Earlier this month, IMPACT was on the ground at Fine Food Australia in Melbourne. The floor was buzzing with energy, innovation and the people driving the future of Australian foodservice. It was also a reminder that, despite overflowing inboxes and endless digital touchpoints, there’s still nothing quite like a meaningful, face-to-face conversation.
But what happens after that conversation?
In 2026, when someone leaves your stand genuinely interested in your business, there’s a good chance AI will influence what they discover next.
More than 13.6 million Australians are now using AI tools. That means a potential customer researching your business is likely asking ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot about you. Even if they’re searching on Google, the AI Overview is what greets them first.
The search results are not simply coming from your website or owned assets alone. It is pieced together from what AI can find about you across the web and your brand’s digital footprint.
So, when a potential customer or partner searches you up, does it tell them the same story you just did?
Mixed signals, mixed results
If your website says one thing, your LinkedIn company page says another, and that trade media article from last year says something different again, AI has to make a judgement call.
It is pulling information from lots of different places and trying to work out what is accurate, relevant and worth trusting. The more consistent those signals are, the easier it is for AI to understand what you do and what you are known for.
The reverse is also true. If your positioning changes across platforms, old information is still on your website, or your media coverage tells a slightly different story each time, AI fills in the gaps. Sometimes it gets that right, and sometimes it doesn’t.
This is why a cohesive story matters. Every touchpoint should reinforce the same core narrative, whether someone discovers you through your website, a media article, a customer review or an AI-generated response.
The clearer and more consistent that picture is, the more confidently AI can explain who you are, what you do and, importantly, when to recommend you.
Earned media is doing the heavy lifting
According to Muck Rack, around 84 per cent of brand citations in AI answers come from earned and third-party sources rather than a brand’s own website. That makes earned coverage more important than ever. When AI is working out what to say about your business, independent coverage and expert commentary can carry more weight than what you say about yourself.
At the same time, people are getting more of the information they need without necessarily clicking through to your website or direct owned channels.
The role of PR is changing as a result, and the coverage you earn is becoming part of the information AI uses to decide how to position your business in search results.
Do you know what AI-powered search is saying about you?
You have already made the in-person connection on the expo floor, but what happens next is increasingly being shaped by what AI says about you. Most businesses know AI is changing how they are discovered, but far fewer know what is influencing those answers, or where the information is coming from.
Five moves to make now, before someone else owns the answer:
- Search yourself the way a customer would. Ask AI what it recommends in your category and see if you appear, and for what reasons.
- Check your message is telling one story. Look across your website, LinkedIn and recent media coverage and hunt for the gaps.
- Invest where the citations come from. Prioritise earned media and third-party validation, not just owned content, because that’s where the bulk of AI citations are drawn from.
- Give AI clear evidence to trust. Make sure your credentials, proof points and expertise are easy to find and consistent.
- Watch it over time. AI’s view of you shifts as the sources shift, so this is a habit, not a one-off exercise.
So, how are you showing up? We built our AI Visibility Audit to answer that, mapping how buyers research across AI platforms, the priority sources for your sector and where your authority needs strengthening. Contact Trish@impactagency.com.au to book yours.
The businesses best placed for the next era of discovery will be the ones where the impression you make in person is backed up by what people find in AI search.
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