Every year, the Meltwater Summit brings together some of the sharpest minds in communications and PR.
This year, one topic unsurprisingly hung over it all: AI. But importantly, the conversation has shifted beyond the basics of the technology to cover how leaders are actively implementing AI and measuring its impact.
We asked industry leaders what stood out among the conversations. From GEO strategy to authentic storytelling, here’s what they had to say:
Just a few years into the AI era, the industry’s use of the technology has matured quickly.
“What seemed experimental a year ago — AI-generated executive briefings, natural language dashboard explanations, automated insight generation, AI search visibility optimization, and agentic workflows — is now being presented as operational reality rather than future vision,” said Todd Grossman, cofounder and COO of Lilypath.
Amanda Coffee, communications consultant at Coffee Communications, echoed that sentiment.
“The conversation is no longer theoretical,” she said. “Communications teams are actively integrating AI into workflows, content strategy, media intelligence, and audience engagement in practical, measurable ways.”
“GEO” as a concept is still very new, and marketing and communications teams are still learning how to implement strategies around it.
“Despite that term being seemingly everywhere, including job interviews now, I felt like I had somehow missed the train. But, I am relieved to learn that the train is still boarding,” said David Clarke, lead communications manager at digital agency Oh Hello.
During his presentation at the summit, Stacker’s very own Noah Greenberg outlined a few strategies for those just starting out with GEO, which we’ll get into below.
In a world where anyone can use AI to generate large volumes of content, the ability to cut through the noise has become even more valuable.
"My biggest takeaway was the continued shift back to authentic storytelling," Coffee said. "In a crowded media environment, the brands and executives breaking through are the ones telling real, credible stories that actually resonate with people. A launch alone is not news. The story is how a company fits into a broader trend, backed by first-person narrative, data, and credible thiurd-party data validation."
It's also key to understand how AI platforms parse the stories that become the public's impression of your brand.
“The companies and leaders that win next will not simply be the ones generating the most coverage or content, but the ones that can shape how AI systems understand, summarize, recommend, and narrate their brands in real time across search, LLMs, dashboards, and digital ecosystems,” Grossman said.
What surprised me most was learning that there isa n appetite from outlets like The Miami Herald to syndicate or re-republish quality op-eds and self-authored content written by CEOs, thought leaders, etc. for their company blogs and other owned media channels," Clarke said.
“We're so used to seeing that all op-eds and self-authored content must be original and exclusive to outlets, so it's fascinating that there is a shift in that landscape, and that it is a win-win for all involved.”
Stacker helps marketing teams turn their owned media into earned media by distributing their stories to hundreds of news publications daily. Appearing alongside reputable content creates the authority signals that LLMs look for when deciding what to cite.
Stacker CEO Noah Greenberg gave a presentation at the Meltwater Summit explaining why earned media is back in the era of GEO.
He outlined how brand has become the key differentiator in an environment where paid ads have lost their effectiveness and the competition has become tougher than ever.
Research has shown that earned media drives the majority of a brand’s visibility in AI answers. That means PR and comms pros are uniquely positioned to own the conversation around GEO.
He explained a series of steps that comms pros can take to own the GEO narrative at their own org.
There are infinite free resources to learn about GEO, from newsletters to LLM research. Go learn as much as you can about the topic and then offer to run a training session for your team.
Pick an analytics tool to measure your baseline AI visibility, then select a few prompts to track. After you earn media — whether that’s through PR pitches to journalists or through content distribution networks like Stacker — see how your AI visibility was affected.
Analyze what worked and what didn’t, both with anecdotal wins and measured visibility impact. Then you can create a longer-term plan around prompts, content, and PR while continuing to report results and own the narrative.
It’s not too late to take charge of your company’s GEO story. And since LLMs appear to favor earned media, PR and content leaders are in the perfect spot to own this moment.
Want to learn more about how Stacker helps brands earn visibility in an AI-first search world? Get in touch with our team to see how earned media distribution can amplify your content strategy.