Earned Media’s Quiet Comeback in the Age of AI

Earned media matters, maybe more than ever, as investors, journalists, policymakers turn to AI for their search needs.  

by Brian Price

Generative AI is changing how people discover and understand energy companies, and what that means for communicators. We tested a few common queries: one on investor sentiment trends, another on LNG’s role in the global energy mix. What stood out wasn’t the answers themselves, but where they came from. The models leaned not on investor decks or company content, but on news coverage, analyst commentary and long-form interviews. 

That raised a bigger question: Where do these models get their information? The deeper we looked, the clearer it became: AI doesn't invent insight; it assembles what’s already out there. And increasingly, one of the most powerful inputs isn’t your website. It’s what others say about you. 

In other words: earned media matters, maybe more than ever. 

As ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity become go-to tools for investors, journalists, policymakers and job candidates, companies need to start thinking of earned media like a new kind of SEO. The stories written about you—by credible, independent sources—feed the engines shaping today’s search behavior. They establish tone, reinforce positioning and fill gaps in understanding in ways owned content alone can’t replicate. 

That’s a shift worth pausing on. 

Over the past decade, as newsrooms shrank and digital distribution fragmented, brands turned inward. They built audiences through owned channels, influencer collaborations and targeted paid strategies. Media relations wasn’t abandoned, but it was deemphasized—often seen as inefficient, too transactional or simply not worth the effort. But generative AI has challenged that calculus. 

It’s given earned media a refreshed strategic relevance, one that many communicators didn’t see coming. Because in this new ecosystem, it’s third-party credibility from news and podcasts that feed the models, shape narratives and frame how your company shows up in everything from AI queries to Wikipedia entries. And even in quick-turn research reporters now conduct, especially as specialist beats have thinned across newsrooms. 

This matters in places like Wikipedia, too—another increasingly AI-surfaced source where neutrality is key and citations are everything. And what do Wikipedia editors lean on? You guessed it: quality earned media coverage from reputable sources. 

At DrivePath, we were built for this moment. Our team blends deep energy subject matter knowledge with media experience and long-standing relationships. We help clients close narrative gaps and prepare for better conversations—not just with reporters, but with the AI models that shape what those reporters (and everyone else) see. 

Because in today’s media ecosystem, reputation still starts with what others say about you. The difference is how far—and how fast—that story travels next. 

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