AI Loves PR (and so should you)

AI is changing is how consumers search and make purchase decisions. And it turns out, AI really loves earned media.

The Wisconsin Governor’s Conference on Tourism (WIGCOT) featured a keynote address from Eternity founder and AI expert Mike Lannen. Lannen was part of a panel session at WIGCOT that dove into discussion about ways AI can be effectively used by marketers in tourism.

It turns out the same reasons earned media has historically been weighted favorably to advertising is the same reason AI can’t get enough of it. The “free” coverage you get with a well-executed PR plan implies a third-party endorsement from a widely respected gatekeeper – news journalists. You’re not telling people how great you are through paid advertising or owned media like your website. It’s coming from people who deal in facts. And its posted on authoritative websites.

Now, AI is using large language models (LLMs) to play its own key role along the consumer path. It’s not replacing the original gatekeeper – it’s using their coverage to amplify your message by generating recommendations for consumers who are getting ready to make a purchase decision. So yeah, PR is pretty cool right now.

Blogging is cool too. Tactfully using keywords in your newest blog is going to improve SEO – and that’s still important to LLMs AI uses. Your website needs to reflect who your organization is while providing key answers to FAQs (another thing AI loves). SEO is great at driving clicks to your website. But what about the AI result that appears before those SEO-driven articles?

Go ahead, ask your favorite web browser to name the top 10 summer destinations in Wisconsin. That generative engine optimization (GEO) result you see is courtesy of thousands of sources through LLMs, namely news articles that tackle the very subject you searched. And GEO can be even more powerful influencer consumer behavior than SEO because it provides recommendations, not just a list of possible answers. Review management platform Semrush cites that users who search with LLMs are nearly 4.5 times more likely to convert than those using search engines.

Getting on those “top 10” lists that journalists curate every year has never been more important. Your destination being written about, talked about, and shown through news outlets has become critical in being found and recommended by AI. Not only are you reaching more people through earned media coverage, you’re simultaneously boosting your own destination in the eyes of AI. As more and more people depend on AI to be the brains behind their travel plans, it’s critical for DMOs to be the apple of AI’s eyes.

If you haven’t already, start building relationships with the journalists and news outlets that can tell your story. It’s not too late. In fact, AI is constantly searching for new information (sourcing materials that are nearly 400 days newer than Google search results). That news article about your destination before COVID might be completely invisible to AI. Last week is more valuable than last year.

Getting your destination on AI’s map means a multi-pronged marketing plan – and PR might just be the top focus of your efforts. At B+L, a full-service agency that includes a PR and social media team, we’d argue PR was always cool. But hearing AI industry experts saying it is? Well, that’s pretty cool. (And true!)