TL;DR
Online PR is no longer just about credibility and SEO rankings. In today’s AI-driven world, it’s also one of the most effective ways to increase your brand’s visibility in ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, Perplexity, Claude, and other large language models (LLMs). By earning digital press mentions and authoritative backlinks, your brand becomes more visible to both search engines and AI tools, increasing your chances of being surfaced as a recommended brand in ecommerce-related queries.
Why Online PR Matters More Than Ever
For years, ecommerce brands have used online PR to build credibility and improve SEO rankings. Getting featured in an article on a major publication or securing a backlink from an authoritative site has been the gold standard for proving legitimacy in the eyes of Google.
But the landscape is shifting. Today, consumers aren’t just searching on Google; they’re turning to ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, and AI Overviews for product recommendations, buying advice, and brand discovery. If your brand isn’t being mentioned across credible digital sources, you risk being invisible in these new channels of discovery.
Online PR is now a critical visibility strategy that goes beyond SEO. These brand mentions, citations/co-citations, and links help ensure your brand shows up where your customers are searching: in both traditional search engines and the growing world of AI-powered assistants.
The Shift From Google to LLMs
Search engines and LLMs serve customers differently. In short, Google ranks results based on keywords, backlinks, and on-page optimization. LLMs like ChatGPT, however, generate answers by synthesizing information from their training data and, in some cases, real-time browsing. Let’s break down how they look at things.
- Training data: Mentions of your brand on authoritative sites will ensure that you are included in the datasets that AI tools rely on when generating responses.
- Browsing + grounding: Tools like Perplexity and ChatGPT (with browsing enabled) actively pull information from high-authority, trusted domains.
- Credibility weighting: LLMs prioritize content from reputable publications, industry-specific websites, and well-known media outlets when recommending brands.
This means that the more high-quality PR coverage your ecommerce brand earns, the more likely it is to be surfaced by AI tools when customers ask for product recommendations, comparisons, or advice.
What Counts as Online PR in the LLM Era
Just like with link building for SEO, not all PR is created equal, and not all coverage has the same impact on AI visibility. The types of online PR that matter most include:
- Features in online publications: Think industry-specific ecommerce sites, digital magazines, or mainstream media that you visit frequently.
- Guest posting: Contributing articles to relevant, high-authority blogs and industry outlets.
- Inclusion in listicles and roundups: Getting featured in “Top 10” or “Best of” style articles that LLMs often reference.
- Expert commentary: Providing quotes or insights for journalists that link back to your brand.
- Paid placements and press releases: These have their place, but earned media coverage carries more weight in terms of trust signals and visibility in AI-powered platforms. As the LLMs get smarter, they’ll more easily be able to snuff out these kinds of placements, similar to how Google does it.
How Online PR Boosts Your Visibility in ChatGPT & LLMs
Online PR has worked to build brand awareness and SEO results for years, so why does it work so well in this new landscape?
Training Data Inclusion: LLMs learn from massive datasets that include online publications, blogs, and articles. If your brand has consistent coverage across multiple authoritative outlets, those mentions are more likely to be included in the model’s training data which will allow your brand to surface to the top of the results.
Real-Time Grounding: Tools like Perplexity and ChatGPT with browsing don’t just rely on training data; they actively pull from sources on the web, sometimes in real time. If your brand is featured in high-authority publications, you increase the odds of being cited in real-time responses.
Contextual Reinforcement: The more your brand is mentioned across trusted websites, the stronger the association becomes between your name and your category. This increases your likelihood of being recommended when customers search for “best baby carrier,” “top hydration supplements,” or “eco-friendly furniture brand.”
Practical Steps to Start Using Online PR for Visibility
Online PR might sound like a heavy lift, and in some cases, it is. However, there are some small things you can start working on that will compound over time. Here’s a roadmap that I’ve built for you to build online PR coverage that improves both your SEO rankings and AI visibility:
Identify The Right Publications
- Start with industry blogs, ecommerce magazines, and digital outlets that your customers actually read.
- Use tools like Ahrefs or Semrush to identify where competitors are getting press mentions and backlinks.
Craft a Story That Matters
- Journalists and editors don’t want product pitches; they want real-life stories and unique data (if you have that).
- Position your brand around unique angles: sustainability practices, founder story, product innovation, or customer success.
Leverage PR Platforms
- Tools like HARO (Help A Reporter Out), Qwoted, and Featured.com connect you with journalists looking for expert insights.
- Respond quickly to requests to secure media mentions.
Pitch Guest Content
- Create valuable, non-promotional content that positions your brand as an authority.
- Guest posts on high-authority sites earn backlinks and boost credibility.
Build Journalist Relationships
- Don’t just send one-off pitches. Build long-term connections by offering yourself as a reliable source.
- Over time, this leads to recurring opportunities for quotes, features, and commentary.
Track and Measure Your Mentions
- Use Google Alerts to monitor new features.
- Tools like Ahrefs and Semrush can show backlink growth and domain authority.
- Track whether your brand is appearing in AI-driven search responses over time.
A really good example of this is a client of mine who has a goal of getting one solid PR placement on an industry publication each quarter. This could include a brand new piece or inclusion in an already existing piece. They do their PR in-house, with direction from our team. In the last 6 months, they’ve landed 5 new placements through strategic outreach and sharing proprietary data to tell a compelling story for the readers of these pieces. Each time they land a new publication, they see their visibility in the LLMs grow by at least 20%. We track this in Peec.ai.
It’s pretty incredible what even one new placement in a quality publication will do for your visibility.
Avoiding Common PR Mistakes
Even well-meaning ecommerce brands stumble when starting with online PR. It’s hard and it takes a lot of time to do it right (like I mentioned above. As you’re getting started, make sure to avoid these common pitfalls that I see some of my clients make:
- Treating PR as only press releases: Distribution services like PRNewswire have limited SEO/AI value compared to earned media.
- Chasing irrelevant publications: Being featured on unrelated sites typically will not help with SEO or LLM visibility.
- Over-focusing on backlinks: Brand mentions without links still matter – LLMs use mentions as credibility signals.
- Not measuring results: If you aren’t tracking visibility in both Google and AI platforms, you won’t know what’s working.
The Future of Online PR in the LLM Era
As AI adoption continues to grow (it’s not Google-level visibility yet), online PR will be as important for AI visibility as it has been for SEO. Brands that secure consistent mentions on credible sites will have a clear advantage over competitors who rely solely on ads or organic search.
If you haven’t invested in digital PR yet, start small:
- Identify 3-5 target publications.
- Craft a compelling story angle.
- Begin pitching for features and guest posts.
Those early wins compound into greater visibility across both search and AI platforms.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to see results from online PR?
Most brands see momentum within 3-6 months, but a single feature in a high-authority publication can create immediate visibility in both Google and LLMs.
Does online PR replace SEO?
Not at all. Online PR complements SEO by strengthening authority signals that both Google and AI tools use to determine visibility.
Can smaller ecommerce brands compete in PR?
Yes. Many niche and industry-specific publications actively seek fresh stories and expert insights from up-and-coming brands.
Is paid PR worth it?
Paid placements may deliver short-term exposure but rarely carry the same authority as earned coverage. Focus on authentic, earned mentions for long-term results.
Greg is the founder and CEO of Stryde and a seasoned digital marketer who has worked with thousands of businesses, large and small, to generate more revenue via online marketing strategy and execution. Greg has written hundreds of blog posts as well as spoken at many events about online marketing strategy. You can follow Greg on Twitter and connect with him on LinkedIn.