Swiss study flags growing pressure from platforms and AI - here's what PR needs to do
A University of Zurich study, "Media Use 2035," says audiences are drifting to AI chatbots and platform feeds, accelerating the zero-click trend. Fewer users are tapping through to publishers, and long-term demand for traditional news is expected to decline as habits keep splintering.
For PR and communications teams, this doesn't just reshuffle channels. It shifts how messages are discovered, summarized, and attributed - often without a click or context you control.
Key context you should know
The study by the Research Centre for the Public Sphere and Society (fög) finds platform and AI pressure increasing on media companies. It warns that purely market-based financing of journalism won't hold and calls for action on funding, IP protection, and media skills.
"Platforms and AI providers systematically utilise journalistic services without remunerating them appropriately," said VSM president Andrea Masüger. The Swiss parliament has adopted a motion by Petra Gössi that calls for compulsory remuneration when AI applications use journalistic services.
Read more about the research center behind the study at the University of Zurich's fög.
What this means for PR and communications
- Discovery shifts to AI summaries and platform feeds. Your message often appears as a condensed snippet.
- Attribution gets thinner. Fewer clicks mean less owned context and weaker lead capture.
- Journalistic inventory tightens. Paid and earned opportunities face more competition and higher scrutiny.
Optimize for the summary layer
- Package "LLM-ready" content: add a 3-5 bullet recap, one clear stat, one quote, and a canonical source link on every major announcement.
- Use precise headlines and alt text. Clean structure, schema markup, and distinct facts increase the odds your key points survive summarization.
- Publish definitive source pages for recurring topics (FAQs, glossaries, methodology). Make them the link target you want surfaced.
- Embed provenance: timestamps, author/org attribution, and contact info. This helps downstream verification and builds trust signals.
Distribution hedges you need now
- Grow direct channels: newsletters, community forums, and event lists. Rebalance budgets toward first-party audiences.
- Co-publish with clear attribution: syndication partners, trade outlets, and association newsletters that still drive qualified traffic.
- Short-form recaps for platforms: 45-90 second explainers, carousel briefs, and key-graphic posts that stand alone when users don't click.
IP, licensing, and policy - practical steps
- Inventory your high-value content and define licensing terms for AI use. Track where summaries appear and log instances for negotiation.
- Coordinate with publishers and industry bodies on remuneration models. Align your contracts to protect original reporting and brand assets.
- Prepare talking points for leadership on the business impact of zero-click consumption and why licensing matters.
Invest in media skills across the team
- Train on prompt writing, fact-checking with AI, source evaluation, and summary-first content design.
- Level up data storytelling and visuals that travel well in compressed formats.
- Refresh your media relations playbook for AI-mediated newsrooms: faster briefs, clearer hooks, and ready-to-quote lines.
If you're building these capabilities, see role-specific options at Complete AI Training - Courses by Job.
Metrics to watch
- Share of impressions vs. clicks by channel (expect widening gaps - plan for it).
- Brand mentions and citation quality inside AI answers and platform summaries.
- Newsletter growth rate and contribution to pipeline or reputation goals.
- Syndication/referral traffic and co-published content performance.
- Licensing wins: signed agreements, terms, and value recovered.
Bottom line
Zero-click is growing. Treat summaries as a primary surface, not a byproduct. Build direct audience access, protect your IP, and train your team for an AI-first distribution model.
Those who adapt their content and contracts now will keep reach, preserve credit, and make sure their story lands - even when no one clicks.
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