Gartner: LLMs will push PR budget growth and put chatbots at the center of internal comms
Gartner is clear: public LLMs are changing how people discover information and how employees get updates. The near-term effect for communications leaders is twofold-more investment in PR and earned media, and a decisive shift to chatbots for internal delivery.
Earned media becomes the AI discovery engine fuel
By 2027, Gartner expects mass adoption of public LLMs as a replacement for traditional search to drive a 2x increase in PR and earned media budgets. AI answer engines favor citing earned, shared, and organic owned content over paid placements. That makes editorial coverage, expert quotes, and third-party validation core inputs for visibility and reputation.
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) move from buzzwords to practice. This is communications work: shaping narratives, feeding credible sources, and structuring assets so LLMs can surface them.
- Build a PR/earned growth plan tied to AI-search KPIs (LLM citations, answer share of voice, authority signals).
- Map storylines to priority outlets and authors; systematize rapid-response pitching.
- Engineer authority signals: expert spokespeople, data-led releases, third-party endorsements, and high-quality explainers.
- Tag coverage by source quality and topical authority; monitor how it appears in LLM summaries.
- Shift SEO playbooks toward AEO/GEO: FAQs, clear headlines, schema-like structure, and quotable insights.
If you need a primer on AEO, see this overview from Search Engine Journal here. For the broader research context, explore Gartner here.
Internal comms shift: chatbots as the front door
By 2028, Gartner forecasts 75% of employees will rely on chatbots to get relevant internal communications. That pulls attention away from intranets, blast emails, and generic newsletters. The operating model moves to AI-mediated, contextual delivery-what a person needs, when they need it, in the channel they're already using.
To make that work, content must be modular, governed, and measurable at the "served relevance" level. Think reusable message blocks, clear source-of-truth repositories, and strict approval flows that bots can reference with confidence.
- Architect content for bots: break messages into reusable components with metadata (topic, audience, shelf life, sensitivity).
- Stand up an employee comms chatbot layer (policy-friendly, privacy-aware) that routes FAQs, changes, and leadership updates.
- Integrate with your modern intranet and collaboration tools; set escalation paths to humans.
- Measure engagement, resolution rates, time-to-answer, and sentiment; expand from FAQs into change communications.
Network authority beats owned reach
As more people ask AI first, distribution advantages built on corporate channels fade. One comms leader, Magdalena Gawlak (Head of Global Communications, Aflatoun International), put it plainly: "We're about to lose our distribution advantage. When employees go straight to AI for answers, we lose the ability to frame, sequence, and contextualize the messages that matter most."
The counter is network authority-strong communities, partner ecosystems, and coalition narratives where others carry parts of your story. Your presence in chatbot answers becomes a metric, not a side note.
- Audit how your organization shows up in major chatbots; fix inaccuracies and fill gaps with credible assets.
- Invest in forums, user groups, and partner-led content that LLMs trust and cite.
- Update scorecards: network reach, chatbot resolution, and authority signals alongside classic media KPIs.
90-day action plan for comms leaders
- Inventory earned assets; tag by source quality, topic, and recency. Identify authority gaps.
- Build a rapid-response bench (experts, quotes, data) and a calendar for AEO-friendly explainers and FAQs.
- Create a GEO/AEO playbook and plug it into PR ops, editorial workflows, and measurement.
- Pilot an internal chatbot with 3-5 high-volume topics; measure resolution and satisfaction; iterate weekly.
- Stand up source-of-truth repositories with approval rules, retention timelines, and tone/style guidance.
- Train the team on prompt writing, content modularity, and chatbot maintenance. If you're skilling up, see practical course options here.
What changes next
Gartner's message lands in a tough operating environment: more misinformation, faster change, and AI reshaping how comms teams work. The play is disciplined governance, faster editorial cycles, and measurement that reflects AI discovery and conversational resolution.
In short: feed the machines the right signals externally, and serve employees the right message blocks internally. Do both, and your stories will be found-and understood.
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