In the Google-search engine optimization (SEO) era, building a narrative about an organization took effort. It required clicking through sources, weighing credibility, deciding what was relevant and then piecing together a narrative. With AI, that synthesis is done for the consumer. That is the nuance many organizations misunderstand and fail to account for as they rush to optimize for generative engine optimization (GEO).
AI Search, Visibility, and Reputation
The stakes are real. In 2025, 72% of S&P 500 companies disclosed AI as a material risk in their SEC filings, and reputation damage was the most commonly cited concern. But, so far, most of the conversation has focused on visibility: How often does our organization appear? Which sources are cited? Are we showing up favorably?
The more consequential question is about vulnerability: What does AI-driven search reveal when someone is actively looking for controversies or criticisms?
We tested several organizations to find out. Across five of the biggest AI platforms (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, PerplexityAI, and Google AI Search), we asked adversarial questions—the kinds of questions that someone would ask if trying to drive a negative narrative. Every platform replied with a structured overview that synthesized years of scattered criticism from watchdog sites, ideological opposition groups, and think tanks into neat categories. In one case, content spanning 60 years, including a congressional inquiry from the 1970s, a think tank analysis from 2003, a watchdog profile from last year, and a Reddit thread from last month, was assembled into a single, coherent five-part narrative that no individual source had ever produced.
AI constructed it from the pieces, presenting a hit piece and an investigation with equal weight and authority.
Read the full piece by SKDK Executive Vice Presiden Beth Kanter and Vice Preisdent Vishakha Mathur in PRNews: https://www.prnewsonline.com/ai-search-is-rewriting-your-companys-reputation-here-is-what-you-can-do-about-it/