What Public Affairs Leaders Need to Know
Public discourse on health care today is being shaped more and more by algorithms. As generative AI platforms – like ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity – and new search engine tools like Google’s AI Overviews become trusted sources of information for the public, the way narratives form and evolve around critical health policy issues is changing fast. The rise of AI-powered web browsers, drawing even more directly on user data, will only accelerate the influence of algorithms in shaping these narratives.
This shift has major implications for public affairs teams. Consider the following recent data on Google searches:
- More than 57% of search prompts now yield AI-generated overviews;
- 52% of pharmaceutical keywords trigger an AI overview; and
- 60% of searches now end without a single click.
This means that if your message or perspective isn’t reflected in AI summaries, it may never be seen by patients, policymakers, the press, and other key audiences.
That’s where Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) comes in.
GEO is the emerging practice of crafting and amplifying content in ways that increase the likelihood of being accurately reflected in generative AI outputs. Unlike traditional search engine optimization (SEO), which relies on keyword rankings and backlinks, GEO emphasizes structured, trustworthy, and conversational content that AI algorithms are more likely to cite or summarize.
New research shows GEO should inform not just how you structure content, but how you amplify it. A recent Muck Rack analysis of how AI platforms cite sources found that these models are rarely influenced by paid placements: fewer than 5% of sources in AI summaries are ads or sponsored content. Instead, 95% of citations point to non-paid sources that are earned, timely, and authoritative content. Government reports, recent articles from mainstream news outlets, and credible third-party stakeholder analyses and statements carry the most weight, especially on health care topics.
This suggests that in the age of AI-shaped information, reaching audiences requires more than just the precision of paid media and sponsored content; it also continues to demand the credibility of earned media, the influence of thought leadership, and the reach of strategic amplification to shape understanding of key issues.
What Public Affairs Leaders Need to Do
For public affairs professionals planning and leading campaigns around today’s hot-button health care issues, GEO isn’t just a trend – it’s a strategic imperative. Here are four best practices we recommend incorporating into your content strategies to enable greater AI model engagement going forward:
- Ensure your digital content is structured for readability by AI models. Leveraging an FAQ approach to blog posts, including transcripts for video content and incorporating alt text into graphics are small steps you can take today to optimize your content for AI.
- Incorporate structured data markup on the backend of your websites. This ensures search engines can accurately interpret and lift your owned content into summaries. Open-source tools like schema.org provide effective HTML attributes that allow you to embed structured data directly on your page.
- Ensure earned media and strategic thought leadership remains an integral part of your amplification efforts, especially among trusted outlets and credible experts.
- Test and track issue visibility and sentiment in AI summaries as part of ongoing campaign evaluation to understand how your perspective shows up in summaries pre and post key activations.
In a world where AI is increasingly shaping the first impression of complex policy debates, GEO is no longer optional. For public affairs teams working to advance or defend health policy priorities, GEO must become a key component of their advocacy playbook.
If AI’s rewriting the narrative on key health care issues, let’s make sure it reflects your perspective. Reach out to learn about how Reservoir can help you stay ahead.