Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the way people find information. In addition to shifting habits, new tools employ different criteria for the sources they use and the information they highlight. As a result, life sciences companies must adapt their communication strategies so that their products and services are not overlooked by AI algorithms, and PR is becoming a cornerstone of the new information environment.
In a 2025 report, Top Predictions to Inform 2026 Comms Strategies, Gartner predicted that earned media budgets would double by 2027, largely driven by the adoption of AI. Here, we explore the current AI landscape, and how HDMZ’s strategic approach to media relations has adapted to support our life sciences clients.
How AI is changing the landscape
AI is shifting the information landscape in two key ways: The first is in search engines, such as Google, providing AI summaries (known as Google AI Overviews) above standard search results. This has led to a rise in zero-click searches. In fact, a recent SparkToro analysis found that, when an AI Overview appeared, click-through rates dropped by nearly 60%. Since users are able to receive answers before viewing the sites returned by a search, it’s critical for companies to be mentioned and cited in these AI summaries.
The second shift is in consumer research habits. People now often ask AI tools, such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini, to do their research for them. These tools can return a curated list of recommended brands, bypassing the opportunity for users to discover a website organically. Brands must rely on being included in these results to reach consumers during their research journey.
How does AI choose its sources?
These two shifts naturally raise the question: How does AI select the companies and content it highlights? In many ways, good search engine optimization (SEO) practices in owned web content lead to good generative engine optimization (GEO), and increasingly answer engine optimization (AEO), making it easier for AI tools to draw from a given source. While a website’s SEO does support AI visibility and citations, especially when it provides clear, concise information, this alone is not enough to increase inclusion in AI summaries and recommendations.
AI prioritizes authoritative third-party sources, such as news outlets, trade media, and peer-reviewed journals, above a company’s owned site.
Increasingly, studies show that AI uses the broader digital environment to inform its responses, pulling from a wide range of sources, including forums and social media. In particular, AI prioritizes authoritative third-party sources, such as news outlets, trade media, and peer-reviewed journals, above a company’s owned site. This aligns with Google’s E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) framework, which establishes standards for its algorithm to reward credible third-party content. As a result, PR strategies have become pivotal to brand visibility in the current AI landscape.
How do you build an AI-aligned PR plan?
Creating a media relations strategy that supports AI visibility, and will continue to hold value as LLMs evolve, requires an intentional approach. For life sciences companies, including biotech and pharma brands, domain expertise establishes credibility with industry journalists, a critical factor in earning coverage. Such a strategy also requires being proactive, using digital PR and thought leadership to cultivate a consistent media presence, rather than relying solely on intermittent press releases.
HDMZ builds on the elements of expertise and proactivity with a PR framework uniquely suited for the AI landscape. Our proprietary Media Quality Index ensures that earned coverage is thoughtful, with placements in authoritative and respected outlets — the exact visibility that AI algorithms prioritize. Crucially, our team maintains ongoing relationships with key industry journalists and monitors the news cycle for timely opportunities, ensuring steady, cumulative momentum.
Moreover, HDMZ’s Future State Strategy defines where a company wants to be positioned in the market and shapes a narrative to support that goal. This gives us a consistent story that’s easy for large language models (LLMs, which underpin AI tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini) to interpret, while keeping earned media aligned with long-term company objectives.
Such a strategy also requires being proactive, using digital PR and thought leadership to cultivate a consistent media presence, rather than relying solely on intermittent press releases.
A strategy for the future
The AI environment is evolving rapidly, meaning that today’s certainties could shift within months, even weeks. Successful companies must continuously track this landscape and pivot as needed, but the PR fundamentals that improve AI visibility today — credibility, consistency, and authoritative coverage — will hold their value no matter how the technology evolves.
