Capture AI Search and Build Authority
In 2026, the communications landscape has shifted from a battle for clicks to a battle for citations.
For founders and CMOs across Australia and New Zealand, the first page of search is no longer a list of links. It is an AI-generated response. Whether a prospective client is using Google’s AI Overviews, Gemini or ChatGPT Search, they are increasingly receiving synthesised answers to their questions before they ever reach a website.
In this zero click environment, category leadership alone is not enough. If your brand is not among the sources an AI system selects, summarises or references, you are effectively invisible at the point of decision making.
This shift has created a new discipline: Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO).
At Adhesive, we find your story, help you earn it and make it stick. In the AI era, that means ensuring your brand is a recognised and trusted entity across the open web, so it can be surfaced, cited and recommended within generated responses.
From SEO to GEO
Traditional SEO was built for a world where humans browse. GEO is built for a world where machines research.
Search engines no longer rely solely on keywords and site performance to rank content. AI systems assess credibility by identifying entities and analysing how consistently they appear across trusted third-party environments.
If a marketing manager in Auckland asks an AI tool, “What is the best PR agency for startups in Australia?”, the system is not just scanning for optimised landing pages. It is identifying which organisations are repeatedly referenced in connection with startup PR across media coverage, expert commentary, analyst reports and industry platforms.
Authority is now inferred through association, validation and context.
The role of entity clarity
Large language models interpret brands as entities: distinct organisations, people or concepts with verifiable attributes and relationships.
Capturing AI search visibility requires a digital footprint that is consistent and machine-readable. This includes aligned brand naming, leadership profiles, service descriptions and positioning across your website, social channels, business directories and media coverage.
Structured data, knowledge panels and clearly attributed authorship further reinforce how these signals connect. Together, they help AI systems understand what your organisation does, who it serves and where it holds authority.
Earned media as an AI trust signal
AI engines are trained on publicly available information from credible sources. Coverage in established news outlets, trade publications and expert commentary platforms acts as third-party validation that strengthens your authority profile.
When a journalist quotes your spokesperson or your insights appear in an industry feature, it becomes part of the dataset used to determine whether your brand is a reliable source to include in a generated answer.
A single mention in a Tier 1 publication can carry significantly more weight in AI-mediated discovery than a volume of brand-authored content. Independent verification signals credibility at scale.
Content that can be quoted
To be included in AI summaries, your content needs to be structured for extraction.
This means answering core questions clearly and early, using headings that reflect natural language queries and publishing proprietary insights such as original research, benchmarks or case studies.
AI systems prioritise information that is specific, attributable and easy to verify. Unique data points and expert perspectives are more likely to be synthesised into generated responses than generalised commentary.
From share of voice to share of model
Historically, success in communications was measured by share of voice. In an AI-mediated landscape, we now consider share of model.
How often is your organisation referenced within AI summaries
Which sources are being used to validate your expertise
Whether the framing of those summaries aligns with your intended positioning
These indicators provide a clearer view of how your brand is represented within the environments where discovery increasingly occurs.
The shift to GEO places greater emphasis on credibility, transparency and expertise. By combining earned media with strong entity foundations and evidence-led content, AI search becomes a pathway to qualified inbound interest rather than a threat to visibility.
At Adhesive, we build the authority signals that help your story surface in both human and machine-led discovery.
Learn more at adhesivepr.com.au
Or get in touch at hello@adhesivepr.com.au
