Here's a fun fact: robots, as it turns out, are rather picky about their reading material. And if you're wondering whom artificial intelligence trusts more – traditional media outlets or that viral tweet from an influencer – well, the answer shouldn’t surprise you.
Twice in recent history, people have prepared traditional media's obituary. First, when social media burst onto the scene. Then again when AI emerged, prompting another round of doomsday predictions.
Let's talk about what actually happened when social platforms promised to create direct highways between brands and their audiences. Sure, social media changed how people consumed news – but traditional media maintained its role as the primary narrative driver, wielding influence that far outweighed its circulation numbers.
Now we’re witnessing another change. Just as we previously witnessed the great migration from Google to social media for certain types of information, we're now watching humans develop a new information-seeking behavior: turning to AI for answers about brands and industries.
We looked at the Forbes' list of the 100 most valuable brands and created a simple framework for assessing each one. We asked GPT-4 about their quality, trust, innovation, and value – and each time the AI gave us an answer, we made it show its homework by citing its sources.
Here’s what we learnt: AI isn't just preserving earned media's influence; it's giving it a megaphone.
When you ask an AI about a brand's reputation, 61% of its response comes from traditional earned media sources. (Social media's influence? A measly 1% - about as impactful as a whisper at a heavy metal concert.) Even owned media, contributing 44% of AI responses, can't quite match earned media's muscle.
PR practitioners need to understand how consumers’ discovery habits are changing, but also how to influence them.
Those who do will write PR’s next chapter. (But probably in collaboration with AI.)
Adapting your PR and Marketing strategies to be AI-ready in 2025? Learn more about how Hard Numbers can help here.
