Google’s Vice President of Product for Search, Robby Stein, recently discussed how digital PR efforts can indirectly improve visibility in AI-powered recommendations, emphasizing that helpful, clear, and trustworthy content remains central to ranking success.

During a podcast conversation with Marina Mogilko, Stein shed light on how AI search models evaluate and recommend businesses, as well as what marketers and content creators should focus on to stay relevant in the evolving AI landscape.

Digital PR Can Help Brands Be Recommended by AI

Stein explained that while public relations activities are not direct ranking factors, being mentioned by reputable sites can help businesses appear more often in AI-driven recommendations.

He noted that AI systems behave similarly to humans researching a topic:

“The AI thinks a lot like a person would in terms of the kinds of questions it issues. If your business is mentioned in top business lists or public articles that people read, those mentions become useful for the AI to find.”

The podcast host pointed out that this aligns closely with digital PR, to which Stein agreed. The implication is clear — when businesses are referenced across trusted sources, AI models are more likely to recognize and recommend them in responses to user queries.

Mogilko also observed that while people may not always see PR-driven content directly, AI systems do—and those mentions often influence the answers users receive. Stein confirmed this, saying AI models rely on issuing searches to find and process relevant information.

Helpful Content Remains Key for AI Rankings

Stein then emphasized that the same best practices for creating clear, valuable content continue to apply in the AI era.

“In the same way that you’d optimize your website for helpful, clear information, think of an AI doing that search now,” he explained. “When it renders a response and shows links, your website is more likely to appear if it’s genuinely useful.”

This underscores Google’s long-standing focus on E-E-A-T principles: experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness even as AI search evolves.

AI and SEO: Overlapping but Not Identical

When asked whether optimizing for AI is the same as SEO, Stein clarified that while there’s significant overlap, AI search queries differ from traditional keyword-based searches.

“The kinds of questions people ask AI are increasingly complex,” he said. “They often relate to ‘how-to’ topics, purchase decisions, or advice about life.”

He encouraged creators to study how people use AI tools to find answers and to tailor their content accordingly, suggesting that understanding AI use cases is becoming an important skill for marketers.

Key Takeaway

According to Stein, success in both SEO and AI-driven search relies on the same foundation:

• Building reliable, helpful content
• Earning credible mentions through digital PR
• Understanding user intent—both in search engines and AI assistants

As AI systems increasingly shape online discovery, digital PR visibility and content quality will play an essential role in how brands are found and recommended by intelligent search tools.