Written by Eva Mitchell 

Ever since I moved to Australia seven years ago, I’ve had my heart set on getting a dog. Now the time is nearly here, and I’ve found myself deep in research – Which dog bed brand is the best? Who are the top-rated pet insurance providers? What are the best locally made, healthy dog treats for puppies?  

Like many people today who experience that mix of excitement and uncertainty when considering a new pet, I started my search using AI. With chat-based tools, quick summaries and personalised recommendations, this new era of discovery goes beyond informing decisions, but is actively shaping them. 

At IMPACT we’ve been exploring the connections between PR, brand trust and AI-driven discovery, working on tailored AI visibility audits to show how businesses and their competitors are showing up in LLM searches.  

With my recent deep dive into the Australian pet industry as a potential ‘pawrent’, I noticed only a few brands kept showing up consistently and when they did, they felt credible.    

Here are four reasons why:  

Visibility depends on earned authority 

AI tools draw heavily from third-party signals, with research showing that around 70% of brand citations on large language models come from earned or third-party sources. If you’re not mentioned externally, you’re much less likely to show up in AI answers. 

It matters even more following Google’s roll-out of AI Overviews. One study found AI Overviews decreased click-through rates by 34.5% in 12 months. So winning the AI summary (not just ranking for the link) is quickly becoming the real discovery battleground.  

AI responses also regularly pointed to brands with strong earned coverage because models prioritise trusted third-party sources. For example, for my ‘best dog bed’ search, lifestyle media listicles were consistently referenced in the top 10 sources across ChatGPT, Copilot and Gemini.  

As AI companies continue to secure major licensing deals with publishers, it’s clear they value publications and earned media as key levers for building credibility and advancing AIpowered search. 

Ultimately, the power of PR has evolved: what earns media attention now also earns AI visibility.  

Websites shape how confidently AI recommends a brand 

The website pages influencing AI recommendations were useful, clear, and practical – perfect for AI crawlability. They answered real questions about feeding, health, training, and the realities of bringing home a puppy. 

AI pulls heavily from structured, informative content and prioritises information that is easy to summarise rather than overly descriptive, polished positioning. Throughout my search, these clear formats on owned channels such as FAQ pages and blog lists kept ranking highly.  

It’s also important to note that these systems can amplify outdated or inaccurate information. If your policies, pages, or claims haven’t been maintained, you may be accidentally feeding the model the wrong narrative. 

Community matters  

AI also favours real scenarios and clear evidence. Increasingly, that ‘real experience’ signal is coming from community discussions and reviews: Reddit threads, Product Review sites, forums, and the everyday stories people share when they’re weighing up options. 

Pet companies with strong external validation (like multiple fivestar reviews) saw greater visibility in AI search. Community signals carried especially heavy weight in categories tied to care and responsibility, such as top-rated vets or pet insurance providers. 

This aligns with how people actually decide – especially first-time pet owners – by looking for reassurance from peers and patterns in real-world outcomes, not just brand claims. 

ChatGPT’s top 10 ranked pet insurance brands in Australia, snapshot from March 2026.  

Consistency across channels strengthens AI discoverability 

The brands that showed up consistently had a clear and unified narrative. What they said in the media matched what they published on their websites and their spokespeople echoed the same messages across every channel. 

This matters because AI connects the dots and importantly, when information is inconsistent, confidence drops.  

IMPACT’s AI benchmark highlights how consistency across earned and owned channels directly impacts how often and how confidently your brand appears in AI-driven search and helps you uncover the missing gaps.  

Ultimately, in a fragmented media landscape, clarity is becoming a real competitive advantage. 

Preparing for a dog has shown me just how much AI can influence the choices we make and the plans we put in place. At this crucial stage, a brand’s visibility in AI can make all the difference in whether it’s noticed, trusted, and chosen. 

Want to know how your brand is showing up in AI-generated search? Get in touch with me: eva@impactagency.com.au