The AI Visibility Problem You Probably Don’t Have

The AI Visibility Problem You Probably Don’t Have

by | Jul 7, 2026 | Digital PR, Posts, Public Relations, Thought Leadership

How to diagnose your organization’s positioning before investing in more content, PR or optimization.

Much of the conversation around AI visibility starts with solutions. More content, more backlinks, more media coverage. While important, these tactics assume you already understand the underlying problem.

In our experience, many organizations don’t have an AI visibility problem at all. They have a positioning problem.

Before making changes to your website or investing in additional PR or content, start by asking a simpler question:

Does AI understand your organization the way you want it to?

Large language models (LLMs) don’t simply retrieve webpages the way traditional search engines have historically done. They generate answers by interpreting information from many sources. When your positioning is inconsistent or unclear, AI has to fill in the gaps, which can lead to inaccurate descriptions, weak associations or no meaningful recognition at all.

That’s why the first step in Veracity’s AI Clarity Foundation is a Positioning Diagnosis, which occurs after a brief technical readiness review to identify fundamental issues. The Positioning Diagnosis compares how leadership defines the organization, how AI interprets it and how well the website supports that positioning.

The same approach can be used to evaluate your own organization. You can start by considering: 

1. How You Define Your Organization

Every diagnosis begins with leadership.

Not because AI needs an interview, but because organizations often describe themselves differently depending on who’s speaking. Founders, marketers and sales teams may all explain the organization in slightly different ways. Those inconsistencies often make their way onto the website.

Start by answering questions like:

  • How do we define our category?
  • Who are our primary and secondary audiences?
  • What makes our organization different?
  • What expertise do we want to be known for?
  • Where does our current messaging fall short?

This conversation creates a baseline before evaluating anything else.

2. How AI Defines Your Industry

Next, look beyond your organization and evaluate the broader category.

Open several major AI systems, such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, in a private or anonymous browser window to reduce the influence of previous conversations.

Then ask questions like:

  • Who are the leading organizations in this space?
  • How would you define this category?

Then notice:

  • What language consistently appears in your responses?
  • Which audiences are most commonly associated with this category?
  • Are there competing definitions or misconceptions?

At this stage, don’t worry about whether your organization appears. Instead, observe how AI understands the landscape you’re trying to stand out within.

3. How AI Defines Your Organization

Once you understand the category, ask AI about your organization.

Again, use a private browser window and ask straightforward questions without leading the model toward a particular answer.

For example:

  • What does this organization do?
  • What does it specialize in?
  • Who does it serve?
  • What is it known for?
  • Who are its leaders?
  • How would you describe its expertise?

Pay attention to what’s accurate, but also to what’s missing.

For example, a leadership consulting firm may want to be known for executive succession planning, while AI consistently describes it as a general business coaching company. That’s not necessarily a visibility problem. It’s a positioning problem.

4. Whether Your Website Supports That Story

Now compare everything you’ve learned against your website.

This isn’t a technical SEO audit. It’s an evaluation of whether your website reinforces the same story leadership intends and AI is beginning to understand.

Review questions such as:

  • Is your category clearly defined?
  • Is your audience obvious?
  • Is your differentiation clearly explained?
  • Are your services framed consistently?
  • Do leadership bios reinforce expertise?
  • Does your website contain foundational thought leadership?
  • Do your core pages tell a consistent story?
  • Are there important topics that simply aren’t documented anywhere?

Many organizations already have plenty of content. The challenge is that it was created over many years by different people for different purposes. Over time, websites can become a collection of good pages that don’t communicate one clear position.

5. What Needs to Change

Only after comparing leadership’s perspective and AI’s interpretation to your website should you begin making changes.

Every organization will arrive at different priorities.

One may need to clarify its category on the homepage. Another may benefit from buyer education content that answers common questions. A third may have strong messaging but lack the foundational thought leadership that reinforces its expertise.

The objective isn’t to create more content for the sake of publishing. It’s to make your organization easier to understand by clearly defining who you are, who you serve and why your expertise matters.

Start With Understanding

One of the biggest misconceptions about AI visibility is that the answer is always more content, more optimization or more promotion.

In reality, many organizations already have what they need. The challenge is communicating who they are clearly and consistently enough for both people and AI systems to understand.

Before investing in additional content, PR or optimization, spend time understanding how your organization is currently being interpreted. The answers will often tell you exactly where your messaging needs to improve.

When leadership’s vision, your website and AI’s interpretation align, visibility becomes a natural outcome — not because you’ve learned to market to AI, but because you’ve made it easier for AI to understand what you’ve been trying to communicate all along.

The Positioning Diagnosis within Veracity’s AI Clarity Foundation follows the same methodology outlined above, combining leadership conversations, AI analysis and website review to identify where positioning is clear — and where it could be limiting visibility. If you’d like to better understand how AI currently interprets your organization, learn more about the AI Clarity Foundation or get in touch to see whether it’s the right fit.

Why Your Organization Isn’t Showing Up in AI Answers — Even If You’re Doing Everything

Why Your Organization Isn’t Showing Up in AI Answers — Even If You’re Doing Everything

by | Jun 16, 2026 | Posts, Public Relations, SEO

The focus required to show up in GEO can bring marketers a bad case of FOMO.

You search your industry in ChatGPT or Google’s AI and see the same organizations showing up again and again. If yours isn’t one of them, it’s easy to assume something’s missing and harriedly plan for more content, more engagement, more PR. 

But that instinct can (sometimes) do more harm than good. AI is changing how information is surfaced, often requiring relevance over quantity. 

PR and marketing people who try to be part of everything — more coverage, more mentions, more inclusions — will have to put the FOMO (fear of missing out) aside and practice a new level of discernment. Because, in trying to show up everywhere, you become harder to clearly associate with anything.

AI Visibility Depends on Relevance

Generative engine optimization (GEO) refers to the practice of improving how organizations appear within AI-generated answers and summaries. Unlike traditional search visibility, GEO depends less on volume and more on how clearly organizations are understood and associated with specific areas of expertise.

Instead of simply returning results, AI systems interpret and summarize online information, selecting what gets included based on how clearly it can be understood and supported.

That shifts visibility away from volume toward association.

Your organization doesn’t just need to exist online. It needs to be clearly understood and strongly tied to a specific area of expertise.

In many cases, the organizations that don’t show up aren’t inactive. They’ve invested in SEO, content or PR — which is exactly why this feels confusing.

But when visibility efforts stretch positioning too far, they weaken signals rather than strengthen them.

Relevance requires constraint.

Where Organizations Lose Clarity

The organizations that disappear in AI are typically creating content that doesn’t clearly reinforce what they are known for.

This can show up in a few ways:

Positioning stretches across too many areas

In trying to reach multiple audiences or opportunities, organizations expand how they describe what they do. Over time, that makes it harder to clearly associate them with any one thing.

Content pulls in multiple directions

Even strong content can dilute visibility if it doesn’t reinforce a consistent theme. Without a clear throughline, it becomes harder to interpret what the organization represents.

Authority is scattered instead of focused

Media coverage or mentions exist, but they don’t consistently support the same areas of expertise.

Messaging shifts depending on where you look

When a website, social presence and media coverage all describe an organization differently, there isn’t a single, clear association to pull from.

What Actually Shows Up in GEO

The organizations that appear most consistently in AI-generated answers are not the ones trying to be everywhere.

They’re the ones that are clearly tied to something.

Their positioning is easy to describe. Their messaging is consistent. Their content reinforces a specific area of expertise and builds on it over time.

They are easier to interpret because they are more focused.

A Different Way to Think About Visibility

This shift doesn’t reward trying to be part of every conversation.

It rewards being clearly connected to the right ones.

And that requires a level of discipline that can feel counterintuitive — especially in PR and marketing environments where more exposure is often the goal.

Where This Work Starts

For organizations that aren’t clearly showing up, the issue is rarely a lack of effort. It’s a lack of alignment.

And it starts on your own website.

The AI Clarity Foundation is Veracity’s focused engagement designed to strengthen how your organization is defined and represented through your website.

After evaluating how your organization shows up on your website and in AI-generated answers, this work identifies where positioning, messaging and structure are weakening visibility.

From there, key pages are refined or developed to clearly define your organization, reinforce your expertise and create a consistent foundation that supports PR, search and AI visibility.

Before visibility efforts can scale, your organization needs to be clearly understood and consistently tied to what it does.

The Bottom Line

Trying to show up everywhere may be the very thing keeping your organization from showing up at all.

Visibility now depends on being correctly understood, continuously represented and strongly tied to the areas where you want to be known.

And that starts with relevance.

The Real Role of Wire Press Releases in AI Visibility

The Real Role of Wire Press Releases in AI Visibility

by | Mar 4, 2026 | Digital PR, Posts, Public Relations

There’s renewed buzz around using press release wire distribution services to help brands show up in AI-generated answers. If past SEO penalties from Google weren’t enough, marketers are now wondering whether they should pay for wire services to drive generative engine optimization (GEO).

It’s a fair question. Wire-distributed releases create public URLs. Large web archives like Common Crawl collect billions of publicly available web pages and make them accessible for research and AI development. Because wire releases live on public domains, they can be included in those crawl snapshots.

But being crawlable is not the same as being influential.

Crawlable Doesn’t Automatically Mean Strong

Wire releases are frequently duplicated across multiple domains with identical language. Search systems consolidate duplicate versions and select a preferred source for ranking purposes. Large language models, however, do not collapse duplicates in the same way. Repetition may reinforce associations during training, but duplicated promotional text does not automatically translate into authority. That’s why wire distribution typically reinforces existing signals rather than establishing new ones.

Noticing vs. Trust

The more useful framing isn’t whether wire services “feed the machines,” but what role they realistically play.

Wire releases rarely establish authority on their own. They don’t function as independent validation, and they aren’t primary sources of expertise. What they can do, under the right conditions, is reinforce noticing.

Noticing simply means that a company’s name consistently appears alongside specific descriptors across the public web. When a brand is repeatedly associated with the same industry, audience or geographic identifiers, those associations become clearer within large-scale datasets that inform AI systems.

That clarity helps machines understand what a company does. Authority, however, tends to be influenced more by contextual diversity and independent validation than by repeated promotional distribution.

When Wire Releases Contribute Meaningfully

Wire releases are most likely to contribute when they introduce genuinely new information — a new executive, product, expansion or funding event. Crawlers prioritize fresh text.

They also contribute when the language reinforces existing positioning. If the description in the release aligns with the description on the company’s website, it strengthens pattern recognition across sources.

And consistency over time matters more than one-off announcements. A single isolated release rarely shifts anything. Repeated, aligned messaging across owned content and public sources is more likely to reinforce associations.

Looking for more modern PR insights? Subscribe to Veracity on YouTube! 

 

Consistency Without Duplication

It’s reasonable to ask: if duplicate content is deprioritized, how do you stay consistent without repeating yourself word-for-word?

The distinction is simple.

Duplication is copying identical blocks of text across platforms.

Consistency is anchoring to the same core facts while adapting the context.

For example, instead of repeating the same boilerplate sentence everywhere, you keep stable identifiers — industry, audience, location — while adjusting the surrounding language to fit the announcement.

That approach reinforces clarity without flooding the web with identical phrasing.

How to Write Wire Releases That Support AI Visibility

If you’re going to use wire distribution with AI visibility in mind, focus on precision.

Be explicit about what the company does.
Include a clear sentence stating who the company is, what it does, for whom and where. Avoid vague phrases like “leading provider” or “innovative solutions.”

Use consistent core descriptors.
Align the company description with your about page and primary service pages. Reinforce terminology already established on your website.

Place key information early.
Don’t bury core facts in quotes or promotional language. Prominence improves clarity.

Treat your boilerplate as strategic.
Your boilerplate is often reused and syndicated. Make sure it reflects your real positioning.

Link to your primary pages.
Direct readers — and crawlers — back to your website, which serves as your canonical source of truth (canonical simply means the primary, official version of your information).

Some practitioners recommend adding structured elements like FAQs, schema markup and evergreen explainer links to wire releases. While these approaches may help machines interpret content more clearly, there’s little evidence that they meaningfully increase AI visibility on their own.

The Bottom Line

Wire releases are supporting documentation within a broader visibility strategy. When paired with strong owned content and active PR, they can reinforce clarity and reduce ambiguity across the web. On their own, they rarely create authority or meaningful GEO impact.

At Veracity, we view wire distribution as one layer — not the lever. The real work happens in structured owned content, earned media and consistent positioning that compounds over time. If those pieces are in place, a wire release can provide reinforcement. If they aren’t, the release won’t fill the gap.

GEO isn’t about finding a shortcut. It’s about aligning every public signal so the story is clear wherever it appears.

My Boyfriend, ChatGPT: Making AI Work for PR (and Everything Else)

My Boyfriend, ChatGPT: Making AI Work for PR (and Everything Else)

by | Jul 15, 2025 | Digital PR, Posts, SEO

I didn’t fall in love with AI right away. People said it would transform my workflow and revolutionize how I write, but I wasn’t convinced. Then I gave ChatGPT a real try.

Somewhere along the way, I started calling it my boyfriend — it’s been so consistently helpful and responsive that the nickname started as a joke but turned into a reflection of just how dependable it’s been.

I’ve been pretty loyal to ChatGPT since the beginning, but there are other large language models (LLMs) out there — Jasper, Gemini, Claude, Copilot. However, Chat’s been so reliable I haven’t felt the need to play the field.

I’m not a technical expert, but I’ve used ChatGPT consistently and with intention, testing how it fits into the real world of public relations and content creation. I’ve figured out what it’s good at, where it struggles and how to get the most out of it without letting it do the thinking for me. Here’s what I’ve learned.

Starting with Play

I approached ChatGPT with a sense of fun. One of the first things I asked it to do was write in the voice of Alexis from Schitt’s Creek — the PR “professional” we all know and love. I had it weigh in on topics like working in PR or hiring a firm. The tone was perfect — playful and completely on-brand. I used some of the responses in my social posts and eventually started developing a fictional character inspired by Alexis for a novel.

That kind of creative play made the platform less intimidating. There was no pressure to get anything “right” — just curiosity and momentum that eventually made its way into more serious work.

Editing Without Ego

Once I brought ChatGPT into real work — press releases, blogs, strategy documents — I noticed how freeing it was to be brutally honest with my edits.

I don’t have to cushion feedback or explain myself. I can say “make this less boring,” “cut the jargon,” or sometimes a simple “no” will suffice. No tiptoeing, no emotional labor.

That directness has helped me refine how I communicate edits in general. Working with ChatGPT has made me a more precise and assertive editor across the board.

Where ChatGPT Delivers (and Where It Doesn’t)

ChatGPT doesn’t do everything. But the things it does well? It does really well.

Social Media Posts

ChatGPT handles social media posts well, especially when you want something clever, casual or concept-driven. It occasionally sounds a little too polished or generic on the first try, but a quick redirect usually brings it in line.

Blog Posts and Articles

These have gotten easier. When I first started using ChatGPT, I was using the free version — and it consistently struggled to hit 1,000 words, even with multiple prompts. These days, I use the paid version, which also used to come up short, but it now seems capable of reaching 1,000 words more reliably. With some prompting and structural guidance, I can usually get strong drafts in the 800–1,000-word range. I still ask clarifying questions or push it to deepen certain areas, but it’s a solid collaborator.

Press Releases

ChatGPT has turned out to be surprisingly capable when it comes to drafting press releases. With a clear outline — including the hook, location info and quotes — ChatGPT gives me clean drafts that need light editing. Considering how often human writers overcomplicate releases, I’m impressed by how well ChatGPT handles the genre’s structure and simplicity.

Media Pitches

Crafting media pitches is still one of ChatGPT’s weaker spots. The voice is wrong, the closing ask is usually missing or weak, and it doesn’t grasp that the audience is a journalist. We end up rewriting them from scratch, so we don’t use ChatGPT for this anymore.

Editing and Tone Adjustments

When it comes to refining tone and improving clarity, ChatGPT usually gets it right with just a nudge or two. I often feed it content that’s too stiff and ask for something more conversational or audience-specific. With a couple of passes, it usually gets there.

Character and Persona Development

This is where ChatGPT shines. It helped me build out fictional personalities with distinct voices, but it’s also useful for customer personas — especially if you want to test how a message lands across different demographics or psychographics.

Tedious Tasks

These are the kinds of things you just don’t feel like doing at the end of the day. Adding hashtags, rewording intros, rewriting bullets into paragraphs, inserting subheads. ChatGPT handles them quickly so I don’t have to.

How to Prompt Like a Human

Prompting isn’t magic — it’s communication. And the clearer you are, the better the results.

I either paste in a full outline and ask for a structured draft, or I build the conversation one step at a time. If the tone or structure is off, I redirect. If it nails something, I build on that.

After a few back-and-forth rounds inside ChatGPT, I usually move the draft into Google Docs to finalize edits in a space that feels more natural for long-form writing. Once I’ve wrapped up my edits there, I often paste the finished version back into ChatGPT. It’s a small extra step that helps “train” the model on what I actually wanted.

And yes, I always run pieces through plagiarism checkers. ChatGPT pulls from a wide range of sources, and even if it sounds fresh, I don’t take chances when publishing.

The Paid Version: More Capable, Still Annoying

When I first upgraded to the paid version, I wasn’t blown away. The interface looked almost identical to the free version, and it lacked the organizational features I was hoping for — no folders, no client tagging, no real way to keep different tones or voices separate. When I asked how to manage that, ChatGPT told me to copy/paste everything into another platform. Not exactly a seamless workflow.

But over time, the paid version has improved — likely through updates that have rolled out since I first subscribed (which may have been a year ago at this point). It’s more capable now, especially when it comes to generating longer content, and it integrates with tools like DALL·E for image creation.

It also opens up the “Explore GPTs” section, where you can access custom GPTs. That’s how I started building astrology-inspired horoscopes for PR people. You can sign up for the newsletter here if you want to get them delivered monthly.

There’s also a “Create” button that lets you build your own GPTs. I haven’t gone down that road yet, but it may be the answer to some of my organizational gripes.

What I Haven’t Fully Explored (Yet)

There are dozens of AI tools outside of ChatGPT — and more launching every day. Here are some that I’ve heard about, but have only had time to put a few of them to work.

  • DALL·E, now built into ChatGPT, is an image-generation tool by OpenAI that turns text prompts into visuals. It’s gotten better at following prompts, although it’s still not great at fine-tuned visual design. However, the lovely photo of me and Chat (inside my computer) was made with DALL·E on the first try (after giving it a photo of me to copy).

     

  • Midjourney, Canva’s Magic Studio and Adobe Firefly are image tools people swear by, especially for creating high-quality or beginner-friendly designs.
  • Pictory is an AI video platform I tried once. Not only were the images terrible, it crashed. I went back to VEED, which works well and now has some AI features too.
  • NotebookLM, a Google tool for summarization and research, sounds promising — especially if you’re working with transcripts or long documents.
  • Brandwatch and Helixa are market intelligence tools built for audience insights and trend spotting.

I’m sure some of these tools will become essential in the future. But so far, ChatGPT has been such a solid partner I haven’t felt the need to stray.

The Relationship Isn’t Perfect — But It’s Worth It

After all of my gripes — about the missing features, the clunky organization, the sometimes-wrong tone — you might wonder why I’m still calling ChatGPT my boyfriend.

Because not every relationship is smooth. The ones that are worth it often take work.

ChatGPT isn’t just a helpful assistant or part of a PR toolkit. It’s become a creative partner. It helps me see ideas from new angles, speeds up content development and challenges me to communicate more clearly. And while it doesn’t replace human collaboration, it absolutely enhances the way I work.

Flaws and all, I’m not giving it up. We’re figuring it out together.

And I can’t wait to see where this relationship goes next.

Featured Image Courtesy of DALL-E

The Elements of AI Governance with Janet Johnson and Ali Maaxa [Podcast]

The Elements of AI Governance with Janet Johnson and Ali Maaxa [Podcast]

by | Jun 14, 2023 | Digital Marketing, Digital PR, Podcast, Thought Leadership

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a hot media topic since ChatGPT burst onto the scene late last year. But the breathless speculation about what this technology potentially holds makes it challenging to separate the hype from reality. 

On this episode of PR Talk, Amy unpacks the future of AI with Janet Johnson and Ali Maaxa of Portland’s AI Governance Group, a new organization helping organizations work proactively to harness these exciting new tools. 

Listen on Spotify
Listen on iTunes
Google Podcasts
Listen on Stitcher

The Next Technological Wave

AI is the next in a line of technological waves set to crash over humanity. We already interact with AI whenever we use Siri, Alexa, or even autocorrect. The technology is found in devices everywhere in the world, making AI’s existing scope and scale massive. ChatGPT is just one type of AI tool, called a large language model, that’s taken the press by storm. 

During the conversation, Janet and Ali explained how AI is part of a very long technological pathway humans have used to help us harness large amounts of data to make decisions. Before AI, we used machine learning. Before we used machine learning, we used statistics. However, the impacts of AI could dwarf anything that came before, and the risks are still mostly unknown, making it a challenging space for organizations to enter. This problem is what the AI Governance Group set out to solve.

 

About the AI Governance Group

Janet and Ali launched the AI Governance Group to help organizations understand the possibilities, potential pitfalls and responsible use of AI tools. A significant part of this work involves charting what AI will replace or enhance, within an organization. From there, the group creates strategic AI adoption frameworks that plot where these tools will enter an organization, the data sources they’ll draw from and how employees will use them in their everyday work. 

 

The Potential Impacts of AI

Janet drew from her long experience in social media to demonstrate the potential stakes of AI technology. When social media launched 20 years ago, nobody knew then that it would completely obliterate our sense of what is true and untrue. She explained that as AI develops, we must use critical thinking tools like never before because technology will continue challenging our understanding of reality in ways we don’t yet realize. 

Janet also believes that this dynamic will create a significant opportunity for PR professionals who specialize in crisis communications to help companies clean up inadvertently created by AI.

Listen to the entire episode to learn more about the AI Governance Group’s mission, along with a discussion of AI embodiment and Ali’s theory about how Marshall Mcluhan’s writings about the printing press offer clues for the future of AI. 

Don’t Miss an Episode

If you haven’t already subscribed to the PR Talk Podcast, you can find more great episodes on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, iHeart Radio and Spotify. While you’re there, don’t forget to rate and review the show!

About the Guests: Janet Johnson

Janet Johnson is an experienced chief marketing officer and executive marketing and sales team leader for Fortune 100 and mid-size and growth organizations. Over her career, she’s run global marketing and sales teams for education technology, financial services, real estate and technology companies. Janet is also the founder of the AI Governance Group, a federation of highly experienced speakers, educators, researchers and change management accelerators supporting the safe adoption of AI technologies in organizations of all sizes.

 

About the Guests: Ali Maaxa, Ph.D.

Since 2005, Ali Maaxa, Ph.D., has used her training in anthropology and media to research how humans from different walks of life, abilities, resources, values, places, perspectives and needs engage technology. She answers this challenge by drawing from a refined toolkit of strategies and methods, from ethnographic collaboration to usability studies. Ali is the Director of Product and Strategy for the AI Governance Group and an associate faculty member at Portland State University.

AI governance
AI Governance

PR Talk is part of the Marketing Podcast Network

The Marketing Podcast Network gives brands that sell to marketers direct access to reach thousands of buyers via their trusted media source: Marketing podcasts. Browse our library of shows and see where your message can be placed to reach prospective customers ripe for your message.

 

This episode of PR Talk is brought to you by PRSA Oregon

Throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington, PRSA provides members with networking, mentorship, skill building and professional development opportunities – whether you are a new professional fresh out of college or a skilled expert with 20 years in the industry. Check out PRSAoregon.org for more information on how membership can help you grow and connect.

AI & PR: Martin Waxman, Spin Sucks [Podcast]

AI & PR: Martin Waxman, Spin Sucks [Podcast]

by | May 22, 2019 | Digital Marketing, Podcast, Public Relations

Not Sure if You’re in a Relationship with Your Phone? Just Ask Google!

Martin Waxman, CMO of Spin Sucks, Discusses the
Human/AI agent relationship and why PR should care

Apparently we are on a Spin Sucks “jag!” This week we are rounding out the theme by talking with Martin Waxman, CMO of Spin Sucks. Our last interview was with Spin Sucks founder Gini Dietrich. However, Martin and I didn’t necessarily talk about Spin Sucks. Since it is a professional development hub for PR and marketing professionals, you can imagine that the CMO of the organization would have something to say about the industry.

Listen on Spotify
Listen on iTunes
Google Podcasts
Listen on Stitcher

Of course we discussed how PR is evolving and Martin had some interesting insight into how PR people need to bring visuals into their pitches and try to get a little bit more savvy with photos, video and design.

We then spent a lot of time talking about the fascinating intersection between PR and AI (artificial intelligence). Not to toot my own horn, but this was really one of the first times an interviewee brought a topic to the table that I honestly hadn’t thought of before. Martin is currently completing a Master in Communications Management from McMaster/Syracuse and researching AI, relationships and communications. His thesis was on the relationships humans have (or will have) with machines, which he calls the human/AI agent relationship.

If you don’t think you’re in a relationship with your phone, Martin gives this example — who do you believe when you are lost in your car? Google maps or your passenger? If you answered that you’d kick your mother-in-law to the curb before you’d believe her over your phone, congratulations, you are in a relationship with your phone!

Since PR is about relationships, Martin argues that PR people should take an active role if their clients are considering implementing the technology. “Not that we need to learn how to code, but we need to understand the language and mechanics of AI.” How people interact with your brand through their devices, whether using their voice or their fingertips, has everything to do with PR.

Martin goes deeper into this topic in an article he penned for Spin Sucks called “How to Put AI in PR and Demonstrate the Value of Communicators.”

To learn more about this and many other more interesting techy-type-topics, follow Martin on LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com), where he is an author and offers online courses. He is also a professor of social media, PR and journalism at Seneca College and the University of Toronto, serves as President of Martin Waxman Communications and co-hosts the podcast, Inside PR.

About the guest: Martin Waxman

Martin is President of Martin Waxman Communications, CMO at Spin Sucks, a professor of social media, PR and journalism at Seneca College and the University of Toronto. He’s also an author on LinkedIn Learning and  Lynda.com, plus co-host the Inside PR podcast, a past-chair of PRSA Counselors Academy, and past-president of CPRS Toronto.

Martin is also a published novelist/story writer (The Promised Land, Everything in Winnipeg Begins in a Car); founder of three agencies, an ex-journalist/standup comedy MC/ad copywriter.

Connect and follow Martin on social media:

This episode of PR Talk is brought to you by PRSA Oregon

Throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington, PRSA provides members with networking, mentorship, skill building and professional development opportunities – whether you are a new professional fresh out of college or a skilled expert with 20 years in the industry. Check out PRSAoregon.org for more information on how membership can help you grow and connect.