Navigating Search and AI

Leveraging Strategic Digital PR for SEO Authority While Acknowledging AI Visibility Challenges

Introduction: The Dual Landscape of Search and AI in Digital PR

In today’s dynamic digital environment, Public Relations (PR) has evolved beyond traditional media outreach. The focus has increasingly shifted towards “digital PR,” a strategic approach that integrates media visibility with the critical goal of improving rankings in Google Search through the acquisition of high-quality backlinks. 

Digital PR can be defined as “creating and sustaining an influential presence on the digital web.” To stand out in a competitive landscape, adopting a “Blue Ocean Strategy” can be beneficial, focusing on creating uncontested market spaces where competition becomes less relevant. 

However, it is crucial to understand a fundamental difference between Google Search and modern AI models: “there is absolutely no way whatsoever to determine ‘brand placement’ or ‘brand awareness’ in an AI model! Therefore, while digital PR strives to influence Google rankings, the measurement and even the concept of brand presence differ significantly in the realm of AI. 

The SEO Foundation of Digital PR: Backlinks and Google Authority

A cornerstone of effective digital PR for search engine optimization (SEO) is the understanding that high authority backlinks are a critical factor for achieving better rankings in Google Search. Google interprets these links from reputable sites as a “vote of confidence and authority,” signaling the value and trustworthiness of your website. Three key digital PR tactics are particularly effective for earning such backlinks:

• Broken Backlink Replacement: Identifying broken links on high authority websites within your industry and suggesting your relevant content as a replacement. This offers a “win-win” scenario, as the website fixes a broken link, improving user experience, and you gain a valuable, relevant backlink.
• Getting Featured in Roundup Stories: Identifying high domain authority websites that publish roundup articles featuring multiple products, services, or expert opinions. By pitching your product or expertise with a “concise, compelling, and tailored pitch,” you can secure a feature, gaining exposure, targeted traffic, and a valuable backlink.
• Pitching Op-Eds and Bylines: Leveraging your expertise to contribute opinion pieces (op-eds) or in-depth articles (bylines) to top industry publications. These often include a writer bio with a link back to your website, providing a high-quality backlink while establishing you as a thought leader. The success of these methods is primarily judged by the acquisition of valuable backlinks that directly contribute to improved visibility and ranking in Google Search.

Applying a Blue Ocean Strategy to Digital PR: Differentiating for Greater Impact

The digital landscape can often feel like a “red ocean,” characterized by intense competition for the same keywords, audiences, and media attention. The Blue Ocean Strategy offers a way to escape this hyper-competitive environment by creating uncontested market spaces through “value innovation.” In the context of digital PR, this means moving beyond standard press releases and finding unique, innovative ways to engage with media and create compelling content. By offering something different and more valuable, you can increase the likelihood of earning high-quality backlinks and achieving higher search rankings.

The Four Actions Framework and Its Influence on Backlink Quality and Search Visibility

The Blue Ocean Strategy employs the Four Actions Framework to help break away from competitive norms:

• Eliminate: In digital PR, this could involve moving away from solely relying on generic product launch announcements that often get lost in the noise. Instead, focus on thought-provoking content or data-driven insights that are more likely to attract media attention and backlinks.
• Reduce: Reducing less effective outreach efforts, such as broad, untargeted press release distribution with little personalization. A more focused and tailored outreach strategy to relevant journalists and publications can yield better results in terms of securing backlinks.
• Raise: Elevating the value you offer to journalists, such as providing exclusive data, in-depth expert commentary, or unique perspectives. This makes your brand a more desirable and credible source, increasing the chances of earning backlinks from high-authority publications.
• Create: Developing entirely new content formats or distribution channels that your industry hasn’t traditionally utilized. This could include original research, interactive content, or collaborations that offer unique value and are more likely to be cited and linked to.

By strategically applying this framework to your digital PR efforts, you can create content that is not only more compelling to journalists but also more valuable for their audience, thereby enhancing the quality and relevance of the backlinks you acquire and improving your search visibility.

Navigating the AI Landscape: Focusing on Content Association, Not Placement

It is critical to reiterate the distinct nature of AI models compared to Google Search. While digital PR aims to improve search engine rankings, achieving measurable “brand placement” or “brand awareness” within generative AI models is currently impossible. AI models operate based on probabilistic algorithms and conversational interactions, not keyword-based rankings. However, the differentiated content created through a Blue Ocean digital PR strategy – such as unique insights and expert commentary – can still contribute to a brand’s association with relevant topics within the vast datasets AI models are trained on. By consistently contributing high-quality, differentiated content to reputable websites (thereby earning valuable backlinks for SEO), you increase the chances of your brand’s expertise being part of the broader information landscape that AI models may access and utilize.

Amplifying Visibility and Thought Leadership Across Platforms

Adopting a “visibility PR” strategy, which is proactive rather than reactive, is key. This involves regularly contributing insights, offering expert commentary, and securing bylined articles in key industry publications. By positioning your brand and team members as thought leaders, you become a go-to source for journalists seeking expert opinions and trend analysis. This consistent media coverage not only strengthens your brand’s credibility but also leads to valuable backlinks, significantly boosting your SEO.

Optimizing Digital Assets for Both Search and Potential AI Recognition

While direct brand placement in AI is not feasible, optimizing your digital properties for SEO remains crucial. This includes ensuring your website is easily navigable, readable (especially for screen readers), and structurally sound with proper use of HTML tags. Creating high-quality, differentiated content that aligns with your Blue Ocean positioning will not only benefit your SEO but also increase your relevance within the broader information ecosystem that AI models consume. Principles of “AI Optimization” (AIO) such as providing clear alt text for images and captions for videos, as well as potentially implementing an llms.txt file, can further enhance how AI models understand your content.

Measuring Impact in a Dual Landscape

Measuring the impact of digital PR in this dual landscape requires a nuanced approach. Traditional metrics like referral traffic and the number and authority of backlinks remain key indicators of SEO success. However, directly measuring brand presence within AI models is not currently possible. 

Therefore, focus on the measurable SEO benefits derived from acquiring high-quality backlinks as the primary tangible outcome of your digital PR efforts. Understand that the quality, uniqueness, and consistent presence of your content on reputable, high-authority sites indirectly contribute to your brand’s overall relevance in the vast information landscape accessible to AI.

Conclusion: A Strategic Approach to Digital Visibility in the Age of Search and AI

Combining an SEO-focused digital PR strategy with the strategic differentiation of the Blue Ocean Strategy offers a powerful approach to achieving higher rankings in Google Search through the acquisition of valuable backlinks.  It is essential to re-emphasize the critical distinction: while the quality and uniqueness of your content contribute to the broader digital sphere that AI models draw upon, digital PR efforts are primarily aimed at improving SEO through backlinks, and direct brand placement or awareness within AI models cannot be determined or guaranteed.

Embrace a strategic digital PR approach that integrates SEO best practices with principles of differentiation to achieve tangible search ranking improvements while contributing valuable information to the wider digital ecosystem.

 

Bill Threlkeld is president of Threlkeld Communications, Inc., a Digital PR, SEO and Content Marketing & Measurement consultancy. Built on three-plus decades experience in Public Relations and Content Marketing. Bill’s unique value is in leveraging PR to create content “clusters” and campaigns integrating a blend of Public Relations, SEO, social media, and content that can be tracked and measured for optimized performance. Bill’s experience includes: tech, musical instrument, pro audio, legal, entertainment, apps, software, cloud services, travel, telecom, and consumer packaged goods.