Google’s VP of Product for Google Search, Robby Stein, recently discussed in a podcast how PR activities can aid AI-driven search recommendations and elaborated on how AI search functions, advising content creators on maintaining relevance. ### PR’s Role in AI Recommendations Stein highlighted that being mentioned by reputable sources or featured in top business lists can help AI systems recommend a site. While not a direct ranking factor, AI search mimics human research behavior by issuing Google searches to find trusted businesses. This approach underscores the value of PR in securing public mentions, which AI uses as signals when providing recommendations. Podcast host Marina Mogilko noted that although her network might not see PR-related articles directly, AI recognizes and uses these mentions to inform its responses, a point Stein confirmed by explaining AI models employ Google searches as a key tool. ### Content Best Practices for AI Ranking Stein emphasized that traditional SEO practices — creating helpful, clear, and relevant content — remain central in the AI era. The AI incorporates top web sources into its responses’ context, meaning websites optimized for clarity and usefulness are more likely to be featured, just as they perform well in classic search results. ### On Reviews and Trustworthiness When asked about paid reviews, Stein refrained from a detailed answer but suggested AI, like humans, seeks reliable and helpful information. Hence, trustworthy content and general best practices remain vital to appearing in AI-generated answers. ### SEO and AI: Overlap and Differences Stein acknowledged significant overlap between SEO and AI optimization but noted AI queries tend to be more complex and conversational, focusing often on how-to topics, purchase decisions, and life advice.

Content creators should study evolving AI use cases and understand the distinctive nature of AI user queries versus traditional keyword searches. ### Multimodal and Intent-Focused Search Search is evolving beyond text to include multimodal inputs like images, voice, and video. Stein encouraged businesses to consider how users search using these various modalities and stressed the growing importance of long, specific questions in AI searches. Tools like Google Trends and ad traffic estimations provide valuable real-time insights into emerging search patterns, helping creators adapt to the changing landscape. ### Google’s Future Plans for Search Transparency Stein confirmed that Google plans to offer broader visibility into overall search trends, not just to advertisers but also to the general public. This aims to reflect the shift toward new search behaviors driven by AI. --- In summary, Stein’s insights reveal that PR-driven mentions can enhance AI recommendation potential, clear and helpful content continues to be critical for ranking, and understanding complex, multimodal user queries is essential. As AI search grows more sophisticated, businesses should adapt by studying user behavior through tools like Google Trends and embracing a broader SEO approach that accounts for conversational and multimodal search trends. The full interview can be viewed at approximately 13:30 in the podcast. *Featured Image by Shutterstock/Krot_Studio*