Your media pitch has a new audience: artificial intelligence. As AI chatbots use publications’ archives as training data, the goal of media relations is evolving. It’s no longer just about achieving coverage but also embedding your expertise into the very knowledge base that will answer your customers’ future questions.
We’ve all heard by now how AI companies are scraping online journalism to train their databases and serve up answers to users, but I noticed a new facet to this development the other day. Ground Engineering, a construction trade publication we work with, has launched its own AI chatbot called Ask GE. As a specialist industrial PR agency, we’re always looking out for and watching how shifts in media impact the way our clients across the construction, energy, and manufacturing sectors reach their target audiences.
Integrated into every online article, Ground Engineering readers now see a box with ready-made prompts to receive quick, AI-generated answers related to the content. Subscribers can go further, asking their own questions to receive summaries, explore related queries, and access links to relevant articles.
Unlike general-purpose AI chatbots such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini that source their information from all over the web, Ask GE is trained only on articles written by Ground Engineering’s own journalists and expert contributors. The promise is fast, accurate answers that readers can trust with no ‘hallucinations’ – the AI term for when a system generates something that looks convincing but is actually made up.
At first, it might look like a superpowered search bar but it’s more than that. It creates a protective moat around the publication’s most valuable asset – its specialist content – while delivering a premium user experience that adds value and encourages loyalty. It also provides the publisher with insight into what questions its audience is asking, helping to refine future editorial strategy.
What this means for industrial brands
So what lessons can marketing and communications leaders take from this? From our perspective, as an industrial PR agency, five things stand out.
1. Think like a publisher
Ask GE works because Ground Engineering has years of detailed, high-quality content. By building a library of in-depth articles, case studies, and explainers, industrial brands can position themselves as a trusted authority and go-to source of information for their target audience, building credibility and loyalty. This also forms a strong foundation for generative engine optimisation (GEO) – ensuring your brand is mentioned when people use AI tools to answer questions – or even launching your own on-site AI tools to enhance user experience in the future.
2. Media relations is a way to become part of AI’s answers
If customers are turning to a publisher’s AI for answers, you want your expertise to be part of the response. That means ensuring your insights are included in the articles that feed the AI. If a project manager asks Ask GE about formwork in tunnel construction, and your company’s perspective has been quoted in Ground Engineering, your view is what the AI will serve up. This means that media relations isn’t just about reach anymore – it’s about influencing the knowledge base.
3. Unique insights are your way in
Journalists’ decisions about which stories to cover and which experts to quote don’t just impact what readers see in a magazine or on the publication’s website anymore, they shape the AI’s ‘worldview’. This makes it more important than ever to provide meaningful, data-backed insights that stand out from the competition. Unlike search results (where readers can see multiple links), with AI tools the answer feels definitive. That makes it even more critical that your brand is represented — or else you risk being left out entirely.
4. Think about longevity and context
It’s important to remember that an AI won’t necessarily prioritise the most recent coverage. An article from five years ago might resurface if the algorithm considers it the best answer to a user’s question. This creates both opportunities and risks. On the one hand, strong past coverage can continue working hard for your brand. On the other, outdated information about older products or early-stage innovations may overshadow your latest developments.
That’s why content needs to be written with longevity in mind. Provide clear context: is this a new breakthrough, an early trial, or the current state of the technology? By situating information in time and revisiting key topics regularly, you reduce the chance that customers using AI tools get an incomplete or misleading picture of your capabilities.
5. PR measurement will keep evolving
If audiences are turning to chatbots for answers, traditional metrics for PR measurement, such as editorial mentions or impressions, won’t tell the full story. We’ll need to start asking: ‘Are we represented in the AI training sets of key publications?’ and ‘What share of answers do we hold for important industry questions?’ These new measures are harder to track but will be central to proving the value of communications activities in the years ahead.
Influencing the AI tools of tomorrow
More publishers will likely follow Ground Engineering’s lead. For industrial brands, this shift reinforces the importance of what PR has always been about: building trust, shaping reputation, and making sure your expertise is where it matters most. The key change, however, is that it’s no longer just about visibility, it’s about influencing the answers your customers will come to rely on.
If you’d like to explore how to build a media relations and content strategy that makes your brand a go-to source for the AIs of the future, let’s start a conversation.
Hannah Kitchener
Associate Director
About the author
Hannah is an associate director in the UK, leading strategic campaigns for industrial clients across the EMEA region. A professionally qualified journalist (NCTJ), she combines specialist sectoral knowledge in construction, energy, and materials handling with a strong network of trade media contacts to secure valuable coverage. Her expertise in inter-cultural communication, honed by degrees in modern languages and translation, is key to executing campaigns that succeed across diverse European markets.
