Gabriel Marketing Group (GMG) and Brandi AI took the Gold award for Best Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) Results in a Campaign at the 2026 Bulldog PR Awards, the only PR awards program judged exclusively by working journalists. The win underscores how public relations teams can directly shape brand visibility inside AI-generated answers - a shift that turns earned credibility into a measurable business asset long before a buyer clicks a corporate website.
Presented by Bulldog Reporter, the Bulldog PR Awards draw submissions from across the communications industry and are judged by journalists whose credentials include Pulitzer Prize-winning work, investigative reporting, and newsroom leadership. The AEO category recognizes campaigns that improve how accurately AI answer engines such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity surface, summarize, and cite a company in response to high-intent questions.
AEO: The convergence of earned media and AI
AEO, also called Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), turns on whether AI systems can correctly interpret a company's value, offer context, and include it in buyer-facing answers. Two forms of credibility matter most: original owned content that tells AI systems what a company does, and trusted earned media that provides the third-party validation signals AI models use to assess authority.
"This Gold Bulldog PR Award is more than industry recognition. It validates a major shift in how public relations creates even more measurable business value," said Michiko Morales, president of Gabriel Marketing Group, a B2B technology public relations agency. "For decades, PR has helped companies earn credibility through earned media and trust through third-party validation. Now, as AI becomes a front door to discovery, that same credibility is influencing how buyers encounter, evaluate and understand companies in AI-generated answers, long before they ever visit a website or speak with sales."
Inside the award-winning campaign
GMG, working through a strategic partnership with Brandi AI, established a baseline for AI visibility and monitored how the agency appeared across multiple AI answer engines. The team tracked brand mentions, share of voice, and citation frequency over time, then applied those insights to both its owned content and earned media efforts.
The agency updated key website pages - including services, case studies, pricing guidance, and client outcomes - so AI systems could more easily parse and cite that information. GMG published a 10-part blog series mapped to questions that B2B technology buyers were asking AI tools, such as when PR is worth the investment, how to measure PR ROI, how to choose a B2B tech PR agency, and how PR and GEO work together. At the same time, it continued generating earned media to reinforce the authority signals that AI answer engines weigh heavily.
"AI is changing how companies are found, understood and evaluated, and this award confirms that AEO and GEO are essential to brand intelligence and modern brand strategy," said Leah Nurik, CEO of Brandi AI. "Gabriel Marketing Group's results show what is possible when owned content, earned credibility and AI visibility intelligence work together."
Measurable gains in 120 days
Within four months, the integrated approach produced significant lifts across AI visibility, citation authority, traditional search, and lead generation:
- AI visibility: GMG mentions in AI-generated answers rose 830%, moving the agency to second overall for relevant B2B technology PR queries and outperforming firms five to ten times larger.
- Overall citation authority: The domain citation rate across seven major AI models climbed 1,746%, with GMG cited in nearly one in four relevant answers.
- Google AI Overviews visibility: The domain citation rate inside Google AI Overviews increased 6,186%, with GMG appearing in almost half of relevant AI-generated answers.
- Traditional search performance: Ranked keywords grew 250%, click-throughs 300%, and impressions 900%, while GMG ranked for seven high-value keywords for the first time.
- Lead generation: Three new, highly qualified business leads were directly attributed to AI-driven discovery.
More details about the agency's work are available at gabrielmarketing.com.
Why this matters for PR and communications
The Bulldog win signals a practical new playbook for PR professionals. When media coverage and owned content are structured so AI answer engines can accurately cite them, a company's share of voice inside those answers becomes a measurable KPI - one that directly feeds pipeline. The campaign showed that a mid-size agency could outperform larger competitors on AI-generated visibility without a bigger budget, simply by making its credentials easier for AI systems to find and trust.
For communicators looking to build fluency in this area, AI for PR & Communications offers insight into how answer engine optimization is reshaping brand visibility. Those ready to develop practical skills can follow an AI Learning Path for Public Relations Specialists tailored to the discipline.
Your membership also unlocks:
