Why digital PR needs braver ideas in the age of AI search
September 2026
Digital PR is getting harder to differentiate.
Many of the formats that once felt fresh are now familiar to journalists, audiences and competitors alike. At the same time, AI search is changing what brands need digital PR to achieve, with visibility increasingly shaped by the sources and signals that AI engines trust.
Brave Bison’s head of digital PR, Olivia Wiltshire, joined Vince Nero, director of content marketing at BuzzStream on the BuzzStream Digital PR & Link Building Podcast to discuss where the discipline is heading and what needs to change.
Good digital PR starts with the idea, not the format
Surveys, indexes and search-data campaigns all have a place in digital PR. The problem is when teams reach for the format before they have found the story.
Journalists see the same structures repeatedly, so familiarity can quickly reduce the impact of an idea. Olivia’s view is that teams should start with the insight or tension worth talking about, then work out the best way to prove or package it.
That might be a survey. It might be original data, an interactive tool, expert analysis or something else entirely. The format should serve the story.
Our Digital PR team works in the same way, building campaigns around the audiences, categories and commercial opportunities that matter to the brand.
Connect the idea to the business
Creative digital PR still needs a clear commercial purpose.
Before ideation starts, brands should know where they want to build visibility and authority. That could mean a priority category, a product line or an area where competitors currently have stronger organic visibility.
The campaign can then be developed around that objective rather than treated as a standalone PR moment.
This is where digital PR becomes part of a broader organic performance strategy. Links and coverage still matter, but their value is greater when they support the pages, topics and areas of the business with the most commercial potential.
New ideas need proper validation
Trying something different does not mean lowering the bar on evidence.
Olivia talks about the importance of pressure-testing ideas before they reach the client. Teams need to understand whether there is a clear headline, whether journalists are likely to care and whether the methodology can stand up to scrutiny.
It also helps to build several potential media angles into an idea from the start. A campaign with only one workable headline has very little room to move if the news agenda changes or the first round of outreach falls flat.
Trusted journalist relationships can also be useful here. Getting an early reaction to an unfamiliar format or concept can help identify weaknesses before significant time and budget are committed.
AI search is changing digital PR measurement
Coverage and backlinks remain important, but they no longer give brands the full picture.
AI engines are increasingly part of the discovery journey, which means brands also need to understand where they are being mentioned and cited across AI-generated answers.
Digital PR can influence that visibility by helping to create the external signals AI systems use to understand brands, topics and expertise. Coverage in trusted publications, relevant backlinks and useful original content can all contribute to how a brand is represented.
That brings digital PR much closer to Generative Engine Optimisation, or GEO.
The question is no longer only whether a campaign earned links. Brands also need to know whether their authority is being recognised in the places where people are now searching for information.
Digital PR needs more distinctive ideas
Established digital PR formats are not going away. They still work when the insight is strong and the execution is relevant.
The challenge is relying on them too often.
Teams need to spend more time finding ideas that are genuinely useful or interesting to audiences, while keeping a clear connection to the categories the brand wants to own. That matters for journalists, traditional search and AI search alike.
As discovery changes, digital PR has a bigger role to play in shaping what brands are known for and where they show up.
Explore our Digital PR services or find out how Brave Bison helps brands improve visibility across AI-led discovery through Generative Engine Optimisation.
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