Your unseen edge: the crucial role of PR in the age of LLMs
Google, make way for a new co-pilot: the Large Language Model (LLM) - the better known giants being ChatGPT, or Google’s own tool, Gemini. These powerful engines are humbling to say the least. Able to spit out anything from a basic email draft, to a fully fledged spreadsheet, complete with complex coding, they’ve also opened up a new frontier in the world of search. As fast as one challenge is tackled however (that of producing content to push your brand higher up the organic search engine), another emerges. How to stand out, if everyone is suddenly capable of producing the same content and crucially, how to get noticed in this no man’s land of search?
The answer: the powerful and irreplaceable input of a human, or many humans. In this instance, we’ll be looking at the valuable and strategic role of a PR agency, which is becoming more crucial than ever in this new era. Okay, okay, I know this sounds biased but hear me out. The media and your customers are fully on the AI bandwagon, so getting ahead of the game has never been more important. In a world where LLMs can generate content, human creativity delivers your ‘unseen edge’ that the algorithm simply cannot replicate.
Tech brands need to elevate themselves beyond a flood of ‘samey’ content, into a space of true leadership and influence, where they talk directly and reliably to their audiences.
The new search engine and winning the shortlisting race
The world of online search has changed, more rapidly than anyone could’ve predicted. B2B tech buyers aren't just typing keywords into a search bar anymore, then doing the legwork to filter down to a shortlist of possible vendors. They're asking seriously detailed questions like, "What are the top three cybersecurity solutions for mid-market financial services firms, serving the UK and EMEA?" or "Create a shortlist of four brands to invite to tender for a cloud migration project in the US."
This is our new reality - a world in which buyers are trusting LLMs to serve them answers on a plate. Gone are the halcyon days of more content meaning better organic search results. You can create a dozen blog posts a day using an LLM, but if your brand isn't present, authoritative and trusted within the knowledge base that LLMs draw from, it’s all for nought.
This is where your PR agency’s experience is invaluable - not only for its ability to generate original thought-leadership content, but through the connections it wields, the relationships it holds and the nuanced, strategic approach it takes to support your brand to stand out from the masses. After all, an LLM isn’t going to take a key journalist out for a coffee, network the room at a cornerstone event and turn what it learns during those conversations into meaningful content, thereby ensuring your brand remains a credible and authoritative source - capable of climbing the ranks in LLM searches.
From content production to brand positioning
So what about strategy and brand positioning? Yes, LLMs can create that for you too. But, and that’s a BIG BUT, that’s probably not the smartest choice for tech brands wanting to stand out from the crowd.
If you've had your finger on the pulse over the last few months, you’ll have noticed that we’ve talked a lot about the importance of the “emotional benefits ladder”, and the blurring of lines between the traditional approaches to B2C and B2B marketing. At the end of the day, we’re all humans, powered by emotional decision making. And until LLMs start making purchasing decisions on behalf of tech brands (perish the thought!), whether B2B or B2C we’re in the business of creating connections. Meaning, therefore, that your brand's message needs to appeal to your buyer's emotions and lived experience - addressing both their immediate issues, like "providing peace of mind for CISOs," and their larger life goals. Having an experienced agency on-side provides this deep market insight to support you in getting to know your customer and creating your most powerful tool, a voice that talks directly to them.
In this sea of sameness, your most unique asset is your undeniably-human voice - consistently delivering your trusted, original and respected content to your audience and carving out your place at the top of LLM search rankings.
