For PR professionals, getting a client quoted in the news media used to be an end in itself. Now, earned-media quotes are also becoming a means to the end of clients being included in AI-generated content.
According to a new study titled “What is AI Reading?” from Muck Rack, when citations are enabled in AI prompts, more than 95% of the links cited by AI-generated content are from non-paid sources. Of those, more than 27% come from news stories or other journalistic coverage.
Other earned sources include corporate blogs and content, academic research, aggregated or encyclopedic sources, and governmental or non-governmental organizations.
For communicators, success now depends not just on traditional media placements, but also on whether a brand is included in AI citations, the study says. To shape brand perceptions, communicators must understand how generative-AI prioritizes which sources to cite.
The answers that AI generates are often derived from recently published news coverage, particularly when people ask AI platforms such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini about current, opinion-based or event-driven topics. Encyclopedic queries tend to cite older, more static sources.
High-authority media outlets such as Reuters, Axios, Financial Times, AP, TIME, Forbes, NPR and CNN are frequently cited in AI-generated content, the research found. Niche media sites such as Good Housekeeping and Investopedia are also frequently referenced.
According to the study, PR teams should prioritize pitching stories and expert sources to high-authority media outlets. The study concurs with what many PR professionals have suspected: The stories you place, and where and when you place them, influence what people see when they ask generative-AI for information.
As Greg Galant, Muck Rack’s co-founder and CEO said, “Generative AI is reshaping itself at an unprecedented pace, with new patterns emerging constantly, so the brands that thrive will be those that proactively track their position [in the links that AI-generated content cites] and adapt in real time to stay ahead.”
Here are three takeaways via the data from Generative Pulse by Muck Rack:
- Earned media leads: More than 95% of citations came from unpaid sources, and of those, 85% were earned media
- Citations impact responses: Enabling citations changes how AI answers, showing systems rely on cited sources
- Citation drivers: Recency (within the past year), question framing and source authority
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