Why PR Matters More Than Ever in the Age of AI Search

For years, digital visibility was largely driven by SEO: rank well, earn clicks, grow traffic.

But AI is changing how people plan, compare and book travel.

Travellers are now getting recommendations directly from Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Reddit discussions, media roundups and “best of” articles, often without ever clicking through to a traditional search result.

And that shift is changing the value of PR.

Because AI search tools don’t just analyse your website. They analyse the wider signals around your brand.

In other words, visibility is no longer built through SEO alone.

This is why many travel brands are seeing a growing disconnect: they’re investing heavily in SEO and content, their rankings may not even have disappeared, and yet traffic is flat, or falling.

Most assume it’s purely a search issue.

But increasingly, it’s a visibility and authority issue.

Because search is no longer a single channel. It’s now an ecosystem of AI tools, editorial sources, aggregators, recommendations and trust signals, all influencing how brands are surfaced and suggested to travellers.

So while rankings still matter, they’re no longer enough to guarantee discovery.

If your brand isn’t being referenced, trusted and talked about across that wider ecosystem, you risk missing the moments that influence choice.

This is why PR matters more than ever in the age of AI search.

The old model was simple:

• Rank on page one
• Get clicks
• Grow traffic

That model is breaking.

Today, users are getting answers before they ever reach your site:

• Google AI Overviews summarise results at the top
• AI tools recommend brands directly
• Aggregated content and media sources are prioritised

The result:

• High-ranking pages losing clicks
• Informational content dropping 30–50% in traffic
• Brands not appearing at all in AI-driven results

Your content might still rank. But that doesn’t mean your brand is being surfaced.

Visibility used to mean rankings. Now it means: search & AI & content & authority: working together

Because search engines no longer just index your content. They select, interpret, and summarise it.

And they don’t just look at your website, they look at everything around it.

And importantly, they don’t just assess your website: they assess everything around it.

This is why PR matters more than ever in the age of AI search.

Because visibility is increasingly shaped by:

• who is talking about your brand
• where your brand is being referenced
• whether your business is seen as trusted and authoritative
• and how consistently your expertise appears across the wider digital landscape

1. Strategic content (not more content)

Publishing more won’t fix this.

What works:

• Clear answers to real search intent
• Structured content (FAQs, bullet points, summaries)
• Depth across topics, not one-off blogs

We’ve seen brands unlock growth simply by restructuring existing content, not creating more.

But content alone is only part of the picture. 

2. Site structure (the overlooked lever)

Poor site structure weakens visibility more than many brands realise.

It can lead to:

• Weak topic authority
• Confused crawling and indexing
• Missed internal linking opportunities

We’ve seen significant performance gains from improving structure and hierarchy alone.

But technical SEO is only one layer of visibility.

3. Authority beyond your website: the role of PR 

This is where many travel brands are still underestimating the opportunity.

AI doesn’t just evaluate your website.

It evaluates your wider authority footprint.

That includes:

• trusted editorial coverage
• expert commentary
• third-party recommendations
• reviews and discussions
• and inclusion in relevant “best of” conversations

In other words: SEO gets you ready. PR gets you recognised.

Media coverage

Credible editorial coverage remains one of the strongest authority signals available to brands. This isn’t about paid placements, it’s about earning visibility through trusted publications and respected travel media.

For travel brands, this could include:

• destination features (in national or specialist travel titles)
• hotel and resort round-ups
• expert commentary in industry or consumer press
• travel trend analysis and opinion pieces
• experience-led recommendations from journalists and editors

These placements act as third-party validation, reinforcing credibility and trust. As AI search models increasingly prioritise authoritative, independently verified sources, consistent editorial presence becomes far more influential than brand-owned content alone.

Expert commentary

AI increasingly rewards brands that demonstrate expertise, not just visibility. That makes thought leadership and expert positioning essential components of modern PR.

PR enables brands to contribute meaningfully to wider industry conversations, including:

• emerging travel trends
• destination insight and cultural knowledge
• luxury travel behaviours and expectations
• sustainability and responsible tourism
• changing consumer habits and industry shifts

Being quoted, interviewed or referenced by trusted publications strengthens how a brand is understood, not only by audiences, but by AI systems evaluating authority, relevance and expertise.

Third-party mentions and recommendations

Independent platforms such as TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, Reddit and travel forums play a critical role in shaping brand perception online. They provide unfiltered, user-generated context around a brand, from detailed guest reviews to peer-to-peer recommendations and discussions.

PR and community engagement can help strengthen visibility across these spaces by:

• driving awareness that encourages reviews and organic discussion
• increasing brand mentions across trusted platforms
• supporting positive share-of-voice within relevant conversations
• reinforcing consistency between editorial coverage and consumer sentiment

These signals help build a broader digital reputation footprint, something AI systems increasingly use to assess trustworthiness and brand credibility.

Inclusion in “best of” lists

Curated recommendations are a key input into AI-generated answers.

Searches like:

• “best luxury hotels in…”
• “top wellness retreats…”
• “best family resorts…”

are often answered using aggregated editorial recommendations and trusted media sources.

PR plays a direct role in securing and maintaining visibility within these high-authority recommendation ecosystems through strategic media placements, awards coverage, expert endorsements and inclusion in curated travel guides.

The more consistently a brand appears across trusted recommendation sources, the more likely it is to be surfaced within AI-generated answers and discovery experiences.

Together, these signals build trust, authority and credibility (E-E-A-T) — and increasingly determine whether a brand is surfaced at all. 

This is where PR becomes critical.

When our client, FORESTIS, launched Odles Lodge, its new adults-only chalet concept in the Italian Alps, the objective wasn’t simply to generate press coverage.

The challenge was to position the property as a distinct luxury travel experience: remote, private and design-led. At the time, AI visibility wasn’t even part of the conversation.

Our strategy focused on securing high-authority editorial coverage that would build prestige, credibility and long-term brand positioning.

This was followed by targeted coverage across titles including: SheerLuxe, Sleeper, Country & Town House and Roadbook.

Alongside the media rollout, we also secured recognition through the AHEAD Awards Europe 2023 shortlist, reinforcing the property’s design credentials and authority within the luxury hospitality sector.

The press campaign delivered immediate visibility - but the longer-term impact became even more significant over time. 

Because this traditional editorial strategy has since helped shape the trust signals that are now critical to AI-driven discovery.

Today, Odles Lodge is increasingly associated with themes like:

• romantic mountain escapes
• remote luxury retreats
• secluded alpine stays
• celebrity-style wellness travel

Those associations were shaped largely through the way trusted media publications framed and described the property. 

For example, we secured coverage in The Mirror with the headline: “I visited Hailey and Justin Bieber’s exclusive mountain retreat.” That type of editorial storytelling matters because AI search tools no longer rely solely on websites and keywords; they learn from trusted sources and repeated contextual signals across the wider web. 

The language used in press coverage helps AI platforms understand:

• what a brand represents
• who it’s relevant for
• what experiences it should be recommended alongside

Put simply, the value of great PR no longer ends when the coverage goes live.

The authority, trust and positioning created through strategic editorial placements can continue influencing discoverability long afterwards, including within AI-driven search experiences.

For FORESTIS, the result wasn’t just launch coverage. It was stronger long-term visibility, clearer positioning, and a travel narrative that continues to surface across modern search and discovery platforms through the power of PR. 

Rethink content

• Answer real questions clearly
• Structure content for extraction and AI readability
• Build topic depth, not isolated content pieces

Strengthen foundations

• Improve internal linking
• Clarify site hierarchy
• Consolidate overlapping content

Build authority externally

• Secure high-quality media coverage
• Increase trusted brand mentions
• Position internal experts visibly
• Maintain presence across key conversations

Align SEO and PR

These are no longer separate disciplines.

SEO helps search engines understand you. PR helps AI systems and audiences trust you.

The brands winning visibility today are combining both.

Discovery is now AI-assisted. Users are relying on:

• Summaries
• Recommendations
• Trusted editorial sources
• aggregated reviews and rankings 

The brands that win won’t be the ones producing the most content.

They’ll be the ones that are:

• easy to understand
• consistently referenced
• well structured

In short: visible everywhere that matters.

Most travel brands are still trying to fix this with SEO alone.

But the real opportunity isn’t just better rankings.

It’s understanding:

• where visibility is breaking across the customer journey
• which authority signals are missing
• how PR, SEO and content influence each other
• and what will actually drive demand and bookings

Because growth doesn’t come from being visible everywhere, it comes from being visible in the moments that influence choice.

To help brands navigate this shift, we’ve launched Lemongrass Clarity, a strategic sprint for travel and hospitality brands navigating changing search behaviour, AI visibility and shifting marketing priorities. 

Together, we identify:

• where your brand is losing visibility
• which signals are missing
• what’s influencing discoverability
• and where investment will have the greatest impact

So you can make more confident marketing decisions and focus budget on the activity most likely to drive measurable growth and bookings.

If you’d like to learn more, get in touch today with the team.