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| Erik Carlson |
For decades, communications teams have primarily focused on getting coverage. Today, that’s no longer the finish line.
Increasingly, the first “reader” of your press release isn’t a journalist—it’s an AI system deciding whether your content is credible enough to reference.
Large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity now act as editors at scale, shaping how information is summarized, cited and repeated across industries. That shift changes what visibility really means.
As AI chatbots and virtual agents take on more discovery tasks, visibility is no longer about blue links and impressions. It’s about whether AI systems choose your content as the source they trust enough to cite.
This moment creates real opportunity. When optimized for this new reality, releases can deliver measurable impact through citations, narrative accuracy and repeated inclusion in AI-generated answers. That’s a powerful story to take back to the C-suite.
Introducing the SOAR Content Framework
At Notified, we didn’t want theory. We wanted proof this hypothesis was correct.
That’s why we developed the SOAR Content Framework, a data-driven approach to optimizing communications for AI discovery.
SOAR is built on four pillars that consistently correlate with higher AI citation performance:
Structure—Make content easy for machines to extract. Clear headlines, visible key facts and well-labeled sections help AI models confidently identify what matters.
Originality—Be the source, not the echo. First-party data points, quotes and unique insights give AI something distinct and defensible to reference.
Authority—Signal trust. Publish on official domains, include verified spokesperson information and align distributed and owned content.
Recency—Keep content current and timestamped. AI systems prioritize recent information as a trust signal, so visible dates and timely updates matter.
The results speak for themselves.
In our research, we analyzed more than 200,000 press releases and 13 million AI citations over 30 days. One standout example: a lesser-known B2B organization that earned 3.4 times more AI citations than a nationally recognized B2C retailer for a similar announcement published the same week.
The difference wasn’t brand awareness. It was structure and clarity.
How To Measure Success in the Answer Engine Economy
This is also where PR measurement needs to change. Success in this environment means shifting what we track.
For decades, measurement was conducted in short cycles (e.g. 48 to 72 hours after an announcement).
As AI tools continue to train on trustworthy content, your content can resurface days or even weeks later. The impact compounds over time because AI rewards consistency and clarity.
This leads to new ways of measuring success, including:
- Longer visibility windows
- Citation patterns across AI tools
- How your narrative clusters with competitors
- LLM share of voice (SOV)
The takeaway is simple. Visibility has shifted from search rankings to earning trust from AI systems that shape information discovery.
By applying the SOAR Content Framework and new measurement strategies, you can optimize content for AI citation, driving impact and long-term influence.
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Erik Carlson is president & CEO of Notified.
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