Redefining measurement in the zero-click era
Let's face it. AI search has completely changed what marketing measurement looks like. The rise of AI overviews means we're dealing with zero-click searches. It's harder for agencies to justify their work. It's also harder for clients to see their website maintain traffic when Google answers queries directly. But that doesn't mean SEO is dead. It just means success needs redefining alongside traditional traffic and session metrics that still matter.
Practically, you don't have to fly blind. Google's updated analytics help us track AI Overview impressions. Jaywing has also partnered with Semrush to track share of mentions and sentiment across ChatGPT, Gemini, and other LLMs.
Here's my first piece of advice: Ask an AI model directly what it thinks of your brand. Ask it about your strengths, your weaknesses, and what people associate with you. When you pair that feedback with hard data, you'll quickly see how the platforms actually represent you.
What good digital PR looks like in 2026
If you want LLMs to cite your brand, you need real authority. That starts with your internal experts. Good PR now requires access to people who are a degree closer to the actual business. If you're an insurance brand, journalists want your actuaries. If you're FMCG, they want the Research and Development team who actually create the flavours. They don't want a generic quote from a marketing manager.
Journalists are actively pushing back if the source is too far removed.
Let's be honest, the real barrier here is internal logistics. It's hard finding subject matter experts who are comfortable being quoted, filmed, or interviewed. We have to build working processes that respect their time, rather than treating their involvement as an afterthought.
A shrinking media landscape makes relationships more valuable
Publisher downsizing is a harsh reality. Smaller newsrooms and a rising share of freelance contributors mean there are fewer people at the pitch desks. It's harder to find editors who can consistently place content. This makes named journalist relationships far more important than they were during the old, high-volume link-building era. The ultimate goal is simple; we want journalists to come to your brand for comment, rather than us having to pitch cold every single time.
There's also a shifting trend; The era of "churnalism" is dying. Publishers spent the last ten years running high-volume, flood-the-internet content strategies. Now, they're stepping back. Smaller, more specialised outlets are gaining massive influence with AI engines. That's not a bad thing. It's a huge opportunity for brands willing to be genuinely relevant to targeted publications rather than just chasing scale.
Digital PR can't work in isolation
Customers don't experience your brand through internal service lines. They don't notice where PR ends and social begins. They move across Reddit, LLMs, TikTok, and your own website seamlessly.
If you're in a category like tech retail, the product is identical everywhere. What differentiates you is your brand, your people, and how consistently you show up.
That consistency has to be structural. It can't just be aspirational. If your SEO team is optimising toward one commercial goal while your social team runs a different long-term agenda, you'll produce mismatched signals. LLMs crawl review scores, Reddit threads, and social activity alongside PR coverage. As I mentioned on the panel, your social teams are kind of doing part of your SEO for you. Budget lines and team structures must reflect this.
The bottom line
AI search hasn't created a brand-new discipline. It has simply made the fundamentals of good digital PR more valuable than they've been in years. You need real expertise, credible third-party validation and sustained relationships with journalists. Brands treating this as a quick technical fix will be the ones left out of the answer.