Link. Cite. Rank. Unite: Cracking search in the AI-first era
Stupidly competitive at everything. Sport, leisure and fitness PR and marketing background. International racqueteer. Ponderer.
The digital landscape is shifting under our feet. The biggest game-changer right now? Artificial intelligence (shock), with large language models (LLMs) like Gemini, Grok, and ChatGPT leading the charge. These have already completely rewritten how many users find information, moving way beyond Google’s blue links in search engines to provide direct, and in many cases, tailored answers.
Recently, 29 July 2025, we saw the launch of Google’s AI Mode in the UK, further solidifying this shift and making the convergence of digital PR, brand PR, and SEO more critical than ever.
With mentions, press coverage and brand building cited as key fundamentals to driving performance in AI search and GEO, the digital PR and link builder in me has been crying out “are links dead?!”.
Are links still important for SEO and search?
Links are not dead. Not by a long shot. They’re still playing a critical role, across all areas of search, including the growth phase of AI-driven discovery. How links are interpreted and their strategic importance has evolved, but their power to signal authority, credibility, and genuine relevance to users and search agents is still as crucial as ever.
This evolution brings big challenges but even bigger opportunities for brands.
For too long digital PR, brand PR, and SEO have been stuck in their own lanes, each chasing their own goals. But if brands want to truly drive performance in this new era of search, it’s not just about collaboration anymore – it’s about full-on integration. The future of organic performance demands a unified front.
Search and digital PR opportunities – and their importance in marketing strategy
SEO has been the bedrock of organic performance for the last 20+ years with technical optimisation, keyword research, on-page content, and building quality backlinks all crucial to bagging those page one rankings in the SERPs.
In the last decade, digital PR emerged as SEO’s strategic and creative brand extension, using campaigns and media nous to earn those highly coveted links through legitimate tactics.
Meanwhile, brand PR focused on crafting compelling stories, managing reputation, and building brand equity through media relations. However the integration between PR efforts and other marketing strategies have often been siloed. This separation can no longer continue.
In the past, individual efforts have delivered results, but LLMs and AI search are a different beast. Google’s AI Overviews, for example, don’t just hand you a list of links; they summarise information directly, often pulling from multiple sources. This means simply ranking number one for a keyword isn’t the whole story anymore. Your brand needs to be a trusted, authoritative, and frequently mentioned source for AI to even consider bringing it into the conversation.
CEO of search agency Minty Digital, Charlie Clark’s way of putting it at the recent Digital PR Summit was on point:
“If no-one is searching for your brand in the first place, why would Google care?”
At Tank, we’ve consistently seen a clear correlation across clients – as branded search increases, so too does performance in non-branded search queries. It’s a win-win across all areas of search to get this nailed down.
Trust is absolutely key in the wave of AI models
A common thread weaving through SEO, digital PR, brand PR, and now, crucially, LLM visibility and GEO, is authority and trust. AI models process colossal amounts of data, and their ability to give accurate, unbiased answers hinges greatly on the credibility of their sources.
And this applies even when your brand is showing up in the right places; AI-driven content, while valued, is still heavily questioned by users. It’s crucial the responses you are being referenced for represent your brand factually, legitimately and are reflective of your core messaging and tone of voice.
The key pillars of organic content marketing
Here’s how the three key pillars of organic content marketing when they’re truly working as one, build that all essential authority for brands:
Digital PR driving quality coverage and links at scale
Tank as a digital PR agency has always been brilliant at securing valuable online media coverage and, by extension, high-quality backlinks. In the wake of AI search, this role gets a massive upgrade. AI models increasingly prioritise content from trusted, reputable publications. An effective digital PR strategy makes sure your brand is being talked about, cited, and linked to by these influential platforms.
While we have seen a recent resurgence in the role of brand mentions and their impact on digital performance, backlinks are still gold for search performance. Brand PRs and digital PRs have simply come closer together in terms of strategy, execution and measures of success for campaigns.
Previously somewhat shunned, digital PRs should not be afraid to shout about unlinked brand mentions. There is a reason why brand or ‘traditional’ PR agencies exist, and of course press coverage in itself has always been critical to business success.
AI models-specifically are sophisticated enough to recognise and value these mentions, even without a direct link, seeing them as clear signals of brand recognition and true relevance. Consistently landing coverage on specific subjects also helps AI understand your brand as a genuine expert in that field. This topical authority is absolutely vital for being cited in AI-generated answers, especially for niche queries.
Brand PR – Shaping the narrative and forging trust
Brand PR is uniquely placed to sculpt the overarching narrative around your brand across all areas of marketing as well as in search specifically. LLMs learn about brands from a vast ocean of information online.
An effective brand PR strategy ensures positive sentiment, key messages and accurate information about a business is spread across all important channels, which directly influences how AI talks about your brand.
This includes the positioning of your key people as industry experts through media commentary, interviews, and opinion pieces – as these feed directly into those E-E-A-T signals (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) that Google and other LLMs love.
Brand PR also ensures your messaging and identity are consistent across every single online touchpoint which in turn helps AI systems build a coherent and trustworthy profile of your brand – thereby making it more reliable for citation.
This approach accompanied by campaign-led digital PR activity can be an effective way to ensure a ‘layered approach’ is in place; allowing a consistent flow of press activity for a brand that avoids peaks and troughs of coverage mentions and links. Instead you’re consistently cited as a source of insight, through legitimate tactics of creating great, helpful content and storytelling. This is what Google and LLMs want to see.
SEO: Tying it all back into the on-page experience
Search marketing remains the core backbone that enables discoverability and understanding for both traditional search engines and LLMs.
A technically sound website is non-negotiable. It makes sure AI crawlers can access, understand, and index your content effortlessly. Think fast site speed, mobile-friendliness, and perfectly implemented structured data. These all help AI agents extract crucial information.
SEO guides the creation of highly relevant, comprehensive, and genuinely useful content. We’re talking in-depth FAQs, crystal-clear headings, and logical structures that LLMs can easily dissect and summarise.
While keyword research is still vital, the focus is shifting. It’s now about really grasping semantic relationships and those longer, conversational queries users will be firing at LLMs. Your content needs to answer these questions directly and thoroughly.
Internal linking best practices should be in place to pass link equity through your site and signal to search and generative AI engines which content is most important within your domain.
In practice: Uniting the three disciplines together
Let’s picture an example: a brand wants to be the undisputed leader in sustainable packaging. Our digital PR team could launch a brilliant, data-led campaign on plastic waste trends, pitching it well to top environmental journalists and industry publications. High-authority links and mentions secured.
At the same time, brand PR could be busy positioning the client’s CEO as the expert in circular economy principles, securing them speaking gigs and thought leadership slots in key business media. This elevates brand authority and boosts that crucial E-E-A-T.
In the background, SEO specialists will be making sure the client’s website content is sharply optimised around “sustainable packaging solutions,” “eco-friendly materials,” and “circular economy best practices,” or similar, complete with clear definitions, compelling case studies, and a perfectly planned internal link structure that complements digital PR activity.
Every single piece of this integrated web will strengthen performance in search across Google, generative AI engines and LLMs.
The links earned by digital PR supercharge SEO authority, making the website more likely to be crawled and cited. Brand PR efforts ensure the client’s expertise is recognised across the broader media landscape, subtly influencing how AI perceives their authority. And SEO activity provides the structured, high-quality content that LLMs can easily devour and use to churn out authoritative answers.
Brand at the forefront of digital strategy
The lines between digital PR, brand PR and SEO aren’t just blurring, they’re dissolving. But that’s exactly where the best results shine through.
Becoming a market leader in the age of AI search won’t come from isolated tactics, but from a truly seamless, actually integrated strategy. By getting these tactics working closer than ever, sharing insights, and aligning objectives, brands can build the undeniable authority and trust needed to dominate organic performance, whether it’s through LLM citations or through organic search. The future is collaborative, and the brands that embrace this integration will be the ones that truly excel.
Looking for guidance?
At Tank, we are in a fairly unique position in the digital marketing world with our foundations in brand PR and the ability to build a brand’s presence away from just SEO and paid media tactics. We’re all-in on this unified approach, ensuring clients aren’t just seen, but are truly understood and trusted in this exciting new era of search. Start your next project with us.
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