asking one question and getting one answer.
That shift brings both opportunity and pressure. Brands want to show up in those answers, stay competitive, and maintain visibility. But keeping up with AI platforms, constant model updates, and shifting media trends can feel overwhelming.
The good news? Showing up in AI-driven discovery doesn’t have to be complicated. With the right strategy and a grounded approach, your brand can build strong visibility without the stress.
Understand What AI Is Really Reading
Just like the best holiday campaigns start with early planning, the strongest AI visibility strategies start with understanding where answers come from.
Recent research analyzing more than one million citations shows that:
- 94% of AI citations come from non-paid media.
- 82% are from earned third-party sources.
- About 25% of all citations come from journalistic outlets.
- Half of all citations are from articles published within the last 11 months.
- The highest citation window? The first 7 days after publication.
This tells us something important:
AI relies on fresh, credible, authoritative coverage and it leans heavily on outlets it trusts.
By focusing on strong earned media and timely storytelling, you give AI systems more of what they actually use.
Repurpose Your Strategy for Machines, Not Just Humans
You don’t need to reinvent your approach to visibility; you just need to adapt it.
AI only reuses content it can ingest, index, and link back to. That’s where GenAI-Referenced Media comes in: a new tier of earned outlets that reliably influence AI answers.
These outlets share three key traits:
- They’re indexed in places like Google News.
- They allow deep, do-follow links to brand-owned pages.
- Their content shows up in AI answers across models.
Not every high-profile placement meets those criteria — and that’s okay.
Think of this as repurposing what already works: taking your strongest ideas, storylines, and expertise, and packaging them in formats AI can reference again and again.
Build a Plan, But Leave Room to Adapt
Just as holiday campaigns shift with trends, AI models constantly update their citation practices.
Between July and December alone:
- Press release citations grew 5x.
- Wikipedia reliance decreased across models.
- YouTube briefly spiked for certain topics.
- Management consulting citations dropped.
- Each model used a distinct mix of outlets with very little overlap.
Trying to chase every change can lead to unnecessary stress. Instead, build a steady framework:
- Create one strong pillar page per quarter.
- Align your storylines to that core topic.
- Target around 20 high-value outlets — the ones influencing your brand’s citations the most.
- Give yourself space to adjust as models evolve.
A flexible structure keeps your strategy strong without stretching your team thin.
Automate What You Can, Personalize What Matters
The brands succeeding in AI visibility are the ones treating it like any other major communications effort: automating the routine pieces while staying intentional about the rest.
Use tools to streamline monitoring, coverage logging, and prompt testing — then focus your energy on high-impact actions like:
- Clear, authoritative messaging
- Securing clean, deep links to pillar pages
- Building relationships with the outlets that matter most
- Ensuring every placement reinforces your category positioning
This blend of structure and creativity sets your brand up for long-term visibility across AI platforms.
Support Your Team Through the Transition
Shifting into an AI-first discovery world can feel demanding. Whether you’re a communications team of one or managing multiple stakeholders, sustainability matters.
Make space for:
- Realistic timelines
- Healthy boundaries around output
- Collaborative planning with content, SEO, and leadership
- Celebrating milestone wins: new citations or answer share gains
A supported team is a more strategic, more creative team, especially as the landscape around them evolves.
Measure What Matters for AI Visibility
Just like tracking only the most meaningful holiday KPIs keeps you focused, measuring AI visibility requires clarity.
The strongest indicator of brand presence in AI?
Answer Share
How often your brand appears in AI answers across a defined set of prompts.
By building a “prompt universe” 20, 50, or even 1,000 prompts relevant to your category, you can track:
- Whether your brand is included
- How often you appear
- How you compare to competitors
- Which outlets and links influence your visibility
- Where you’re being grouped within your industry
You don’t need perfect precision. You need direction and Answer Share gives you exactly that.
The AI Era Doesn’t Have to Be Chaotic
The AI era may move quickly, but your strategy doesn’t have to. By understanding how AI gathers information, repurposing strong content, further strategic media relationships, automating smartly, and supporting your team, your brand can show up confidently in the answers that matter most.
At GYC Vegas, we help brands build visibility that keeps pace with today’s technology. From strategic planning to content creation to elevating earned media that truly moves the needle. Want to shape your brand’s presence in the age of AI? Fill out this questionnaire and let’s create a strategy built for clarity, impact, and longevity.